For more variety I've decided to create stories on other exciting journeys and post them in between my Namibia content. Therefore, this entry is about one of the best day hikes I've ever done:
The Amphitheatre Hiking Trail
It's a hike of records because the 'Amphitheatre', located in the Northern Drakensberg Mountains in South Africa, has one of the most impressive cliff faces on earth. On the plateau itself you can find the seasonal 'Tugela River' which becomes 'Tugela Falls', dropping down hundreds of meters as one of the highest waterfalls on earth. All that is part of the 'Royal Natal National Park'.
So, buckle up and enjoy my story!
It all started with our stay in the 'Amphitheatre Backpackers' without knowing it's still two hours away from the starting point of the hike which is a little strange. But we met our friend Daniel from Norway again - with him we discovered Cape Town and Muizenberg, went on a few hikes and had a weekend camping trip together. What a pleasant surprise!
We have heard about the spectacular view at the 'Amphitheatre' so we wanted to go on this adventure together. Of course, every local around strongly recommended taking a guide because "it's a very dangerous hike", but we were told such things very often during our past travels and decided to go there by ourselves. We assigned the vital jobs among us: Daniel was our guide, Julia cared about the food and I was the driver and now and then I took some photos. ;)
The drive to the 'Sentinal Car Park', which is the most common starting point, is two hours away from the hostel so we started early.
It turned out that this would be the toughest part of the whole trip. The last 5 kilometers were very bumpy and you better have a 4x4 or at least a car with high ground clearance. We had a VW Polo. Luckily I can say I'm an experienced driver, and we passed a few cars having problems going uphill as well. Everybody looked surprised that the roadway was indeed that bad. Just imagine crazy bumps with a lot of big rocks and big gaps due to water gutters.
I missed taking photos of the toughest parts of the "road" because I had to concentrate on not grounding the car. Here are some first impressions we got while approaching the top.
At that moment I realized this day will be remarkable.
After we paid our park entrance fee (45 ZAR, approx. 3 EUR, per Person), we got up to the first look-outs into the valley pretty fast and had a primal impression on how beautiful the day would be. We were simply speechless and just felt stoked.
Our first break close to an edge after 30 minutes of hiking.
It's always a little scary for me to see people close to a bottomless abyss - even more so if it's my girl.
15 minutes later.
We went further up passing through a gorge that was really beautiful, but steep and tough to hike for about another 30 minutes. Choosing this way, the hike became a round trip and I really like walking a different way back if possible and have the chance to explore even more.
Finally, on top of the plateau we were blown away by these incredible views. Luckily the clarity was decent and we could see quite far. Seeing the edge of the 'Amphitheatre' gave me a feeling out of this world. The cliffs are all around and 1200 m deep for a length of over 5 km.
"Be careful okay?" - "No worries mate! I got this."
We walked to the top of the falls and met some sheep, a horse and some native Basotho herders.
The Tugela Falls are the second highest, if not even the highest waterfalls in the world. It is important to mention that this is not about at what height the waterfall starts to drop, but about the height the water is freely falling. These waterfalls have five distinct free-leaping falls with a combined total drop of 948 m. To this day there is an ongoing debate about which is the highest waterfall in the world, either the Tugela Falls or the Angel Falls in Venezuela, which drop for about 800 m. However, Angel Falls are considered to be the number one for having the tallest uninterrupted drop of any waterfall in the world.
Note that all this data is not approved, so this is just to give you an idea of the awesomness of this special place!
Since the waterfall was not in season during our hike the falls were pretty small - I'd come back to see them in "real action".
We had a little lunch close to the edge and enjoyed the wide view at the ridge. I loved that we were only about 20 people walking on the plateau and there was enough space for us all to spread out. (Tip: Ask for a lunch package at the reception of the hostel. It's cheap and easy.)
After two hours of taking photos and soaking up the views we started our journey back.
Arriving on the other side of the plateau, we had to get down there by using two different iron chain ladders. The smaller one is roughly 12 meters and the bigger one about 20 meters in length. You can choose to use a ladder with round handle bars or without, depending on your desired level of thrill. Although the ladders are fastened they still hang loosely on the rock face so that it slightly moved while we descended and it felt really adventurous.
The last part of the hike was beautiful in its own charming ways. After we climbed down the ladders successfully, the path changed to just an easy walk along the cliff line and we were able to enjoy the amazing views all along the way.
Over time it got more and more cloudy but it still was good weather so far...
All of a sudden, we heard thunder a few kilometers away so we picked up pace. Ten seconds and a raindrop later we began running back to the car park, feared the worst and imagined how the rainwater streaming down the sandy roads will turn the way back into complete nightmare. (Remember: A VW Polo!)
But luckily, we made it just in time! We drove back to our stay, perfectly matching the speed of the clouds above us. What a fantastic stunning day! One of the best hikes I've ever done.
After all it's impossible to say whether you can do this trip on your own or not. I read a few blog entries which definitely recommend a guide. My advice: If the number of your fingers you have is higher than the number of hikes (and I mean real hikes in this kind of rough terrain): Please take part in a guided tour. You won't have any problems with driving, the guide will give you useful insights on the formation of the mountains and the flora & fauna. He also can secure you with a rope while climbing down the ladders. If your physical fitness is average, you're not afraid of heights and you want to be your own boss out there, feel free to go without a guide. Naturally, in this way you can decide how long you want to stay in certain places and can choose where you want to go without debating. Not to mention the advantage of saving money. (Guided tours cost around 750 ZAR, approx. 47 EUR p.p.)
The hike takes approximately 4-8 hours depending on how often you'll stop and/or if you aim to set a new record. If you are a photographer, you better plan a few days and bring along a tent. ;-)
Furthermore, I highly recommend always being prepared for rainy weather, because in the mountains weather conditions can drastically change in no time, and the last thing you want is to be surprised by heavy rain out in nowhere. The weather is truly unpredictable up there, so we were very lucky during our hike. We had just a short shower of rain on our way to the top and another one in the end, shortly before reaching the car park.
I love creating these photo stories and I appreciate every single sign that you enjoyed it, too. Please subscribe, leave a like or comment below. It helps me a lot to keep doing what I'm most passionate about.
Feel free to send me a message if you have any questions, are interested in a cooperation or want to license pictures. mail@kaibernstein.de
© 2026 Kai Bernstein
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