What a nice video, my friend! Great backpacking review! Enjoyed watching, very useful info. Cheers from Russia, Ruth, and welcome to my channel about bushcraft tips and hacks! Best regards, Yuriy!
I've always wondered if Ralph is a real gentleman and packs in your gear for you? LOL You covered everything very well but I've never seen "crime" on a planning list. That is an eye opener for me.
Ralph is a real gentleman, but he doesn't carry any of my stuff 😅 Depending on the trip we are going on, we might share some things. We do generally share the MSR stove, pot and gas for boiling water, and only one of us will carry that (I carried it on our most recent backpacking trip, and I think Ralph carried it on the trip before that). On the trip that we took with my son, we used a double sleeping pad and just one sleeping bag for the 2 of us (zipped open as a duvet), since we had to also carry most of my son's gear. I think Ralph carried the double pad and our sleeping bag while I carried my son's sleeping pad and sleeping bag. We sometimes also only take one first aid kit for both of us.
Ralph is really lucky to be hiking with someone who knows what they are doing and can plan the whole thing! I would imagine that cell phone 📱 reception is pretty sketchy throughout the park. Do you carry a GPS emergency 🆘 locator?
Ha ha ha! We both do the planning luckily 😁 Cellphone reception is non existent in a lot of the Drakensberg. We never used to take anything with us, but our friend Fintan bought a Garmin InReach and we now all use that on our trips. It has been an absolute game changer and I highly recommend it!
There are snakes in the Drakensberg (I've seen a few on my backpacking trips), just as there are snakes in Pretoria and Johannesburg. I have never had any issues with the snakes that I have encountered. They are very scared of people and just want to escape away from you. The African Snakebite Institute has some fantastic resources about snakes in South Africa, and also has a beginner snake identification course which I have done and can highly recommend: www.africansnakebiteinstitute.com/online-courses/online-course-beginners-guide-to-snake-identification-southern-africa/
I have seen many venomous snakes, a black-backed jackal, and various buck such as Eland. None of them have been a problem, and just want to get away from you. The domestic cows were often more scary!
Wow Ruth, tons of information here in this video, thank you so much for this
Thanks!
Very good tips Ruth! you covered it pretty well!!!
Thanks Steven!
What a nice video, my friend! Great backpacking review! Enjoyed watching, very useful info. Cheers from Russia, Ruth, and welcome to my channel about bushcraft tips and hacks! Best regards, Yuriy!
Thanks for watching!
If you're having trouble deciding which passes to do, you can always do them all :p
Ha ha ha. Yes!
I've always wondered if Ralph is a real gentleman and packs in your gear for you? LOL You covered everything very well but I've never seen "crime" on a planning list. That is an eye opener for me.
Ralph is a real gentleman, but he doesn't carry any of my stuff 😅 Depending on the trip we are going on, we might share some things. We do generally share the MSR stove, pot and gas for boiling water, and only one of us will carry that (I carried it on our most recent backpacking trip, and I think Ralph carried it on the trip before that). On the trip that we took with my son, we used a double sleeping pad and just one sleeping bag for the 2 of us (zipped open as a duvet), since we had to also carry most of my son's gear. I think Ralph carried the double pad and our sleeping bag while I carried my son's sleeping pad and sleeping bag. We sometimes also only take one first aid kit for both of us.
Ralph is really lucky to be hiking with someone who knows what they are doing and can plan the whole thing! I would imagine that cell phone 📱 reception is pretty sketchy throughout the park. Do you carry a GPS emergency 🆘 locator?
Ha ha ha! We both do the planning luckily 😁 Cellphone reception is non existent in a lot of the Drakensberg. We never used to take anything with us, but our friend Fintan bought a Garmin InReach and we now all use that on our trips. It has been an absolute game changer and I highly recommend it!
does these mountains have snakes, especially the caves that we are planning to sleep in.
There are snakes in the Drakensberg (I've seen a few on my backpacking trips), just as there are snakes in Pretoria and Johannesburg. I have never had any issues with the snakes that I have encountered. They are very scared of people and just want to escape away from you. The African Snakebite Institute has some fantastic resources about snakes in South Africa, and also has a beginner snake identification course which I have done and can highly recommend: www.africansnakebiteinstitute.com/online-courses/online-course-beginners-guide-to-snake-identification-southern-africa/
What about (dangerous) wildlife?
I have seen many venomous snakes, a black-backed jackal, and various buck such as Eland. None of them have been a problem, and just want to get away from you. The domestic cows were often more scary!