The Home
in the Clouds.
The closest private nature reserve to the Central Drakensberg mountains
Our Story
About iKhayalamafu
iKhayalamafu is the closest private nature reserve to the Central Drakensberg mountains. It’s a private nature reserve first, and a place to stay second: two guest cabins tucked into indigenous forest and mountain grassland, with private and public hiking trails that start right at your door.
Forest, Grassland & Stream
The Story of the Reserve
Long before the cabins, there were the yellowwoods. In the 1800s, loggers worked the forests of the Champagne Valley for these trees, prized for their fine golden timber. The forest outlasted the logging, and today yellowwoods, South Africa’s national tree, still stand throughout the reserve.
Around them, indigenous forest follows the streams down the mountain before opening out onto high grassland that turns gold in winter and flushes green with the summer rains, when wildflowers push up through the grass. About a third of the reserve is indigenous forest, cleared of alien plants and carefully looked after ever since.
Bushbuck browse the forest edge at dusk, grey rhebok and eland graze the higher slopes, baboons keep watch from the ridges, and raptors ride the thermals off the escarpment.
Since 1930 the land has changed hands only a handful of times, and each steward has kept it much as they found it: unfenced to the park, quiet, and shaped around the mountain rather than against it.
The Land We Steward
95 Hectares, Unfenced to the Park
Neighbours
Surrounded on three sides by the Drakensberg Park, with only the Mountain Club of South Africa’s untouched land higher up the valley. A public trail managed by Ezemvelo KZN Wildlife crosses the reserve.
Landmarks
The Sphinx, Crystal Falls, Verkykerskop and Breakfast Stream all lie within iKhayalamafu’s own boundary.
Trails
Around 6km of private trails start at your door and join the park’s public trails at Keartland’s Pass, under the Sphinx, and at Crystal Falls, with free access for our guests.
UNESCO World Heritage Site Since 2000
Why the World Protects These Mountains
In 2000 the uKhahlamba-Drakensberg Park was declared a World Heritage Site, one of only a few dozen places on Earth recognised for both their natural and cultural value. iKhayalamafu is bordered by the park on three sides, so all of this begins where our reserve ends.
San Rock Art
The Drakensberg holds the largest and most concentrated collection of rock paintings in Africa south of the Sahara, made by the San over thousands of years. It’s one of the richest records of an ancient people’s spiritual life anywhere on Earth, and painted shelters are an easy day trip from the valley.
Scenery
UNESCO listed the landscape itself for its exceptional natural beauty: soaring basalt buttresses, golden sandstone cliffs, deep river valleys and rolling high grassland. From iKhayalamafu you look straight up at Cathkin Peak and Champagne Castle.
Flora
These mountains are a hotspot for plants found nowhere else on the planet. Our forest, grassland and streams are part of that same unbroken habitat, with no fence between the reserve and the park.
Wildlife
The park is a stronghold for rare and threatened species, including the bearded vulture and the Cape vulture. Keep an eye on the skies above the escarpment, and on the forest edge for bushbuck at dusk.
Water
The Drakensberg’s high wetlands and streams feed some of South Africa’s most important rivers. The same mountain water runs through the reserve and straight to your taps.
Access
At most places you drive to a park gate. Here the World Heritage Site starts at the edge of the reserve, with private and public trails leading straight from your cabin onto the mountain.
Wild Neighbours
Sharing the Mountain
With no fences between the reserve and the Drakensberg Park, the mountain moves through freely. Waterfalls and clear streams run through indigenous forest, wildflowers colour the grassland, and antelope, wild cats and more than 310 species of birds share the slopes with you.
Waterfalls & Streams
Crystal Falls and Breakfast Stream both lie within the reserve, fed by perennial mountain streams that run cold and clear all year. After summer storms, water pours off the cliffs and the whole forest fills with the sound of it. Find a rock pool, sit still, and let the mountain do the talking.
Wildflowers
Spring and summer turn the grassland into a garden no one planted: proteas on the slopes, bell agapanthus and red-hot pokers along the streams, and fire lilies that flare up after the winter burns. In the forest, look for tree ferns, orchids and the ancient yellowwoods.
On Four Legs
Bushbuck browse the forest edge at first and last light, grey rhebok and mountain reedbuck graze the open slopes, and common duiker slip through the long grass. After dark, spotted genets, caracal and black-backed jackal hunt the grassland, and Cape porcupines shuffle along the forest paths. By day, eland and troops of baboons move along the higher ridges. Walk quietly and you will see far more than you expect.
Birdlife
Forest, grassland, cliffs and streams in one place make this a remarkable spot for birding, with 318 species recorded on and around the reserve. Bearded and Cape vultures ride the thermals off the escarpment, Verreaux’s eagles hunt along the cliffs, and Drakensberg specials like the rockjumper, Drakensberg siskin and Gurney’s sugarbird are found on the slopes. Bring binoculars.
