Oil painting of a real place in The Drakensberg Mountains, of Natal, South Africa.
Oil Painting by Ada Fagan:
This is a scene of Mon-aux-Sources is sometimes called the Amphitheatre because of how the mountain range surrounds the valley below.
The reason why the mountains were called `Drakensberg’:
To the ancient Zula people in Natal and Sotho, believed the mountains may have once housed spirits or haunts of hidden monsters. It seemed a natural place for such creatures.
In former years there were reports of dragon sightings and mysterious tracks discovered in isolated places. And when the wind blows down the gorges strange echoes and whispers drift and murmur from the great towering pinnacles of rock above.
And during summer thunderstorms that build up in the late afternoons clouds billow and cover the Drakensburg, like the smoke of dragon!
I have seen this myself, as my parents built a house on the main road into the small town of Himeville years ago. When you stood in their lounge and looked out, you saw the vastness and drama of the storm brewing on the range called Sani Pass.
That is why I love the Drakensberg with its beautiful dramatic atmospheric conditions.
The place: The Mon-Aux-Sources:
Years ago my husband and I visited this scene late in the afternoon. We were travelling from Durban to the Transvaal. And we decided to take a detour into the Drakensburg Mountains along the way.
When we got there, I was astonished how built up the area was since the last time we had been there. Sadly the countryside was abounding in shacks and refuse scattered everywhere!
One of the reasons we were there, is that I wanted some good photos of the Drakensberg to take home to paint. We knew we couldn’t stay long because a storm was brewing.
Then the storm really began to threaten:
And now we really had to leave in a hurry.
It wasn’t long before the rain came down in sheets that you couldn’t even see the bonnet of the car or the road before you, because the mist had also descended down on the countryside.
It was like the unknown dragon was chasing us!
It was scary trying to cross bridges where the rivers were in flood.
The water was gouging the river banks and bridge foundations. And in some cases, the strong flow of the water was so close to flowing over the bridge, as we were crossing over!!
Added to that, hail started pounding our car too. I was so glad when we got out of the storm area and were back on the highway to Johannesburg!
Hope you enjoyed our adventure too…