Ian Shooter, Author at Drakensberg Hiker

About Ian Shooter

Drakensberg Hiker was started and is owned by Ian Shooter. He knows and loves the Drakensberg mountains as well as meeting interesting people. So what better than to put into practice the philosophy of "do what you love and love what you do". And so, Drakensberghiker was born. We take people on hikes, treks or backpacking all over the Drakensberg mountains in South Africa; we do what we love and we love what we do!

19 Jun, 2019

Summiting Mafadi, South Africa’s highest peak hike report.

By Ian Shooter|2019-08-04T15:57:43+02:00Jun 19th, 2019|Categories: Drakensberg Mountains and Peaks, Recent Drakensberg Hike Reports|Tags: bucket list hike, Drakensberg, highest peaks, Mafadi, South Africa|

Mafadi is South Africa's highest peak. Mafadi is South Africa's highest peak that almost every South African has never heard of. I am continually amazed that so many of us are quick to spend a fortune climbing the highest peak in Africa for the sake of 'Kili' bragging rights on Instagram. There is a far cheaper, challenging, and rewarding opportunity on our doorstep! Fortunately, me and a few like-minded souls gathered at Injisuthi camp [...]

31 May, 2019

Why I hiked the Drakensberg Grand Traverse

By Ian Shooter|2019-08-04T16:20:29+02:00May 31st, 2019|Categories: Drakensberg Mountains and Peaks, Recent Drakensberg Hike Reports|Tags: adventure, Amphitheatre, beautiful, bucket list hike, Drakensberg, Drakensberg traverse, highest peaks, mountains, South Africa|

Why I hiked the Drakensberg Grand Traverse. George Clooney placed his warm hand on the small of my back and guided me gently on to the gondola for our Venetian sunset ride. Suddenly, a loud bellow rang out, ‘kettle’s boiled!’ Wait, that can’t be right. Slowly, I opened one swollen eye to see a billowing orange canvas. Reality rushed in. I was in a freezing cold tent with an howling, angry wind outside, perched [...]

27 May, 2019

Amphitheatre Overnight Hike Report

By Ian Shooter|2019-08-04T16:45:54+02:00May 27th, 2019|Categories: Drakensberg Mountains and Peaks, Recent Drakensberg Hike Reports|Tags: adventure, Amphitheatre, beautiful, Drakensberg, mountains, overnight hike, South Africa, Tugela falls|

Amphitheatre Overnight Hike Report. In late May a group of different people from different backgrounds all met at Witsieshoek for an overnight adventure to camp next to the Tugela falls on top of the Amphitheatre in the Northern Drakensberg. The mountains made us all equal and it was an excellent weekend spent in nature. I woke up really early on Saturday and drove 4 hours to meet everyone at Witsieshoek mountain resort. We paid [...]

23 May, 2019

Drakensberg Grand Traverse Hike

By Ian Shooter|2019-08-04T17:06:41+02:00May 23rd, 2019|Categories: Drakensberg Mountains and Peaks, Recent Drakensberg Hike Reports|Tags: adventure, Amphitheatre, beautiful, bucket list hike, Cathedral peak, challange, Drakensberg, highest peaks, mountains, South Africa|

Drakensberg Grand Traverse Hike. The Drakensberg grand traverse hike is certainly one of the best but also most challenging hikes in South Africa. We start at the Amphitheatre in the Northern Drakensberg and finish at Bushmans nek in the Southern Drakensberg. I do the Drakensberg grand traverse every May because the weather is generally the best. This year was no different. We had excellent weather with only one afternoon with rain that turned to [...]

21 May, 2019

Bannerman Hut Giants Castle Hike

By Ian Shooter|2019-08-04T17:27:07+02:00May 21st, 2019|Categories: Drakensberg Mountains and Peaks, Recent Drakensberg Hike Reports|Tags: adventure, beautiful, Drakensberg, family hike, Giants castle, mountain hut, mountains, overnight hike|

Bannerman Hut Giants Castle Hike The Bannerman hut overnight hike is in Giants Castle Nature reserve. This time Peter emailed me because he wanted to take his family on an overnight hike to stay in the comfort of a simple mountain hut. What's better to do than an adventure in the Drakensberg on the Easter weekend. We met up at the Giants castle office and signed the mountain register. We must always do this [...]

04 May, 2019

Drakensberg Northern Traverse

By Ian Shooter|2019-08-04T17:44:23+02:00May 4th, 2019|Categories: Drakensberg Mountains and Peaks, Recent Drakensberg Hike Reports|Tags: Amphitheatre, bucket list hike, Cathedral peak, Drakensberg, Drakensberg traverse, mountains, Sentinel peak, South Africa|

Drakensberg Northern Traverse Hike Report. The Drakensberg Northern Traverse hike report is about an incredible 6 day hike we did from the Sentinel at the Amphitheatre to finish at Cathedral peak hotel. This time we hiked at the end of April and the weather was the best ever. Check here for pictures of our hike. But first we camped at Sterkfontein dam. I love doing this as it breaks the long drive and we [...]

