Uncover the Southern Drakensberg's enchanting landscapes, rich heritage, and culinary delights, where resilience flourishes after wildfires.
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By Myron Naicker
There are places in this world that do not simply exist as destinations — they live, breathe, and whisper stories to those who listen.
The Southern Drakensberg is one of those places.
I arrived with my family recently under a sky so vast it felt like a cathedral.
The mountains, still bearing the scars of the 2024 wildfires, stood defiant — their slopes now dressed in emerald green after the healing rains.
Rivers, once subdued, roared back to life, carving silver veins through the valleys.
This is a land of second chances.
An Emerald Green landscape in the Southern Drakensberg.
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The Drakensberg has always been a survivor. For centuries, it has endured storms, droughts, and fire, only to return more breathtaking than before.
The three-and-a-half hour drive from Durban takes you past Pietermaritzburg towards Bulwer, where the road climbs and winds. The hour-long journey from there is breathtaking as the land unfolds and the mountain peaks appear.
Last year, catastrophe struck twice. First, wildfires — fierce and unrelenting — scorched the earth, claiming six brave firefighters and reducing the iconic Bushman's Nek Berg and Trout Resort to ashes.
Then, as if nature sought to balance destruction with mercy, early September brought heavy snowfall that closed roads, isolated farms, and draped the blackened land in a shroud of white.
Yet as I walked through valleys thick with new grass and listened to streams laughing over smooth stones, I realised that the Berg doesn't just endure. It transforms.
Pierre Horne, chairperson of the Southern Drakensberg Community Tourism Organisation, knows this truth in his bones.
"I was born in Pretoria," he tells me, "but my heart was always here. My grandfather fly-fished these rivers, my father hiked these trails. Every chance we got, we escaped to the Berg."
That lifelong love led Pierre’s family to Himeville in the 1980s; he moved there permanently in 1992.
Horne’s background is in education, and he has been involved in literacy projects in the Underberg region for more than two decades. He leads the Family Literacy Project, an NGO working with adults and children to improve literacy and provide psychosocial support to rural families.
Uncover the Southern Drakensberg's enchanting landscapes, rich heritage, and culinary delights, where resilience flourishes after wildfires.
Image: Supplied
In 2020, Pierre and his wife Jacqueline acquired Pennygum Country Cottages, nestled beside the river and framed by an old apple orchard.
"We wanted to share this beauty," he says, "the mountains, the water, the silence."
Pennygum is a treat. Mist curls over the peaks like smoke from some ancient forge. The river hums its morning song — and don’t get me started on the sunsets.
It is as cosy as it is rustic, located just a few kilometres from the Underberg town.
"The apples aren't commercially successful," Pierre admits.
"But we let guests pick them. It's about the experience — the blossoms in spring."
It is a small gesture but one which resonates with everyone who visits this quaint resort. It epitomises everything good about the place.
The 2024 wildfires left more than physical scars. It tested the spirit of every farmer, business owner, and guide who calls this place home.
"This land teaches resilience," Pierre said.
The rains came. The grass returned. Life pushed through the ash.
Just as the landscape has regenerated, so too has the region's food scene blossomed — a testament to the Berg's spirit of reinvention.
In Himeville, The Whistling Goat has become a beloved gathering spot.
Housed in a 125-year-old stone house with rambling gardens, this owner-run café — helmed by Charisse and Paul (formerly of Durban's famed Mooki Noodles) — serves up breakfast and lunch with a side of rustic charm.
Between bites, guests browse antiques and handwoven mohair goods from Berg Weaving — a perfect marriage of sustenance and serendipity.
Breakfast at the Olde Duck.
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Ten minutes away in Underberg, The Olde Duck offers a different kind of pastoral bliss. Set on Marlin Farm, a working dairy farm, the restaurant overlooks rolling pastures where cows graze against a mountain backdrop.
The menu — think creamy farm cheeses, grass-fed beef burgers, and decadent milk tart — celebrates the land's bounty.
The Himeville Museum, once an old fort turned prison, is a marvel. Its artefacts pay tribute to the region’s vast history and culture.
The San Rock Art room was certainly my favourite, while my children enjoyed the vintage post office exhibit.
Blacksmith's Forge display at Himeville Museum.
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“I feel the Southern Berg could play more of a role in South Africa’s burgeoning tourism industry,” he said.
“I feel that if people were given access to publicity of what is available, I feel that the local and international market would really, really enjoy the interactions in the area.”
“All our experience with foreign guests that have come to our area have been that they are absolutely gobsmacked by the beauty that surrounds them and the accessibility to everything the place has to offer,” he said.
"The Southern Drakensberg is one of the last unspoiled gems," Pierre insists. "Clean rivers. Wild trails. Rock art. Birds you won't see anywhere else."
"Every season has its magic," Pierre said.
"Even winter's harshness—the brown grass, the frozen earth—has a beauty. The stars feel closer. Places where you have absolutely no light pollution, where you have no water pollution.”
What remains with me isn't just the landscapes, but the faces: the farmer who rebuilt his gutted barn; the guide who leads hikes past fire-scarred trees with quiet pride; the children at The Olde Duck, sticky with ice cream, chasing the ducks.
Very few places let you connect with nature like this. Here, you remember what it means to be small — and yet, part of something vast.
The mountains are waiting. The bread is baking. The stars are bright.
* Myron Naicker is an award winning South African journalist. He is a multi-faceted storyteller with extensive work in television, radio and print journalism.
** The views expressed do not necessarily reflect the views of IOL or Independent Media.
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