DrakensbergHiker FAQs

Food on a Hike

Food on a hike is very important as it gives you energy to walk all day but should also taste nice and be a social event. I love cooking and actually have quite a few different suppers that I supply and cook. Most days we start supper at 5.30pm.

#1 is Butter chicken with rice, mushrooms and onions. #2 is Sausage and smash with sweet corn and gravy. #3 is Chakalaka with rice and of course cheese is also good. #4 is Pasta with cheese sauce and tuna #5 is Pasta with salami or bacon and cheese sauce #6 is Smash and gravy and thinly sliced biltong.  #7 soya with taco spice and black beans over some rice. Also adding some cream. After supper we have a hot drink of either milo, coffee, rooibos or 5 roses tea and some chocolate.

I try to have a variety of food but it is not easy when we don’t have

fridges or shops along the way.

It is fairly easy to cater for vegetarians by just removing the meat and adding for example a tin of butternut soup. I have some really good vegan dehydrated dinners to offer too vegans. I can supply vegan breakfasts and suppers but vegans would need to bring their own lunches.

Breakfasts are an important meal and I have all the tea, coffee or rooibos tea you can drink to start the day. Every breakfast has muesli and oats porridge.

It is usually a 4 hour walk between breakfast and lunch.

Some people get a bit peckish so should bring a few snacks to keep them going. Peanuts, raisins, biltong or dried fruit are popular. Lunches are mostly near a river but sometimes we are on top of a ridge enjoying the views while having lunch. For those lunches my porters always bring water for some refreshing juice or tea.

You can expect provitas or salty cracks with cheese, cold meat and boiled eggs. I also enjoy peanut butter and bovril on crackers. The first few days we also get to have apples and oranges.

On other days we cook up some 2 minute noodles with tuna. The vegetarians just serve themselves before we add the tuna. Of course Nandos hot sauce is lovely to add to the noodles.

Drakensberg Hike Transport.

I set up Drakensberg transport because it has to be easy to get to the start of your hike from the airport or your hotel. Unfortunately public transport in South Africa is not that great. That is why I have some vehicles available to do just that. They all have air conditioning and places for you to do your last minute charging of your phones or cameras. We even have a radio to play some music.

All my vehicles have participant liability insurance.

You just never know so it is better to be prepared. My vehicles are serviced every 10000km and when tires have 25% tread left they are replaced. Believe it or not, tires are one of the most important parts on any vehicle. Also nice to have are 2 way radios so we can chat to each other while on the way to the mountains.

So all you have to do is show up at the airport and be ready for an adventure in the Drakensberg Mountains.

Apart from organizing transport I can also book you into a hotel or B&B before / after your hike.

Sometimes people need to just relax after their long flight so catching your breath at a B&B is great. As I live in Pietermaritzburg it is a 2 hour drive to most parts of the Drakensberg. Durban airport is 1 hour away from me so easy to pick you up there. It is also possible to pick you up at Johannesburg airport.

DrakensbergHiker Porters

Our DrakensbergHiker porters are a big part of my business. Without them I wouldn’t be able to offer so many hikes. They certainly make the hikes a lot easier and therefore more fun to most hikers.

My porters live at Mnweni in the Drakensberg.

The Drakensberg is their home and they are great at helping people while on a hike. While it is work for them, they actually love their job. They get to socialize with each other while hiking and get paid to do it.

So there are 3 different options of portaging on a hike.

Not portered at all means you carry your clothes, sleeping bag and mat plus share of the food and a tent that I supply. Generally for a 4 day hike that comes to around 22kg’s or 3kg’s of tent and 5kg’s of food.

Semi portered means you carry your clothes, sleeping bag and mat and the porters will carry your tent which they also put up and your share of the food. Usually that ends up being around 12kg’s that you carry.

Fully portered is great. You just carry a day pack with water bottle, jacket and camera. The porters will carry your clothes, sleeping bag, mat plus tent and food. Your clothes bag (which I supply) including sleeping bag can weigh up to 10kg’s.

When hiring my Drakensberghiker porters you are also employing locals.

While my porters are mostly subsistence farmers they also rely on me to give them employment and they really appreciate you.

My scheduled hikes all have the price on the page. They include a gold, silver and bronze package. These are options you have depending on how much help you would like while on the hike.

I don’t include transport before the hike as people have different requirements.

So included in the price is 3 meals a day, hiking permits, single or double tents, guide and all eating utensils.

Hiring back packs, sleeping bags, blow up mats etc is an extra cost because some people already have this gear.