The weather was overcast and rainy, not ideal for hiking or being outside. Everyday when we drove to our hiking routes, we drove past this little diner in the mountain pass, and now we had the opportunity to stop there.
The diner, The Draken's Burger, is situated on the mountain pass, nestled between a beautiful waterfall and stunning scenery overlooking the valley.
So please join me on this virtual journey as I show you this unique dining experience in one of South Africa’s most beautiful regions, the Drakensberg Mountains. This post is intended to show how you can experience the beauty of the mountains without necessarily hiking in them, so to speak a different side of the mountains, one a little less adventurous.
Without further ado, please experience with me the beauty of South Africa through my camera lens.
Nestled in between a waterfall and stunning scenery
My companion, 
As we sat down, she looked up and shouted with glee, “Look, a waterfall!” We all looked up and saw a relatively big and beautiful waterfall close by! We also saw some people walking to the waterfall, even though the weather was far from perfect.
On the other side of the waterfall, the ever expanding landscape between the various mountains fell open in front of us. The landscape is tremendous, vast, ever expanding, beautiful, awe-inspiring.
If I could paint, I would set up my stand right there, a glass of wine in hand, paintbrush in the other, and I would attempt to paint these beautiful scenes. Now, I can only attempt to paint a picture with my photographs and my words. As I think most photographers would agree, the scene itself is always more beautiful than the eventual photograph.
It is sad that a lot of these scenes contain either farms or property of people who “take the land”. If you understand South African politics, you know what this means. In the future, places like this will cease to exist. Mother nature will yield to the will of the people. Such is life, as another friend here on Hive usually say.
According to the group who have been here before, the amount of recent rains caused everything to be beautifully green. Not too long ago, there was a severe drought, and hiking through many of the fields, you can still see some of the remnants of a recent fire. But most, if not all, of the exposed earth is now overflowing with beautiful green, new, and luscious growth.
A beautiful diner
Enough about the scenery. (More of this in future post in which we actually hiked to these waterfalls!) The diner itself is very small, part of a filling/petrol station, yet it has some beautiful artworks on its walls. I hope and I think local artists contributed to this mural, even though there is almost no information available about its origins. Works like this is usually done for decor reasons, but to me it is art as well. It adds to the beauty of the place!
Parts of the menu and daily specials are drawn on these black boards. I love this concept as it allows the chef to use daily fresh ingredients to change the menu to reflect what is available and hopefully in season.
Dirty Food: Milkshakes and loaded fries
Two items caught our eyes immediately: loaded fries and milkshakes.
We took strawberry and caramel milkshakes. You cannot visit a diner and not have a milkshake! It was creamy, cold, and went perfect with the dirty loaded fries.
The fries were covered with a homemade cheese sauce with bacon bits. It reminded me of my youth, when we still had drive ins, or window-side diners, when we would order burgers, fries, and milkshakes! The cheaper the better usually, even though we knew that this was not the best for our health! These milkshakes and fries tasted just like those memories!
Animals and friends: Wildlife at your feet
When we sat down, a couple of feathered friends visited us. I think this is some kind of thrush, but I will investigate this a little deeper later on. I managed to photograph one from up close! In any case, it constantly flew around us and creeped up close to us. But it is strange as it usually eats bugs and not human food. It managed to catch some bugs while we sat there which made me happy. It really bugs me (punny) when people feed birds bread and human food, as this is not usually part of their diets and can cause problems.
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But there were also other birds, more domesticated than the wild ones. We found a peacock high up in a tree, hidden from sight, and we found a chicken, or a couple of them. They were fighting amongst themselves who could make the loudest noises!
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There were also less “friendly” friends, who would be able to do some real damage if you were not careful. The mountains are also full of them. A pack of baboons was really close to us, not always the best sign. They are somewhat used to people, but they are still aggressive and can be really dangerous. You really do not want to get too close to them as they will not hesitate to attack. They are wild for a reason…
Postscriptum, or a sure revisit is up for schedule
This little diner left an impression in our group. We are going to visit it shortly again, showing our gratitude and to support local businesses. I love these experiences as it highlight that you do not need to climb a mountain to experience the beauty yourself. Nestled between a waterfall and beautiful scenery, you are in for a treat, both visually and taste-wise.
If you ever pass through these mountains, do yourself a favour and stop by this little diner.
For now, happy travels, and be safe!
All of the writings in this post are my own. I was not paid anything to say what I said. The photographs are also my own, taken with my Nikon D300.
