The Drakensberg Mountains are located between South Africa and Lesotho. The name of the mountains came from the Dutch word “Drakensbergen” meaning “Dragon’s Mountains”. The mountain has the record of being the highest mountain range in Southern Africa that rises to 3,482 meters. The highest peak is Thabana Ntlenyana that reaches 11,424 feet. The length of the mountain is approximately 1,000 km from southwest to northwest. Aside from Thabana there are also popular mountain peaks namely Ben Macdhui (3,001 meters) Giant’s Castle (3,315 meters), Champagne Castle(3,377 meters), Makoaneng (3,416 meters), Mafadi (3,450 meters) and Njesuthi ( 3,408 meters). The mountain peaks mentioned serves as the border for Lesotho.
The appearance of Drakensberg Mountains is covered by a layer of basalt that has an approximate measurement of 1, 400 meters thick with sandstone on its lower part. The mountain is registered as a UNESCO world heritage site since the year 2000.
The mountains’ landmark is the Tugela Falls, which is the second highest waterfall in the whole world with a total height of 3,110 feet. Tugela River, Orange, Vaal and Caledon are the rivers that you will find in Drakensberg. It is said that the rivers are important resources for the economy of South Africa that provides water to its industrial provinces.
Drakensberg is abundant in plants. In fact, there are 119 species that are listed as endangered. There are also 2, 153 species in the park and 98 unique species. The mountains is also a habitat for an approximately 299 bird species like the Mountain Pipit which is a unique bird species that lives in the higher peaks.
The most captivating location in Drakensberg is the Bushmen Cave paintings that consist of 35,000-45,000 Bushmen rock paintings. It is also recorded as the largest collection of rock paintings.