Mont-aux-Sources, Drakensberg

Mont-aux-Sources is regarded as the one of the highest portions of the Drakensberg Mountain range, and it lies on the north eastern edge of the Drakensberg, practically on the border with Lesotho. Mont-aux-Sources is regularly described as a mountain block. This rather irregular and block-like bulge received its interesting name from French missionaries to the region during the 1830s because it serves as the source for both the Tugela and the Orange Rivers.

The protuberance of rock, which sits on the rim of the Drakensberg, includes the Sentinel and the Mont-aux-Sources Mountain itself which, though described as rather uninteresting, but this is entirely derogatory - any hiker will expound on its beauty! The amphitheatre, of which Mont-aux-Sources is part, is a five kilometre wall of rock that is at once intimidating and awesome, and forms part of the Royal Natal National Park.

This part of the world, understandably, is all about hiking and the surrounding mountain peaks, and there are various guides and maps available that incorporate the most challenging hikes, such as those up the Crack (quite a feat that includes encounters with short chain ladders) and down the Mudslide, and the more gentle paths, such as the amble to Fairy Glen. It’s listed on Lonely Planet as one of the best kept hikers’ secrets in the Drakensberg and a 50 kilometre challenge takes place annually to the top of the Sentinel.

Climbing Mont-aux-Sources, a formidable task, includes a rather intoxicating encounter with chain ladders (one going up and one coming down) and a staggering view of the second highest waterfall in the world that falls about 3000 metres in five cascades, so not for the weak at heart. But the view from the top is breath-takingly spectacular!