Champagne Castle - Central
Drakensberg - South Africa
The Champagne Castle area in the Central
Drakensberg is dominated by Cathin
Peak, the Drakensberg
's most prominent feature. Although not the highest peak in the range, it stands
guard over the glorious Cathkin Valley, which boasts more resorts than any other
region of the Drakensberg.
Champagne Castle is a truly unique hikers, backpackers and tourist paradise
In
the 1860s David Gray, a Scot who gave English names to most of the peaks in
the area, climbed Cathkin Peak together with Captain Grantham, a Royal
Engineer. They took along a bottle of champagne to enjoy once they reached
the summit. The climb was heavy and two-thirds up they quit, and decided to
have the champagne. The bottle was half empty and as they took turns to
carry the haversack, they blamed one another for snatching sips. The settled
the matter by deciding to blame the mountain, and renamed Cathkin Peak as
Champagne Castle. For decades the peak had two conflicting names. The matter
was eventually settled by surveyors who called another then unnamed
Champagne Castle, and retained Cathkin Peak for the original peak.