Drakensberg

A cliff 1200 metres high curves through 5 kilometres in a half circle. Water falls from its top and makes the highest waterfall in Africa.

It drops 948 metres in five separate stages. It runs full only after rain, leaving a trace on the rock once the dry months come.

Paintings made with red earth mixed with blood survive on the shelter walls. Human figures and antelope make up most of them and touching is prevented.

A gravel road winds to a pass at 2876 metres and crosses into the neighbouring country. Only four wheel drives make it and the border post sits at the top.

A hide faces the cliff so that bearded vultures can be watched. Bones put out in winter bring the birds down to take them.

A line of sharp peaks stands like the spires of a church. The summit takes a full day and the last section needs hands.

Two chain ladders hang on the final section of the cliff. One runs about 30 metres and it sways when the wind comes up.

It lies below the amphitheatre and faces that cliff head on. One path crosses the river several times, so shoes get wet.

A village below the range shows how a house is built and how the dancing goes. Round huts of reed and earth hold a hearth inside.

Basotho ponies carry riders up the narrow mountain tracks. Their footing is sure enough for gravel where walking is hard.

The roadside near Howick where Mandela, posing as a chauffeur, was arrested on 5 August 1962. For the 50th anniversary a sculpture of 50 steel columns went up. From one marked spot the columns line up into his face.

The Umgeni River drops 95 metres straight over dolerite cliffs, seen from a lookout right in Howick itself. The Zulu called it the place of the tall one. The path to the foot is steep and slippery, so many hire a guide to go down.

A route through the hills between Pietermaritzburg and Mooi River strung with studios, farm shops and tea rooms. Pottery, weaving and leather workshops share one map, so you stop only where you like. It fits a day spent driving between Durban and the peaks.

Where British and Boer troops fought for the hilltop in 1900 during the Boer War. Churchill was there as a correspondent, Gandhi as a stretcher-bearer, and Botha commanding the Boers. Graves of the dead still line the summit trenches.

Named for sandstone cliffs, just over the KwaZulu-Natal border, that glow gold at dusk. The road runs under mushroom-shaped rocks, with zebra and antelope on the grass. Royal Natal lies close by to the south-east, so the two pair well.