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Hi All

Im taking two guys up the chain ladder onto the Amphitheatre for an over night hike next week. Any suggestions on good camping spots with water in the area. I have camped on the tugela before near the mountain hut and had security issues there so Im thinking Ribbon Falls this time? Any suggestions

Cheers

Welcome G-Man, this thread should answer your questions www.vertical-endeavour.com/forums/8-drakensberg-hiking/4273-micro-adventure-amphitheatre.html

Hi G MAN,

You can also check the topic Sentinel Car Park - Chain Ladders - Ifidi Cave, which has a great write up by Boerkie on his chain ladders to Mt. Amery trip.

www.vertical-endeavour.com/forums/8-drakensberg-hiking/4251-sentinel-car-park-chain-ladders-ifidi-cave.html

Welcome G-man

I was just about to post the same link but Tony jumped me on that one. Ribbon falls is a great spot in terms of security, views, distance and water, go 4 it! The only problem might be the footprint of a 3 man tent if you intent going with one but I'm sure you'll squeeze in at some place.

Enjoy the trip and please report back afterwards.

Welcome here G-man!

Confirm about Ribbon Falls, that would be my choice. An the way there you will pass the Bilanjil campsite and you may be tempted to use because its a good spot for a tent. However in reality the shepherds hang around there too, and the livestock are frequently a little further upstream from there, so its only a little better than the area around the Falls. You could also find a quiet spot near the Elands River Falls.

Compare notes with this article on security the Amphitheatre.

Please tell us more about what security issues you had up there previously. These incidents happen very frequently yet we have extremely little written about them.

Thanks for all the useful responses. Really appreciate it. Seems like Ribbon falls is a good spot. We will keep a low "camping profile" and a lights out after dark policy.

Re security on the Tugela, a few years ago (I think in 2007 or 2006) a friend and I camped over there for a night(about 300m upsteam from the falls). A number of other people were camping around the falls too. About 5 tents were cut open and rug sacks, sleeping bags, hiking boots etc was taken during the night. To add to it there were a number of attempts on different tents all through the night (specifically targeting tents with women and children) so the thieves were not put off or afraid of a confrontation. The conditions that night played nicely into the thieves hands as a very strong berg wind was blowing making it impossible to hear anything. Luckily for us we were aware of the potential danger so we pitched our tent after dark, and maintained a stict lights out policy only to learn about the problems that morning. Since then I have avoided the area and limited my hikes to the Monks Cowl and Catherdral areas.