Our second day of travel lead us from Clarens to the Royal Natal National Park in which the Amphitheatere Hike can be done. During the drive we crossed the Golden Gate Highlands National Park, which gave already a nice view at the mountains. Even that the drive was only 90 km it took us over 2 hours, as the town of Phuthaditjhaba needs to be crossed. The area has a lot of speed limits and road blocker in order to slow you down.
Name: Amphitheatre Hike
Length: ~14 km
Time: ~ 5 hours
Good to know: hike includes a 5 meters ladder climb or a steep gorge (depending on the route you choose). It is a medium/advanced hike.
Where to park: Witsieshoek’s Sentinel car park
Tip: Be aware that the last 7 kilometer to the
Witsieshoek’s Sentinel car park is not recommenced to drive with a NONE 4×4 wheel car. In order to get to the start of the hike you can drive to the Witsieshoek Mountain Lodge and ask at the reception for a drive to the car park.
Cost: Entry price into the Royal Natal National Park, Hiking fee at the Witsieshoek’s Sentinel car park. Eventually driving cost for the last 7 km to the Witsieshoek’s Sentinel car park. (all ~30 Euro for 2 people).
Personal opinion: Stunning views, amazing landscape. Totally recommendable. The hike is coming with some challenges, in order to go up the ladder pack a light backpack – going up 5 meters with a heavy backpack can be interesting. When going down the steep gorge be aware that this is more climbing than hiking and even that the way is short it will take more time than going back over the ladder again.
In order not to drive in the dark I would recommend staying in the Witsieshoek Mountain Lodge. We started the hike around 11 am. As we needed to do the tour over the Witsieshoek Mountain Lodge and ask for a driver to the drive us to Witsieshoek’s Sentinel car park. After we finished the hike we needed to wait 30 minutes for your driver to bring us back to our car. When we started to drive back it was already 5:30 pm, and we needed to drive 200 km to our next guest house which was located near the Giant Castle Game Reserve.
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