Lions are in serious decline across most of the African continent. According to the most recent International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Red List assessment, as few as 20,000 lions remain. The increasing trade in lion bones and other body parts is recognized as a major threat to existing lion populations, alongside habitat and prey loss, human/wildlife conflict and poorly regulated trophy hunting.
Clarens is a small town surrounded by its main attraction – mountains, especially since the village itself is situated in the foothills of the Maloti Mountain range of the Kingdom of Lesotho. The never-ending landscape of mountains such as the Rooiberge, the range encompassing Clarens and Maloti, also spelt Maluti, is just some of the town’s tourist attractions. The Maloti Mountains are often referred to as ‘majestic’ due to its shades of purple and blue, and its range forms a high alpine basalt plateau up to 3400 m in height with the highest peak in South Africa northeast of the range Thabana Ntlenyana at 3482 m, and the highest in the continent is south of the Kilimanjaro. Snow and frost may be found even in summer on the highest peaks.
Granny’s Pool – originally a sheltered bathing area formed by two natural rock outcrops, the area became the natural launching site for the first ski boats off Umhlanga. Today it is used by local fishermen and the Natal Sharks Board.
