Fishing in Drakensberg

It's not often you come across a company that puts so much heart into what they do. Ian is an absolute fountain of knowledge and you can really tell he loves what he does. He goes out of his way to make sure you have the best possible experience. The whole Drakensberg Hiker team is down-to-earth, hardworking, and just genuinely great people.

Great destination! Enjoyed the open trail and peaceful outdoor atmosphere.

My husband and I are from Canada and just completed the 3 night Mnweni Circuit. The landscapes we saw on this trip should eclipse the following negatives. We self drove from Joburg to Mnweni Cultural Center. We followed our GPS and took the "wrong way" we later learned. We wish we had had reached out to obtain specific driving instructions in advance. Upon arrival, the reception by a woman and a man were so cold we immediately had a sense of regret for coming. Later the man warmed up quite a bit and told us about the area and answered some questions but told us that our guide would give us all of the info as he was off to guide some Russians he said spoke no English. Our guide was very quiet during introductions and we soon learned that he spoke minimal English. We wished the other guide had been assigned to us. We were each issued a cup and bowl to carry for our meals. No information was provided. While hiking, our guide would speak minimally and say "let's move" to let us know it was time to go at rest breaks. He would stop to let us take pictures and enjoy the scenery often. He could not tell us the expected distance to cover that day or the elevation gain to expect. We used our Gaia maps for this info. He would tell us how much water to carry until the next stop which was helpful. We are both doctors and had serious concerns about hygiene and food safety on this trip. I was glad I had brought water treatment tablets. Our guide told us he had diarrhea "from the milk" and asked us to follow the porter while he was sick. He washed his hands only with water prior to food prep. For his milk he would use boiled water with the powdered milk but he would provide us with powdered milk in the unfiltered water he said had made him sick. The meals were high in processed meats (hot dogs, cold cuts) although our last meal was traditional (we think) and tasted good. We were very hungry but ate minimally out of caution. We are hopeful we do not develop any food borne illness over the next 24-48 hrs or cysticercosis in the long-term. Unfortunately we had not brought any snacks (our fault, as apparently it's recommended on the website but was not on the packing list we were sent). No instructions were given on how to use the bathroom in the bush, nor a shovel, so we just did what we thought was best. Many other reviewers say they had very good experiences "with Ian" guiding them. We did not meet an Ian and expect that we may have had a better experience had we done so. I will leave off with reiterating that the scenery was well worth anything negative I've had to say and we were both blown away by the beauty and solitude the trip offered.

I joined Drakensberg Hiker for a scheduled five-night hike of the Northern Traverse in December, with my 13yr old son for an authentic Drakensberg experience. The group of 16 was a great mix of local/foreign, young/old, and including 4 parent/son pairings my son fitted in and coped well even though he was the youngest. The silver package was a good balance as I wanted us to carry a pack, but manageable given our commute from Cape Town. The organization was seamless, with collection from King Shaka airport, transport to the overnight camp and start of hike at Witsieshoek, food and tent supplied and carried by the well-organized porters, as well as experienced guiding and well-paced hiking so we could focus on enjoying the experience. The Drakensberg is a world class wilderness destination with Drakensburg Hiker offering an authentic, well valued and well-organized Drakensburg experience that was great to share with my son; memories for a life-time!

Hiked the Traverse with them last year and I would definitely recommend this agency to anyone thinking about visiting the Drakensberg. Everything was perfect and I made so many amazing precious memories. Thank you so much for receiving me. 🙏