Mpumalanga Sights

Tuesday, December 26th 2006

We had left the 26th open to either drive to our next destination, Dakensberg in the province of KwaZulu-Natal, or remain to see more of the Mpumalanga scenery. After a leisurely light breakfast on the porch of our Skakuza hut, we were packed and ready to take in some of the picturesque Mpumalanga landscapes, amongst a couple other tourist attractions. We took a longer route to leave the park so we could get one last look at any visible wildlife, seeing two zebras and a giraffe on the way, of course the usual springbok and impala.

In the vicinity of Graskop (again, the G said fixing an itch at the back of the throat), there was a full day of attractions to be seen in close proximity but in order to fit it all in, you should have a pretty good idea of where you're heading. We took a mildly organized approach, making our rounds to the Shangaan Village, Pilgrim's Rest, God's Window, WonderView, Berlyn Falls, Blyde River Canyon with the natural Potholes and "The Three Rondavels", not all of which we actually viewed. The Shangaan Village is a tourist spot that allows you to take an educational tour to learn about the people of the village, have lunch, or experience evening performances with dinner. We stopped there first to see what was planned for the day but as it was the day after Christmas, not surprisingly, they weren't open for business. We looked through a couple of their open shops and were on to our next destination, ending up at Pilgrim's Rest, a historical town with its original shops with of course modern trinkets. From there we went looking for God's Window, a nice 20 minute walk up some steps, over a stone path, through some foliage and opening up to an outlook with a gorgeous panoramic view of the Mpumalanga landscape. Just up the road, we found WonderView, an equally glorious outlook, without the hike to it and no fellow tourists as we'd been surrounded by them at God's Window.

We only had an hour or so of daylight left, so we were off in the car in the direction of the Three Rondavels, a picturesque outcropping from the Blyde River Canyon of three huge round rock formations with roof-like tops, often found on postcards displaying the province's scenery. We weren't quite sure of the direction and happened upon the Berlyn Falls on our way, a worthwhile diversion indeed. As we got our bearings then with the help of the Lonely Planet, we drove in what we now knew was the direction of the Three Rondavels. After some time, in the distance, we saw three mountain crests just beside each other, Lukanyo insisting those were the Three Rondavels, though the description above didn't quite fit and the Lonely Planet provided information that those were likely "The Three Daughters". We came upon the entrance for viewing the Blyde River Canyon and the natural Potholes but it was already after 5pm and the gates were closed. The Canyon stretched for miles and we did get out at a lookout to see a bit of it. We drove along for a while more, knowing the Three Rondavels were ahead but night was falling and we still needed to decide on a place to stay for the evening, so we decided we'd seen enough for the day. To us, any three natural formations in succession, are now "The Three Rondavels". It was a beautiful drive and we had seen quite a lot in one day.