Day 69: Monks Cowl – Mahai Campsite / Royal Natal NP

It rains quite a bit during the night, everything is wet, it's drizzling. The clouds are hanging there. We shiver and decide to change location. Towards Clarens – a little to the north – it should get a little better.

Before we set off, we chat for a long time with Riette and Reinhold from Hermanus. Both love to travel, hike, are interested in birds – there is a lot to talk about.

The Coffee Patch is our place for lunch, delicious toast and tea or coffee. And here we meet Werner. He is of German descent, is the fifth generation to live here and speaks a wonderful, northern German pointed "s". We sit together at the table for a long time and exchange our thoughts about the different countries in Africa, about differences in thinking and acting. Very exciting.

We love these friendly and interesting encounters and today is characterized by the conversations.

The entrance to the Royal Natal National Park offers breathtaking views of the Amphitheatre range. The Drakensberg can certainly compete with the Alps in terms of expanse and variety, but are still completely different.

The Mahai campsite has around 80 pitches, four of which are occupied today. So it is absolutely peaceful. You wouldn't want to be here on a weekend during peak season :-)