We all know that the Dinosaurs walked the earth millions of years ago but it's one of those things you read about and never imagine to see direct proof of first hand. Dinosaur Cave, situated between Giants Castle and Injasuti is an area in the Drakensberg where you can see several footprints embedded in the rock for yourself. Although I have visited this cave twice before we felt that it would be good to hike out there again as the route is off path and is situated far off the beaten track. We knew the chances of seeing anybody else out that way was remote which is always a plus in my book!
It was very overcast with a slight drizzle as we left Injasuti, and as we climbed higher, the mist rolled in which made for cool conditions but not so great for the views. The cave was further than we thought ( isn't it always?) but we eventually found the old settler ruin which is the landmark above the cave and put up our tent before going down a steep gully to the cave. Not much has changed since our last visit and it appears that the cave now has new inhabitants as evidenced by Baboon droppings all over the sleeping area. I should imagine this cave is very seldom visited by hikers now.
We spent a rather uncomfortable night due to the slope of ground and were quite relieved when the early morning light heralded the start of a new day. The mists were rising all around us with the promise of blue skies in between and we knew it would be hot later. It was fascinating to see the old cattle dip that had been chiselled out of the solid rock, as well as the remnants of ancient sandstone blocks that had been used for building. Work was hard and time plentiful in those days!
We had magnificent views of the escarpment as we headed back and the cloud formations on this blue morning were magical. We returned via the ridge that leads down very steeply past Dead Dog Cave and with a bit of negotiation, eventually got in to the river valley at the bottom. From here it's a bit of a slog to fight through head high vegetation until you reach the main path that leads back to camp. We were glad to get back after a 16km walk out -a distance my feet knew all about!
