Walking in the Drakensberg. Jeff Williams
as an apron of rubble at the foot of the escarpment. In fact, of the extensive lava sheet that originally covered South Africa there are few such volcanic rock areas remaining in the region. The Drakensberg is probably the best place to see them and it is important to remember that the spectacular shapes of the peaks and rock formations are more the result of the later erosion by wind and water than by the original volcanic uplift. Generally, basalt cliffs are friable and make a poor playground for rock-climbers.
Basalt wall in the Sani Pass
Mammals
There are 48 mammals recorded as living in the Drakensberg. Realistically you will see very few of them and if your aim is to see lots of mammals then you should plan on visiting a game reserve. But there is a good chance of seeing baboons, some antelope and dassies.
The Chacma sub-species of the Savanna Baboon
After man the baboon is the largest primate in southern Africa. Although very tolerant of different habitats they require cliffs or tall trees as a night-time refuge and must be near water. They are very gregarious and live in troops of anything from a dozen or so to a hundred or more. They are extremely vocal and it is baboons that are responsible for the angry barking that you will hear when walking in almost any area of the Drakensberg. You may find places where small rocks have been moved or overturned. This is a sign of baboons searching for invertebrates. You will also find shallow scrapings where they have looked for roots. Never feed them, never chase them and never corner them: they can be vicious. If they become habituated to feeding the Park Rangers will shoot them.
Antelope
Eland, Mountain Reedbuck, Grey Rhebok, Common Reedbuck, Oribi, Bushbuck, Blesbok, and Common Duiker are amongst the antelope that you may encounter in the Drakensberg. Of these, the first three are the most commonly seen.
Eland are the largest African antelope and occur naturally in the Drakensberg, the only place in southern South Africa where this is the case. Males may weigh up to 900kg, and although they are huge they can jump remarkable heights, easily clearing a 2m fence from a standing start. The herds are often large, 25 or more, but solitary animals and pairs are seen frequently.
The smaller your party and the less noise it makes, the better your chance of a good sighting. Very early in the morning is always the best time. As an aid to identification there are a number of books available with good photographs and clear descriptions.
Rock Dassie (Rock Hyrax)
Dassies look like rodents but are not. They are yellow-fawn in colour with paler underparts. Dassies are quite sociable and live in groups of up to about 40, they are rock dwellers and usually active after sunrise when they graze or browse. Their main predators are eagles. A giveaway sign of their dwellings is a white and brown streaked rock wall below the residence which is caused by the tidy disposal of ‘waste’ outside the hole.
Black-backed Jackal
The jackal is a canid (dog), widely seen across southern Africa and has a well demarcated black back flecked with white. The tail is black and bushy. They can be seen by day in reserves or other protected areas but are much more wary and nocturnal when threatened by the presence of man. They are usually seen as one of a pair or solitary. Their diet is very flexible and ranges from small or baby antelope, birds and rodents right down to berries and fruit. Jackals will kill goats, sheep or calves when the opportunity arises. Understandably this antagonises the farming community who, with good reason, regard them as pests.
Blesbok
Eland at Stromness Hill (Walk 65)
Feeding the baboons can have adverse consequences
A watchful baboon
Eland at Jacob’s Ladder (Walk 53)
Rock dassies also climb trees
Leopard
This magnificent animal is uncommon but widely distributed in the Drakensberg. It is rarely seen: not for nothing is it described as ‘the Prince of Stealth’. Powerfully built and amazingly catholic in its dietary habits, it lives in woodland and rocky outcrops and is included here because it is the only large predator in the Park. It poses no risk to walkers.
Although not in the cat family, it is of interest that both spotted and brown hyaena have been captured recently on camera traps but sightings are very rare.
Snakes
There are a lot of snakes in Africa, some 170 species in southern Africa alone. However, tourists rarely see one and, if they do, it is unlikely to be venomous. More people in South Africa are killed by lightning than by snakes. The Berg does have its share of snakes and it is prudent to know something about them, in particular, what to do in the highly unlikely event of an ‘incident’. Visitors in the high summer months of December, January and February are the most likely to see a snake. By April they are preparing to hibernate and so may still be moving around looking for that last precious calorie for storage. It is more unusual to see one in May but by September they’re back.
The three snakes described here are the only significantly venomous ones you might encounter.
Puff Adder (Bitis arietans)
Most snakes detect your approach by their highly-developed vibratory sense and make their escape before you see them. One exception is the Puff Adder, a slow-moving and bad-tempered piece of work who likes to bask in the sun and freezes rather than moving away, anticipating that excellent camouflage will save the day. It is a stout snake, yellow-brown in colour with black chevrons and a triangular head quite distinct from the body, some 90cm in length on average but sometimes much longer. Its venom is very potent and cytotoxic (cell destroying), and envenomation is serious. Death is rare but the bite, from the snake’s very large fangs, is hugely painful and tissue damage may occur, often severe enough to require grafting or even the loss of part of a limb. This snake is responsible for about 60 per cent of all serious snake bites in South Africa. It is rarely found above 2000m altitude.
Puff Adder
Berg Adder (Bitis atropos)
As the name suggests this is predominantly found on high-altitude rocky slopes and mountain grassland and is the most common Drakensberg snake. It is similar in appearance to the Puff Adder but less brightly coloured, without the chevrons, and much smaller, averaging 30cm and sometimes just 10–20cm. As bad-tempered as the Puff Adder, possibly even more so, it hisses loudly and strikes readily but tends to seek refuge much more quickly. Unusually for an adder it has a mildly neurotoxic venom (that is, affecting the nervous system) and specifically has an effect on the nerves controlling the muscles of the face and tongue. This manifests itself as drooping eyelids, double vision, dizziness and sometimes difficulty in swallowing. This is all very alarming but no deaths have been reported.
Rinkhals (Hemachatus haemachatus)
This is a bigger snake than the previous three, averaging more than 1m in length and similar to a cobra in appearance (but it isn’t one), spreading a ‘hood’ when threatened. In the Drakensberg it is often banded black and yellow or black and deep orange, with two or three distinct white bars on its chest only seen when it raises itself vertically from the