It is admittedly a toss up for my favourite cave in the Drakensberg between Whytes and Rolands Caves but Whytes comes out tops. This amazing cave is situated in the Bushmans Nek area and was introduced to me many years ago. It has a massive overhang of burnt orange rock towering above the sleeping area and to round off its cathedral like magnificence, has a beautiful waterfall that plunges into an aquamarine pool at the one end. Little wonder then, that I can never resist when there is a hike on offer here despite having visited many times over the years.
There are several ways to approach the cave, and on this occasion we left from Garden Castle along the Giants Cup Trail. We have had a heavier than usual rainy season and evidence of this soon made itself clear when we arrived at ‘Troll Bridge’ that crosses the Mzimude river. Much to our astonishment, half the bridge had washed away and we had to find our way across with the help of several large boulders. A little further on we stopped for lunch before taking a shortcut to Whytes – one that I was curious to experience. It turned out to be quite an exercise in off path walking with a massive climb at the end, so perhaps not so much of a shortcut as first envisaged! This took up a lot of our energy and we were all very pleased to arrive at our destination, but not before encountering a landslide on the path, yet another sign of the very wet conditions. The waterfall was flowing strongly making the collection of water and having a wash challenging. Quite a few screams were heard from the vicinity as the water was bracing! Refreshed and recovered we gathered to socialise over hot drinks and snacks and enjoy the late afternoon. We all turned in quite early, evidence of tired bodies and content minds, and I enjoyed the thundering of the waterfall whilst drifting off to sleep .
Our first challenge of the new day was a very steep climb out the other side of the cave and from here we had sweeping views of the escarpment before us. We then dropped down via a smugglers pass to Wave Cave where we stopped for a break in some welcome shade as the morning was very warm. A little further from here we saw the ‘cow’ paintings next to a small waterfall, something I have not seen before. From here it was a long trudge to the head of the valley and back towards Garden Castle and we were conscious of the skies darkening and looking rather threatening. A swim at Puffadder rock was enjoyed by some. We managed to beat the rain and were soon enjoying a hot shower and lunch at Swiman hut before saying our goodbyes and starting the long drive home. I have no doubt whatsoever that this will not be my last visit to Whytes!