See the Full Bird List (318 Species)
- Little Grebe
- White-breasted Cormorant
- Reed Cormorant
- African Darter
- Grey Heron
- Black-headed Heron
- Purple Heron
- Great Egret
- Little Egret
- Yellow-billed Egret
- Western Cattle Egret
- Squacco Heron
- Black-crowned Night Heron
- Little Bittern
- Hamerkop
- White Stork
- Black Stork
- African Sacred Ibis
- Southern Bald Ibis
- Glossy Ibis
- Hadeda Ibis
- African Spoonbill
- White-faced Whistling Duck
- White-backed Duck
- Egyptian Goose
- South African Shelduck
- Yellow-billed Duck
- African Black Duck
- Cape Teal
- Blue-billed Teal
- Red-billed Teal
- Cape Shoveler
- Southern Pochard
- Spur-winged Goose
- Secretarybird
- Bearded Vulture
- Cape Vulture
- Black Kite
- Yellow-billed Kite
- Black-shouldered Kite
- African Cuckoo-Hawk
- Verreaux’s Eagle
- Wahlberg’s Eagle
- Booted Eagle
- Long-crested Eagle
- Martial Eagle
- Crowned Eagle
- African Fish Eagle
- Steppe Buzzard
- Forest Buzzard
- Jackal Buzzard
- Rufous-breasted Sparrowhawk
- Little Sparrowhawk
- Black Sparrowhawk
- African Goshawk
- Southern Pale Chanting Goshawk
- African Marsh Harrier
- Black Harrier
- African Harrier-Hawk
- Peregrine Falcon
- Lanner Falcon
- Amur Falcon
- Rock Kestrel
- Lesser Kestrel
- Coqui Francolin
- Grey-winged Francolin
- Shelley’s Francolin
- Red-winged Francolin
- Natal Spurfowl
- Red-necked Spurfowl
- Swainson’s Spurfowl
- Common Quail
- Helmeted Guineafowl
- Kurrichane Buttonquail
- Black-rumped Buttonquail
- Wattled Crane
- Blue Crane
- Grey Crowned Crane
- African Rail
- Corncrake
- Black Crake
- Baillon’s Crake
- Red-chested Flufftail
- Buff-spotted Flufftail
- Striped Flufftail
- White-winged Flufftail
- African Swamphen
- Common Moorhen
- Red-knobbed Coot
- Denham’s Bustard
- White-bellied Korhaan
- Black-bellied Bustard
- Greater Painted Snipe
- Three-banded Plover
- Crowned Lapwing
- Black-winged Lapwing
- Blacksmith Lapwing
- African Wattled Lapwing
- Common Sandpiper
- Wood Sandpiper
- Marsh Sandpiper
- Common Greenshank
- Ruff
- African Snipe
- Black-winged Stilt
- Spotted Thick-knee
- Whiskered Tern
- Rock Dove
- Speckled Pigeon
- African Olive Pigeon
- Red-eyed Dove
- Cape Turtle Dove
- Laughing Dove
- Namaqua Dove
- Tambourine Dove
- Lemon Dove
- Cape Parrot
- Knysna Turaco
- Common Cuckoo
- Red-chested Cuckoo
- Black Cuckoo
- Jacobin Cuckoo
- African Emerald Cuckoo
- Klaas’s Cuckoo
- Diederik Cuckoo
- Burchell’s Coucal
- Western Barn Owl
- African Grass Owl
- African Wood Owl
- Marsh Owl
- Cape Eagle Owl
- Spotted Eagle Owl
- Fiery-necked Nightjar
- Freckled Nightjar
- Pennant-winged Nightjar
- Common Swift
- African Black Swift
- White-rumped Swift
- Horus Swift
- Little Swift
- Alpine Swift
- Speckled Mousebird
- Red-faced Mousebird
- Pied Kingfisher
- Giant Kingfisher
- Half-collared Kingfisher
- Malachite Kingfisher
- African Pygmy Kingfisher
- Brown-hooded Kingfisher
- Little Bee-eater
- European Roller
- Lilac-breasted Roller
- African Hoopoe
- Green Wood Hoopoe
- Common Scimitarbill
- Trumpeter Hornbill
- Southern Ground Hornbill
- Black-collared Barbet
- Crested Barbet
- Greater Honeyguide
- Scaly-throated Honeyguide
- Lesser Honeyguide
- Brown-backed Honeybird
- Ground Woodpecker
- Golden-tailed Woodpecker
- Cardinal Woodpecker
- Olive Woodpecker
- Red-throated Wryneck
- Rufous-naped Lark
- Eastern Long-billed Lark
- Red-capped Lark
- Large-billed Lark
- Barn Swallow
- White-throated Swallow
- Greater Striped Swallow
- Lesser Striped Swallow
- Rock Martin
- Common House Martin
- Sand Martin
- Brown-throated Martin
- Banded Martin
- Black Saw-wing
- Black Cuckooshrike
- Fork-tailed Drongo
- Black-headed Oriole
- Cape Crow
- Pied Crow
- White-necked Raven
- Grey Tit
- Southern Black Tit
- Arrow-marked Babbler
