Not Quite Kili – SA’s Highest Peak

(An SA Blog Beta post from Your Correspondent)

Court’s tales of her Kilimanjaro ascent put me in a mind to investigate how high one can walk uphill in SA. Not surprisingly, the answer lies in the province of KwaZulu Natal. Its mountainous border with Lesotho holds many climbing challenges (and is spectacularly beautiful) – the highest of which, at 3446 meters, is Mafadi peak.

That’s only about 2500 meters or so short of Kili – pretty close, when you consider that Kili’s about 3000 meters short of Everest.

OK, I admit, it’s not close. But don’t discount Mafadi Peak, or the rest of KwaZulu Natal’s Drakensberg range, as a mere walk-over. (Ha!) It can get hairy up there.

If you’re an avid hiker, the best info on Mafadi and other Drakensberg peaks that I’ve come across is here.