Cape Town - Winters, especially in the Highveld, can be quite drab.
Dark and freezing-cold mornings give way to sunny-yet- frigid days. An austere sky sits over a barren and, frankly, depressing landscape, only to disappear on the horizon far sooner than you’d hope.
But a nice quirk of the country’s geography is that for there to be the Highveld, there had to be an escarpment. The Great Escarpment, in our case. And the escarpment means mountains, raising the tantalising possibility of snow, which is nice to look at and always fun to frolic in; a sure cure for the winter blues.
The hardest part is knowing when to take time off work to escape the doldrums, and where to go. Snowfalls in South Africa can be quite erratic and unpredictable.
Thankfully there are some spots such as the Sani Pass, where snow is frequent in winter.
Located in the Mkhomazi Wilderness Area, in KwaZulu-Natal, the pass connects South Africa to Lesotho and is home to the rustic Sani Mountain Lodge, known more for its stunning location than creature comforts. Snowfalls in the area provide opportunities to snowboard or ski, or take in the transformed landscape on a nature walk.
A photo posted by Catherine McLaughlin (@dinocatflower) on May 18, 2016 at 7:17am PDT
But be warned, the Sani Pass is accessible by 4x4s only. Though if you don’t have a 4x4 there are plenty of tour operators in the area.
Nearby is the Giants Castle Nature Reserve in the southern Drakensburg. A visit to the reserve can be packaged as part of a day-trip on historical tour of the province, the site of some of the country’s most epic wars and once home to world-famous figures like Gandhi and Shaka Zulu. The reserve provides access to prehistoric San rock paintings and boasts scenic views. And some tour operators offer guided ice and snow climbing, with routes of varying difficulty.
Just over the provincial border, in the Free State, is the Golden Gate Highlands National Park. The Golden Gate Hotel close by and Protea Hotel in Clarens offer plush accommodation for those not taken to the rough and tumble life offered by the campsite in the park. But whichever way you choose to stay, the park’s record snowfalls in recent years put it high on the list of places to visit for those hankering for mountains and valleys blanketed in snow.
On the other side of the country, not on the escarpment but in the Cape Fold Belt, are towns like Franschhoek, Ceres and Worcester that are surrounded by snowy peaks. Known more for fruits such as grapes and citrus, these towns are within easy reach of Cape Town International Airport and the comforts that will let you enjoy the beauty of snow without the hardship of exposure to the elements.
Obviously if you want guaranteed snow that you can play in there’s no looking past Tiffendel Ski Resort in the southern Drakensburg. It might be pricier and require more planning but should definitely be on your list of snow-filled winter getaways.
Adapted from a press release for IOL