Self Catering Accommodation Central Drakensberg by Witsend

Drakensberg rock art

2011-12-19T05:31:00.000-08:00

This delightful Bushman painting of a sitting Reedbuck is from a small shelter in a rock outcrop high up on the Northern slopes of Wonder Valley. The shelter has a small panel of mostly badly weathered paintings this one being the best preserved. It is only about 40mm long and is exquisitely detailed. There are a few other faded paintings of antelope and some human figures.

Central Deakensberg activities.

2011-12-18T06:54:00.000-08:00

The Central Drakensberg offers a gereat number of leasure activities to catering for all tastes. Weekly activities include the following:-
Monday 23 January
Locals is lekker special meal at Monks Cowl country club 036 4681300

Tuesday 24 January.
Champagne Valley walking club. Starting point- Meet at Cathkin Estates office at 7.00 am. Walk to Champagne Castle hotel. Moderate walk of 3 hours.
Wednesday 25 January
Special meal at Dragons Rest 036 4681218

Thursday 26 January

Happy hour at Dragon's rest pub 6.00 to 7.00 pm

Every Day.
Helicopter flights. Phone Westline Aviation 083 6527493
Bird of prey show - daily at 10.30am except Fridays. Phone Falcoln Ridge 082 7746398
Canopy tour. Every day 036 4681981 & 0823 6615891
Glass hive bees. Every day at Scrumpy Jack's 036 4681308
Champagne adventure center . Team building and adventures- Zip line, King swing, Tree climb, Kloofing, Paintball, abseilling, 074 1033613
4 Rivers Rafting- Rafting, Zip line, Quad bikes. 083 7851693
Horse Riding- Dragon Peaks 036 4681031
                    - uShaka horse trails 072 6642992, 072 3122659, 036 4681136.
Spa's- Tranquility day spar- 072 2646398
         - San Aquam spar retreat 036 4681204, 082 7798779
         -The Spar at Champagne Sports 072 6111767

Drakensberg Boys choir.

2011-12-10T23:23:00.000-08:00

After a successful year with a tour to the USA and the year end festival the boys are in recess until the school opens in January 2012. The year end concert, despite the heavy rains, was a great success and in particular the performance by Ladysmith Black Mambazo was a highlight. This group now over 40 years old gave a mesmerizing almost spiritual performance, and really deserve their international reputation.

San Rock Art

2011-11-27T00:51:00.000-08:00

The past week the Champagne Valley walking club visited the Rock art shelter in the Eastern slopes of Arthur’s seat. The cave is difficult to find and the approaches are covered in dense bush but worth the effort as the paintings are in good condition. The paintings are all monochrome and comprise several mystical figures, Pherianthropes, and 2 hunting scenes. One can only but wonder as to the meaning of the paintings.

Rock art grafitti

2011-10-30T00:15:00.000-07:00

Rock art sites. There are numerous Rock Art sites in the Champagne valley but only a few are open to the public and even in these cases visitors must be accompanied by an AMAFA registered guide. Unfortunately some air heads feel at liberty to deface the sites with graffiti as this recent “posting” on the rock face at Cow cave shows. This could lead to the closure of the site by the landowner thus depriving the public of access to this culturally rich painted shelter.

Fly fishing catches at Wits End dam.

2010-12-24T04:54:00.000-08:00

Wits End dam is not heavily fished as it is only open to guests staying at our chalets. By restricting access and allowing only Fly fishing we are creating some exclusive waters which generally reward the serious fly fisherman. We are also mantaining a balance between the Rainbow trout and the Yellow fish breeding in the dam so both species can be caught. Recent catches are as follows:-
30/11/2011. Philip Schoeman Western Australia. A few small Yellowfish.
19/11/2011 Gary Halverson 10 Natal Yellowfish 150-200 mm.
19/11/2011 VBruce Menny 10 Yellowfish 150-200 mm.
19/11/2011 Colin Freese- 25 Natal Yellowfish on Black Nymph
20/10/2011. Liz Bennett. 1 small yelloefish on a white fly 5.30 pm.
13/10/2011. Hans Von Hannenheim Munich Germany ! small Trout on black Wolly Bugger
14/10/2011 Hans Von Hannenheim Munich. 1 small Rainbow and 1 small Natal Yellowfish- Black Wolly Bugger.
18/12/2010 Brad Nicholson 6 Yellow Fish on a bead head flash back nymph
22/12/2010 Anthony Schaerer a nice 30 cm Rainbow trout on an attractor pattern, and another 20 cm on a wooly bugger .
15/09/2011. J Allen Riverside. 1 by 1.2 kg Rainbow. Olive Wooly Bugger
03/01/2011 Allan Page bagged a nice 30 cm Rainbow on a wooly wirm
04/01/2011 Wally Doubell 3 Natal Yellow Fish and a 1.1 kg Rainbow trout.
26/02/2011 Carl Kluckow . 2 Rainbow and one small Yellow Fish
26/02/2011. Bryan Kluckow. 1 nice sized 40cm Yellow Fish.
03/02/2011 De Mareschal 1 by rainbow trout willy bugger.
19/03/2011. Rod Coleman Durban. 3 small yellow's
20/03/2011 Rod Coleman 1 by Yellow fish 350 grams.
8/04/2011 Chris Mc Farlane 2 by Yellow Fish
8/04/2011 Chad Jameson 4 By Rainbow Trout.

For more on fly fishing in the Central Berg refer to http://www.witsend.co.za/

Drakensberg canopy tour

2009-11-22T03:02:00.000-08:00

Drakensberg Canopy Tour.

For those who are not familiar with the canopy tour concept a canopy tour is basically a steel rope slide high up in the trees between platforms created in the Rock face and treetops. Essentially one is put in a harness which is then clipped onto a steel rope and you then jump into open space and slide along the rope to the next platform and then repeat the exercise from platform to platform. Besides the adrenalin rush one can also see the forest from a different prospective, high up in the trees. It is a great experience and the one in the Central Drakensberg is the longest in the country taking about 3 hours to complete. The emphasis is on the natural experience and the guides have been well trained and guide you through the various flora and fauna you will encounter. For those who are scared of heights , fear not, as the experience is extremely safe, with back up systems to meet all eventualities and well trained competent guides. For bookings phone 036 4681981 or 083 6615691. For accommodation bookings in the area try Wits End Mountain Resort on 036 4681133 or 0824490502 or http://www.witsend.co.za/
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Fly fishing at Wits End

2009-02-11T07:20:00.000-08:00

The Wits End dam situated in the Champagne Valley Central Drakensberg is private dam for the exclusive use of guests staying at our self catering chalets and is therefore not heavily fished. It is probably the only dedicated fly fishing dam of reasonable size in the area.We are in the process of dedicating our dam to Natal Yellow fish our breeding stock having been introduced some 5 years ago and all indications are that they are breeding well. We also stock with rainbow trout on a selective basis in order to keep a balance with the Yellow fish. Only fly fishing is permitted and is free to guests but there is a levy of R 100.00 per fish kept. For further details refer to http://www.witsend.co.za/