02 May, 2019

Mnweni Hike Report

By Ian Shooter|2019-08-09T16:20:00+02:00May 2nd, 2019|Categories: Drakensberg Mountains and Peaks, Recent Drakensberg Hike Reports|Tags: adventure, Drakensberg, Mnweni, mountains, South Africa|

Mnweni Hike Report. Mnweni is a tribal area found in the Northern Drakensberg between Royal Natal and Cathedral peak. It is my favorite part of the Drakensberg mostly because I think the cliffs are most impressive but also because not many people come to hike here. There are a lot of amazing and wild passes and valleys to explore but this time we walked up Ntonjelana pass to visit Easter cave, and it was [...]

14 Apr, 2019

The Drakensberg Amphitheatre, Sungubala and Witsieshoek Hike Report

By Ian Shooter|2019-08-09T16:25:19+02:00Apr 14th, 2019|Categories: Drakensberg Mountains and Peaks, Recent Drakensberg Hike Reports|Tags: adventure, Amphitheatre, beautiful, Drakensberg, mountains, Sungubala|

Amphitheatre Hike Report So John from Australia had hiked with me before and loved the Drakensberg. Of course he had to come again but with 12 Australians this time. We picked them up in Johannesburg and drove down to stay the night at Sungubala. What a lovely place. Great to relax after a long flight. Anyway next day my good friend Cindy took them for a walk in the Cavern property to check out [...]

31 Mar, 2019

The Amphitheatre in the Northern Drakensberg

By Ian Shooter|2019-08-09T16:41:26+02:00Mar 31st, 2019|Categories: Amphitheatre, Drakensberg, Drakensberg Mountains and Peaks|Tags: Amphitheatre, beautiful, Drakensberg, mountains, South Africa|

The Amphitheatre in the Northern Drakensberg. The Amphitheatre in the Northern Drakensberg is certainly an impressive mountain. It is found right at the Western border of the Ukhahlamba Drakensberg park with the huge Sentinel (3165m) at the end. This big Basalt wall stretches for 5km to the Eastern Buttress (3124m) at the other end. Once on top of the Amphitheatre it seems quite flat compared to the rest of the Drakensberg. Read here about [...]

31 Mar, 2019

The 3 highest Peaks In Southern Africa Hike Report

By Ian Shooter|2019-08-09T17:04:53+02:00Mar 31st, 2019|Categories: Drakensberg Mountains and Peaks, Recent Drakensberg Hike Reports|Tags: adventure, bucket list hike, challange, Drakensberg, Eswatini, highest peaks, Lesotho, oldest mountain, South Africa, Swaziland|

The 3 highest peaks in Southern Africa. I must admit that I hadn't given much thought to sumitting the 3 highest peaks in Southern Africa. But then Stuart from the UK emailed me and asked "what were the chances of organizing this trip?" What a great idea. I hadn't gone to Emlembe in Swaziland/Eswatini the country is now called. Unfortunately I still haven't gone to Emlembe as my good friend Geoff of Pizzology fame [...]

31 Mar, 2019

Malachite Sunbirds in the Drakensberg

By Ian Shooter|2019-08-09T17:30:21+02:00Mar 31st, 2019|Categories: Drakensberg Fauna - animals and birds, Drakensberg Mountains and Peaks|Tags: beautiful, birds, Fanua, Protea|

Malachite Sunbirds in the Drakensberg Malachite sunbirds, or to use the Latin name: Nectarinia Famosa are certainly absolutely stunning birds. As you can see from their Latin name, Malachite Sunbirds in the Drakensberg they will eat nectar by preference. However, what most people don't realise is that they also eat insects, spiders and small lizards. So, they will really eat anything small enough to fit into their beaks. In the Drakensberg they are quite [...]

31 Mar, 2019

Sentinel to Mnweni hike report

By Ian Shooter|2019-08-09T18:32:20+02:00Mar 31st, 2019|Categories: Drakensberg Mountains and Peaks, Recent Drakensberg Hike Reports|Tags: Amphitheatre, Drakensberg traverse, Mnweni, mountains, Sentinel peak|

Sentinel to Mnweni Hike Report. Here is my Sentinel to Mnweni hike report that a bunch of us did in March 2019. The day started off with us driving to our camp at Sterkfontein dam. This is a beautiful dam in the Free state with stunning views looking towards the Drakensberg. It is also the 2nd biggest dam in South Africa and is actually fed by water from the Tugela river in KwaZulu Natal. [...]

09 Mar, 2019

Drakensberg Protea Dracomontana – Dwarf Protea

By Ian Shooter|2019-08-09T18:41:15+02:00Mar 9th, 2019|Categories: Drakensberg Flora - flowers and trees., Drakensberg Mountains and Peaks|Tags: beautiful, drakensberg flowers, Fanua, indigenous, Protea|

Drakensberg Protea (Protea Dracomontana) The Drakensberg Protea Dracomontana is commonly found on the grassy slopes of the Drakensberg at altitudes between 1600m and 2500m. It only grows up to 1m tall, so you can see why it is commonly known as the dwarf protea. Protea Dracomontana flowers vary in color from creamy yellow, to pink and even light red. Like all Proteas in the Drakensberg it relies on the winter fires to help it [...]