Following The Startling One

The mighty Tugela River cuts through KwaZulu-Natal from the Drakensberg in the west to the Indian Ocean in the east. Evan Naudé went to explore the river whose Zulu name means “The Startling One”.

- Evan Naud

When I think of the origin of a river, it’s usually just a spring or a fountain somewhere in the mountains. But here, in the heart of the Drakensberg, the Tugela starts its journey east with impressive grandeur. Way at the top of the mountain peaks in the Royal Natal National Park lies the Mont-Aux-Sources plateau, and it is here where the mighty Tugela is born. Shortly thereafter, the river reaches the famous 5 km-wide Amphitheatre and plunges down a 948 m-high waterfall, the second highest in the world, to the valley below, and starts its 500 km-long slither to the Indian Ocean. Along the way the waters not only carve a deep groove in the earth, but also in the history annals of the country and the lives of the people who live along its banks.

From the source

After a cold night, I start my journey at the foot of the Amphitheatre, which is decorated by a white layer of snow on the highest peaks.

As I leave the park, the Tugela accompanies me until I reach the R74. Here the river turns south-east to feed the Woodstock Dam, but I head north to drive over the Oliviershoek Pass in the direction of the Sterkfontein Dam. Opposite the dam I take the S19 road to go and have a look at the Retief Klip Monument at the foot of the Kerkenberg Mountain. This is the spot where Piet Retief first set foot in Natal in 1837, and it was his daughter who wrote his name on the rock in remembrance. Her writing is preserved in a glass case, and it seems to me that humanity has always had an affinity for graffiti, because the rock is covered in other names too, like one that reads “Bismark Dreyer, January 23, 1890”.