Durban - Hlalanathi Drakensberg Resort, in the foothills of the Northern Berg, is easily recognisable from a distance from the flowering jacarandas, and by the abundant greenery any time of the year.
We were booked into one of 23 self-catering chalets scattered about the immaculately maintained grounds, but almost wished we were camping as Hlalanathi has by far the best caravan and camping site I’ve seen: set in parklike grounds amid massive trees, with a freezer room, a laundry room and very good ablution facilities (some sites even have private ablutions). Return visitors store their caravans at Hlalanathi and staff set them up before their arrival.
Pretty jacked up. If you’ve left something behind, there’s a well-stocked shop at reception.
We weren’t complaining, though, about our chalet up the hill from the campsite and main buildings. It had two spacious en-suite bedrooms – the master with sliding glass doors to the covered braai area and a double bed and bath, the other with twin beds and a shower.
An open plan area between the bedrooms – kitchen with granite counters and tasteful lighting, lounge with a large fireplace and TV – completed the indoor picture, while the large windows revealed the picture-perfect Amphitheatre.
The chalets have covered outside areas with table and chairs and built-in braais – the braai and its stone chimney creating a screen from our neighbours, though we were hardly cheek by jowl.
Adrian Zietsman owns and runs the restaurant, with seating indoors, al fresco or on a covered terrace, with Pa Ndlela the friendly face behind the adjacent bar. Zietsman uses the pizza oven in the restaurant as a base to interact with diners while cooking not only pizzas, but anything that requires grilling. He makes excellent pizzas from scratch and, if it’s not on the menu, ask after his superb homemade ice cream. The prawn starters are also highly recommended. The table setting is basic, the food and the inexpensive wine list not at all. Zietsman even does takeaway for guests not up to feeding themselves – and delivers if he’s not busy.
Hlalanathi also has a fenced swimming pool area, a kids’ playground, tennis courts and a nine-hole golf course with challenging sloping holes and treed, flatter holes alongside the river, where dads were showing their kids how to shank a few.
There are no hiking trails on the fenced property, and we were content to wave from our veranda chairs at the fit people running and cycling along the winding road to the nearby Royal Natal National Park. At the park gate, you’ll find wonderful bead and basketware for sale. Beyond that, some of the best hiking trails anywhere.
If you’ve never been, it’s worth getting up at sparrow’s to hike along the Tugela Gorge to the 500m-high wall of the Amphitheatre and Tugela Falls (the world’s second highest waterfall), or up The Crack and down Mudslide via Gudu Falls, with a picnic and dip in the pool at the top. Or simply stroll through Fairy Glen.
Our main exercise was laps in the large pool, strolls on the sprawling property and adrenalin fun just around the corner.
All Out Adventures is minutes away – the largest and most diverse adventure park in South Africa, with something for kids of all ages. We watched Durbanites freefall on the King Swing in preparation for the Moses Mabhida Stadium version, while Dutch visitors screamed more than expected – all our hills and heights are truly dizzying, it seems, for people from flatlands. Ziplining and quad-biking are some of my favourites and the 900m trip through the forest, with cable runs over 200m in length, was tops.
It’s also a nice spot for coffee and lunch, while watching braver souls discover their inner trapeze artist, checking out mud-flecked MTB cyclists and paint and bruise bedecked paintballers. From there, it’s worth venturing up Oliviershoek Pass into the Free State, where we took an easy 4x4 road (any high clearance vehicle will do) to Kerkenberg, a quietly uplifting place where Voortrekkers stayed in 1837 under a rock shelter. Then we admired the stunning Sterkfontein Dam before heading back to the mesmerising view from our veranda – like gazing into a fire. Just lovely.
l Call 036 438 6308 and visit www.hlalanathi.co.za
Adrian Rorvik, Sunday Tribune