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Published: November 9th 2008
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First thing this morning, I headed off from the hostel on my 4 day safari to Kruger National Park. Along with me is a couple from Canada Crystal & Allan (1st Canadians I’ve come across!), a couple from England Claire & Andrew, a couple from Spain, a guy from Finland, a guy from Holland and a girl from Germany. Full van.
It was a long day with lots of driving and we’ve yet to even see the park! Instead, we went to the northeastern part of Mpumalanga (“Place of the Rising Sun”) province to the Drakensburg Escapment and the Blyde River Canyon Nature Reserve. I think all the driving was wearing on the others. Once again, I attribute all those bus trips with Keating for making long rides feel like nothing! I found the drive to be generally pleasant. I’ve started reading Nelson Mandela’s “Long Walk to Freedom”. And then I’ll look up from the book and out the window to see the countryside go by.
I am impressed with the South African roads and highways. They’re fantastic! I knew it wouldn’t be like Uganda here, but still, even compared to many roads in the Caribbean, or some regional
roads in Canada for that matter - it’s like they were all paved here yesterday!
The 3 ½ hour drive from Johannesburg to Nelspruit (southwest of Kruger) was nice. We passed forests and farmlands, villages and orchards, even some banana plantations. Then soon after turning north from Nelspruit, the scenery became more and more impressive. Rolling hills - that look both majestic and old (but in a good way, in the way that human age brings wisdom, but scenic . . . I’m seriously lacking a good word here!). Then there’s massive evergreen tree forests, but not like evergreens back home. These look like our Christmas trees, except with 30 foot trunks of no branches below. Strange. After an hour or so, we took a turn in the road and then the view actually made me hold my breath. Rolling valleys and dramatic mountains and we were at the top of one of them.
Midway through the afternoon we started making stops at various lookout points along the edge of the Drakensburg Escarpment. The first stop we had about a 300 foot walk uphill and up steep steps. I’m used to hills and stairs - I guide in
Quebec City! And I’m pretty active. But very quickly I was out of breath and my heart was racing and I was dizzy and I found myself thinking how out of shape am I? (It’s only been a week since I’ve worked out.) What did I ever do with that inhaler I was prescribed? (3 years ago and I used it once - 3 years ago). What is wrong with me? Then we stopped. And our guide, Aubrey, said we were at a heigh of 1730 metres. And I blamed that.
But what a view! Below us the mountain/escarpment dropped to a valley. Rising from it and drifting across it were waves of white mist. (It was beautiful until it became too thick to see.) And off in the distance were more mountains and rivers and lowlands. Back down nearer the carpark was another look out spot called “God’s Window”. Traditional African homes had small round windows to lookout - this spot was named for God’s large version of that. Beautiful spot.
Our next stop was at Bourke’s Luck Potholes. There we took paths and bridges and flat rocks around and across a canyon with the Blyde River
below. At one point, the Blyde River and the Treuer River met here, creating whirlpools. These whirlpools created the strange round holes of rock in the canyon now there. There’s also a waterfall and it’s all backdropped by more mountains. Really lovely.
Our final stop was at a lookout at the Three Rondavels, named for 3 huge rocks formed like cylinders with tops that resemble the roofs of native huts (called rondavels). Aubrey told us of an old battle fought between a group in the lowveld and one in the highveld. After he won, the chief named the Rondavels after his 3 primary wives and the flat table next to them after himself. Below us, the Blyde River continued to flow and it pools into the Blydepoort Dam. Beyond it all, in the distance between the mountains, you could see the flat land of the lowveld. It was gorgeous. Really truly.
From there we headed to tonight’s camp spot. Along the way we passed more gorgeous spots of mountains jutting up and cliffs dropping off, rivers winding through valleys and villages dotting the hillsides. Beyond the mountains, the sun is setting, colouring the sky a soft pink but
drawing massive lines of sun rays all across the sky, like rays of light in church paintings - but bigger.
Tonight’s camp is a really nice place! Dare I say, even nicer than the hostel? Clean (though there’s lots of bugs, mostly beetles), more amenities, great home-cooked meals . . . though the next 2 nights we’re sleeping somewhere else. But for now, I’m ready for a good night’s sleep. It’s going to be an early morning. And I’ve got a full day of animal friends to see!
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swills82
Sarah Willett
Amazing View!
Great photos! I also love that you're camping! I miss camping. I haven't done it in years.