- Bush Blackcap
- Dark-capped Bulbul
- Terrestrial Brownbul
- Sombre Greenbul
- Kurrichane Thrush
- Olive Thrush
- Groundscraper Thrush
- Cape Rock Thrush
- Sentinel Rock Thrush
- Mountain Wheatear
- Buff-streaked Chat
- Familiar Chat
- Sickle-winged Chat
- Mocking Cliff-Chat
- Ant-eating Chat
- African Stonechat
- Chorister Robin-Chat
- Cape Robin-Chat
- White-starred Robin
- Drakensberg Rockjumper
- Chestnut-vented Titbabbler
- Layard’s Titbabbler
- Great Reed Warbler
- Lesser Swamp Warbler
- Dark-capped Yellow Warbler
- Little Rush Warbler
- Barratt’s Warbler
- Broad-tailed Warbler
- Willow Warbler
- Yellow-throated Woodland Warbler
- Bar-throated Apalis
- Long-billed Crombec
- Green-backed Camaroptera
- Cape Grassbird
- Zitting Cisticola
- Cloud Cisticola
- Wing-snapping Cisticola
- Pale-crowned Cisticola
- Wailing Cisticola
- Levaillant’s Cisticola
- Croaking Cisticola
- Lazy Cisticola
- Neddicky
- Tawny-flanked Prinia
- Karoo Prinia
- Spotted Flycatcher
- African Dusky Flycatcher
- Southern Black Flycatcher
- Fiscal Flycatcher
- Cape Batis
- Chin-spot Batis
- Fairy Flycatcher
- African Paradise Flycatcher
- African Pied Wagtail
- Mountain Wagtail
- Cape Wagtail
- African Pipit
- Long-billed Pipit
- Plain-backed Pipit
- Buffy Pipit
- African Rock Pipit
- Short-tailed Pipit
- Yellow-breasted Pipit
- Cape Longclaw
- Yellow-throated Longclaw
- Common Fiscal
- Red-backed Shrike
- Southern Boubou
- Black-backed Puffback
- Brubru
- Black-crowned Tchagra
- Bokmakierie
- Orange-breasted Bush Shrike
- Olive Bush Shrike
- Grey-headed Bush Shrike
- Common Starling
- Pied Starling
- Wattled Starling
- Violet-backed Starling
- Cape Glossy Starling
- Red-winged Starling
- Gurney’s Sugarbird
- Malachite Sunbird
- Southern Double-collared Sunbird
- Greater Double-collared Sunbird
- Amethyst Sunbird
- African Yellow White-eye
- House Sparrow
- Cape Sparrow
- Southern Grey-headed Sparrow
- Yellow-throated Petronia
- Spectacled Weaver
- Village Weaver
- Cape Weaver
- Southern Masked Weaver
- Cuckoo Finch
- Red-billed Quelea
- Red-headed Quelea
- Southern Red Bishop
- Yellow-crowned Bishop
- Yellow Bishop
- Fan-tailed Widowbird
- White-winged Widowbird
- Long-tailed Widowbird
- African Firefinch
- Blue Waxbill
- Common Waxbill
- Swee Waxbill
- African Quail Finch
- Orange-breasted Waxbill
- Red-headed Finch
- Bronze Mannikin
- Pin-tailed Whydah
- Dusky Indigobird
- Yellow-fronted Canary
- Black-throated Canary
- Cape Canary
- Forest Canary
- Drakensberg Siskin
- Brimstone Canary
- Yellow Canary
- Streaky-headed Seedeater
- Golden-breasted Bunting
- Cape Bunting
- Cinnamon-breasted Bunting
- Mountain Pipit
- Drakensberg Prinia
Wildlife Photo Credits
Photos via Wikimedia Commons, used under their Creative Commons or public domain licences. Bearded Vulture: Giles Laurent (CC BY-SA 4.0) · Cape Vulture: Gregory Moine (CC BY 2.0) · Verreaux’s Eagle: Derek Keats from Johannesburg, South Africa (CC BY 2.0) · Southern Bald Ibis: Bernard DUPONT from FRANCE (CC BY-SA 2.0) · Drakensberg Rockjumper: Alandmanson (CC BY-SA 4.0) · Gurney’s Sugarbird: Alan Manson (CC BY-SA 2.0) · Malachite Sunbird: Gouldingken (CC BY-SA 4.0) · Knysna Turaco: Anton Frolich (CC BY-SA 3.0) · Bushbuck: Steve Garvie from Dunfermline, Fife, Scotland (CC BY-SA 2.0) · Grey Rhebok: Bernard DUPONT from FRANCE (CC BY-SA 2.0) · Mountain Reedbuck: Bernard DUPONT from FRANCE (CC BY-SA 2.0) · Common Duiker: Farid AMADOU BAHLEMAN (CC BY-SA 4.0) · Caracal: Derek Keats (CC BY 2.0) · Silver Sugarbush: Andrew massyn (Public domain) · Bell Agapanthus: no rights reserved (CC0) · Spotted Genet: Bernard Dupont from FRANCE (CC BY-SA 2.0) · Black-backed Jackal: Giles Laurent (CC BY-SA 4.0) · Cape Porcupine: Steven Lek (CC BY-SA 4.0).