| Planning a holiday in the Drakensberg Mountains in the | | | | heat radiating from the surface. Grit your teeth. Go |
| South African winter? This little gem is a "something | | | | with the flow. Breath relief when you suddenly pop out |
| completely different" day-trip. So your Drakensberg | | | | into the sunshine again. |
| holiday doesn't have to be all walking. | | | | There's a driverless boat behind you. This is the drinks |
| There are other ways of getting around. Like bobbing | | | | trolley. And very welcome it is too. At around lunchtime |
| through the Weenen Game Reserve in an inflatable | | | | you'll come upon a feast spread out on a group of |
| canoe. I hear you say "Hold it. Game reserve?". Relax, | | | | rocks next to the canal. Scotch eggs, asparagus |
| no lions. But that's about all it's short of. | | | | wrapped in ham, chicken wings, quiche, salad, fruit, and |
| The Bushman's River sources in the high Drakensberg | | | | cheese. The lunch fairy's been and gone. |
| of Giant's Castle. At altitude, its crystal-clear rock pools | | | | After lunch you move into the Weenen Game |
| refresh overheated hikers. Lower down it feeds the | | | | Reserve. The sharp, mountainous Drakensberg terrain |
| Weenan Canal - built 100 years ago to provide | | | | has given way to undulating thornveld valleys. The |
| irrigation for the farmlands. While the river rushes and | | | | canal rejoins a now fairly sluggish and narrow |
| tumbles over rocks, the canal is much less imposing. | | | | Bushman's River. You need to paddle a little, and duck |
| Only a metre deep and no more than a few metres | | | | under the odd tree as you drift through a spectacular |
| wide. But it's 12 kilometres long, traversing rough and | | | | gorge. There's a huge diversity of bird life and antelope. |
| hilly terrain. Don't be too quick to jump in though - its | | | | Buffalo and black and white rhino. Being on the water |
| cold, winter-green colour tells you it hasn't been in liquid | | | | means you're less noticeable, and less of a threat to |
| form for long. | | | | the bird-life and the animals. So you can get close |
| Your river guides will have everything ready for you. | | | | without startling them. And you don't need a $10000 |
| Lie back in your boat. And bob. It's warm in the | | | | lens. |
| sunshine but cool in the shade. You've got paddles but | | | | Once through the Game Reserve, you disembark just |
| you don't need them. En route there are three | | | | before the main road into Weenen with the tall |
| not-so-large steel pipes through which the water has | | | | thatching grass glowing orange in the fading light. Your |
| been channeled. You either stop, pick up your boat and | | | | river guides have arranged transport back to your |
| portage. Or you lie back with the steel tunnel only | | | | starting point. |
| inches from your face. It's dark and you can feel the | | | | This is different. |