Estcourt
The area around Estcourt (Afrikaans: Eskort) in Kwazulu Natal province has a turbulent history. It forms the southernmost point of the so-called ‘Battlefield Route’ that extends further north to Ladysmith and Dundee. This route takes you past various places where there is fighting between the British, the Boers (Voortrekkers) and the Zulu’s. Visit Fort Dunford in Estcourt, which was built in 1875 and today houses a museum.
Estcourt is a good base for visiting the Drakensberg. You can choose from a wide variety of hiking / hike and climbing routes or choose a nice spot for a picnic and watch the sun set behind the mountains. In particular, Giant’s Castle Game Reserve, which is so called because of the shape of the rock points and belongs to the central part of the Ukhahlamba Drakensberg Park, is worth a visit. Giant’s Castle is about 60 kilometers away from Estcourt. At the Main Office (head office) they can inform you well about the routes and from this point there are excursions several times a day to the rock drawings of the San-Bushmen. These former inhabitants of the region have provided some caves with so-called Rock Art, which gives us a good insight into the wildlife that lived in the Drakensberg at the time. It is half an hour’s walk from the Main Office to where the Rock Art is located, this is one of the largest and best-preserved places with rock paintings in South Africa. It is possible that during your visit to Giant’s Castle you will see monkeys, moose or bearded vulture. In the winter the vultures are fed at a fixed place and you have even more chance to see these huge birds.
