Golden Gate Highlands National Park, Free State, South Africa















I'm not sure quite how I got there, but I believe I drove along the N6, coming down from Gauteng to the Free State. It was an easy three hour drive from Johannesburg. As usual I abused my company car and hammered the Jetta. From the Free State it's possible to do a round trip of the highlands, taking in Lesotho as well. Unfortunately, I find it impossible to be that organised. I need to marry an organised woman. I'm sure that I passed through Villiers, Harrismith, and Clarens. My speciality is in finding my way out of the shit when I'm lost. That's a skill you need to acquire if like me you're the sort of guy who could lose a button in matchbox.

Or then again maybe I didn't go down the N6. The route I took skirted the mountainous eastern flank of the Free State. This region is the conservative heartland of Afrikanerdom, and it lies landlocked in the centre of South Africa. I traveled through the Free State a few times while I was working in South Africa in 2004.

Southeast of the Golden Gate Highlands National Park, you can drive to the Sentinel car park passing through the hike up to the highest plateaus of the Drakensberg - easier than starting from a much lower altitude in the Royal National Park. Clarens is by far the most attractive of the string of towns running along the Lesotho border. I stopped there to get something to eat on my first trip to the Free State. Clarens is full of arts and crafts shops and those artsy fartsy cafes that attract a well-heeled and cultured crowd.

Sadly I didn't have enough time to explore the Qwa Qwa National Park or the nearby Bashoto cultural village. Even worse, I had left my camera back in my car and didn't take any photos of the Golden Gateway Highlands National Park. The photos here where taken during my first trip with a friend, Johan Smith.

Anyone who has driven through the area will realise that the highlight of the Eastern Highlands is the Golden Gate National Park. This park is special not for its wildlife, but due to the spectacular Maluti Mountains with their stark red sandstone outcrops.

Enjoy the pictures. Click em to enlarge em. 1 Free State Panaroma 2. More Free State Vistas 3. Titanic Rock. 4. Me and my lovely Jetta. 5. Jetta abuse.