Tugela's waterfall is the greatness of nature

Nature has created many beautiful places, where you can spend hours and admiring the surrounding world: plants, animals, magnificent landscapes. Such places are everywhere, including on the arid continent, in the South African Republic.

Tugela Falls

On the territory of the Natal National Park, in the Drakensberg Mountains, you can see a truly breathtaking spectacle - the Tugela Falls. From here opens an unforgettable view. The height of the Tugela waterfall is 948 meters. It ranks second after Angel, which is slightly surpassed (979 meters). Translated from the local Zulu language, the word "tugela" means "sudden".

The waterfall consists of five stage cascades. The largest in height is 411 meters. Tugela takes his origin from the river of the same name, the source of which lies 5 km from the fall, and then, from the top of the mountain Mont Aux Sources, a narrow ribbon of water only 15 meters wide begins to fall from a huge height, which can not always be seen from afar.

Where is the Tugela Falls?

As it was previously said, the waterfall is located in Natal Park, which, in turn, is in the South African Republic. This place is protected by local authorities since 1916, and you can see the nature here in its original form.

Tourists come here most often from the city of Durban. This is the third largest city in South Africa, which is nearest to all. Then you can go to the city of Bergville with a developed infrastructure and good service to rest before you go camping. Here you can find a guide who not only spends to the appointed place, but also tells interesting stories about this amazing African world.

The city of Bergville is located 50 km from Tugela, which can be reached by car.

How to get to the waterfall

Before you see the waterfall Tugela, a photo of which is presented in the article, it is worth considering whether you can walk long distances on foot and whether there are comfortable shoes for this. The cascade is located far from civilization, where there is no road and no food points. You can do it yourself or go on an excursion by arranging it in Natal.

Before the waterfall can not be reached by car and overcome the distance in just a few hours. The path will not be easy, as it will have to go on foot, and then climb the hanging ladders. This route usually takes 5 hours there and back.

There is another popular route. It lies through parks and forests, and every lover of geography, flora and fauna will be completely satisfied with the trip. Most tourists come here just for the impressions that they receive during the hike, and the peak of pleasure comes on top of the mountain. The path will lie through the gorge of Tugela, its length is 7 km. In the end you will see several boulders and a small suspension bridge. The journey ends at a great height, where a beautiful view of the Tugela Falls opens. On such a journey will have to spend a whole day, but it's worth it.

Interesting facts about the place

It is said that the best time to see the Tugela Falls is after heavy rains, when the rivers fill with water and the stream becomes more powerful and noticeable from afar. If you visit this place in winter, then on the top of the Dragon Mountain you can see the snow, and around you a beautiful winter landscape opens.

The waterfall is very little studied, despite its popularity due to the height. Earlier in various encyclopedias, including Soviet ones, it was mentioned casually, and in the English edition there was no description at all, since it was an uninteresting object. Only in the book, written by Wellington about this wonderful country, there is a more detailed description of the sights.

Going on a trip, you can not only see the spectacular views and waterfall of Tugela, but also feed wild animals, swim in the waters of the river and capture all these moments on the camera. In 1836, the highest point of the mountain was visited by the French and named Mont-aux-Sources, which means "the source of the three rivers", since it is from this mountain that three water arteries - Tugela, Orange and Vaal feed.

Before you go on this exciting journey, you need to prepare properly. You need to be physically hardy, since you will not only have to go hiking, but also climb the iron staircase, mounted directly into the mountains. Another way you can not reach the top of the mountain.