The 4 Day Giant’s Cup Trail Hike

• Intermediate Drakensberg Hike

The Giants Cup trail is a 4-day hike along the foothills of the Southern Drakensberg. We start at the Sani pass backpackers and sleep in lovely huts along the way. The 4-day hike finishes at Swiman hut at Garden castle. It can also be done in just 2 days where we walk back to Sani backpackers or we can go all the way and hike for 5 days finishing at Bushmans Nek. Each day is similar in length and takes most people 4-5 hours to walk. As it is in the foothills we are always looking up at the huge mountains. Hodgson’s peak is visible for most of the way. After a while garden castle comes in to view.

The Rhino peak is also visible high above us.

There is a path most of the way so the walking is fairly easy. This makes the Giants Cup Trail a good hike for families or beginners. Or even for people that just want to get into the mountains. The hike is mostly between 1400m and 2200m altitude so we can expect to see some wild-life here too. Eland which is the biggest antelope in Africa make this area their home. There are also baboons, jackals, Grey rhebok  and reed buck to be seen. As we don’t climb to a high altitude the weather is not so extreme which makes the hike very pleasant. We cross lots of crystal clear mountain streams which is great for a stop and a cup of tea.