Astonishing Drakensberg Mountains in South Africa

The Drakensberg (derived from the Afrikaans name Drakensberge meaning "Dragon Mountains") is the name given to the eastern portion of the Great Escarpment, which encloses the central Southern African plateau. The Great Escarpment reaches its greatest altitude in this region (2000 – 3000 m). From below, this part of the escarpment has the appearance of a range of mountains, hence its name, “Dragon Mountains” in Afrikaans.

A map of South Africa showing the central plateau edged by the Great Escarpment and its relationship to the Highveld and Lesotho Highlands. The portion of the Great Escarpment shown in red is known as the Drakensberg, although most South Africans think of the Drakensberg as only that portion of the Escarpment which forms the border between KwaZulu-Natal and Lesotho. Here the Escarpment rises to its greatest height of over 3000 m.

The Drakensberg escarpment stretches for over 1000 km from the Eastern Cape Province in the south, then successively forming, in order from south to north, the border between Lesotho and the Eastern Cape, and the border between Lesotho and KwaZulu-Natal Province. Thereafter it forms the border between KwaZulu-Natal and the Free State, followed by the border between KwaZulu-Natal and Mpumalanga Province. It then courses through Mpumalanga to end near Tzaneen in Limpopo Province.