Looking to do the DGT in March '23. There are 2 of us planning on doing the north to south route over 10 days. We are both from the USA, and will be staying in Durban, but not planning on renting a car. Are there any shuttle services that could take us to the Witsieshoek Mountain Lodge or local backpackers who would like to join/ride share?
Nice, it is an amazing trip and well worth the effort!
Easiest way to get from Durban to Witsieshoek is to catch a Greyhound Bus (book online in advance) to Harrismith and then ask Witsieshoek to pick you up from there. It won’t be the cheapest or fastest option, but it will get you there. Getting from Bushman’s Nek to Underberg may require a bit of hitchhiking, but I believe you can get from Underberg back to Durban on the Bazz Bus.
Another option is to try and get added to the KZN MCSA Whatsapp group (look for the facebook group and ask there - Karen Miller is probably the best person to talk to) and see if anyone is driving that way around the time of your trip - you can probably just get a ride with some hikers if the timing works out. A share of petrol costs is much cheaper than the other options as well as being much quicker.
For the trip down - there’s an off-chance that your trip may coincide with my club’s hike to the top of Tugela Falls, in which case you can probably get a lift with one of us - although that will be from Jo’burg, not Durban.
Re the the traverse itself - please do a lot of homework on the route beforehand. Many very experienced teams have had major issues attempting it, it not a marked route and there isn’t even a trail most of the way. The best source of information on the route can be found at this link. Its notable that VE includes many people who have done it many times - including Tony Marshall (5 times), Andrew Porter (5 times), myself (6 times).
To my knowledge they went under during pandemic lockdowns etc.
Website cannot be reached…not sure 'bout this
That’s a shame, although not surprising.
When exactly in March 2023 do you plan to do the DGT?