Evan Haussmann takes a peak into Golden Gate Highlands National Park

June 4, 2011
Eastern Free State, Free State, Lifestyle, Nature & Outdoors, Publications, Tourism, Tourist Attractions, Travel, Wildlife

Source: Southern Africa’s top 21 parks taken from the April 2010 Issue of Getaway Magazine.

Somewhere between the Free State’s endless mealie fields and the serrated peaks of the Maloti Mountains lies a portal into the very distant past. Evan Haussmann takes a peak.

The characteristic orange and gold hues of the sandstone cliffs are at their best around sunrise and sunset. Photo by Justin Fox.

Surrounded by basalt-capped sandstone buttresses in the foothills of the Maloti Mountains lies the Golden Gate Highlands National Park.

It got its name from its dramatic entrance. The towering sandstone buttresses are especially impressive in the late afternoon when the cliffs’ orange and yellow hues glow in the warm, angled sunlight.

Apart from the freshly broken-bread landscape and its fascinating geology, the area also has incredible fossils. Some 180-million years ago, a mother Massospondylus would have been most disappointed at the failure of her little dinosaur offspring to hatch. The little critters didn’t live, but still tell an important tale and today those six fossilised eggs are… er… solid evidence of the evolutionary transition between reptiles and birds.

A hike up Brandwag is rewarded with stupendous views and close ups of millions of years of weathering action. Photo by David Bristow.

Between the dinosaur mom’s time and when Boers took refuge in the caves during the Anglo-Boer War, the Khoisan practised their painting skills, hanging out in the shelter of the cave networks, tossing their stone implements about.

Cathedral Cave would surely have been their penthouse suite. What with a quartzite dome 60 metres overhead and a waterfall from its apex, it may have been a very sacred place. Walks which include going up the chain ladder are not allowed between April and September to give the shy bald ibises a bit of privacy to breed.

Human activity near breeding beared vultures is a major cause of the drop in their numbers. Photo by Richard Bartz.

Apart from these rare birds and similarly scarce bearded vultures (lammergeiers), the park is rich in raptors – lanners and peregrine falcons and crowned, martial and Verreauxs’ eagles patrol the airspace over an incredible 60 species of grass covering the plains below, when it’s not snowing of course. Yes, it snows and the sight of Golden Gate after a fresh sprinkling transforms an already beautiful picture into a black-and-white wonderland.

Equidistant from Johannesburg, Durban and Bloemfontein, Golden Gate is worth putting on your places-to-visit list. It’s possible to drive through as a day visitor en route to your destination. While you’re there, take a short game drive on the Oribi or Blesbok loop.

But really, spend more time, visit the Basotho Cultural Village and try the traditional dishes. There’s also the two-day Rhebok Hiking Trail, or shorter day trails and horse rides.

The 11600-hectare (340 square kilometre) highland habitat of Golden Gate is diverse and spectacular enough to keep even your great-great grand-children entertained.

Mammals

The painted rock

The cliff formations comprise three main rock layers.

200-million years ago: red layers of mud deposited by swampy rivers.

196-million years ago: rivers dried up, the resulting desert left yellow sandstone deposits.

160 to 190-million years ago: volcanic action capped the sandstone with a ‘weather resistant’ layer of basalt. Water action carved the first two soft layers into the formations that enchant us today.