Blogs from Graskop, Mpumalanga , South Africa, Africa

Got in our Pretoria guesthouse for our first South African meal. The women were most pleasant, and in their introductory conversation suggested they prepare a typical breakfast. We have no food limitations. Urgh...could not believe we got eggs, baked beans, mushrooms, tomato, sausage. I have not really gotten over a month of that menu in England. We will try to do better. The drive today is about four hours. Our plan is to check into Daan's Place, get any suggestions for the Panoramic Route, then off again. Unfortunately, it was overcast, but hey, we're only here once, so we'll make the best of it. You're supposed to experience the various overlooks starting from south to north...they supposedly get better and better. We mentioned we might drive straight to the top and work our way back. Well, ... read more

What a day. The roads in So. Africa are like the US 40 years ago. 4 lanes (120 kph) 18" painted medium. Went through one accident scene with people still trapped in car. Might have been dead. Rained the entire way. Turned off the main highway onto the R36. 2 lanes (100 kph) full of potholes. Like that for 40 miles. Poured rain entire way. Finally made it to the Three Rondevals. (photos attached). Beautiful canyon. Rain stopped as we arrived. Waited 20 minutes for clouds and mist to clear. Was well worth it. Off to Kruger Park tomorrow. ... read more

The drive to Johannesburg took longer than we expected. We read that it's not a good idea to travel in South Africa by night, but we didn't make our destination during daytime. Besides that, we took a path Google Maps suggested (slightly shorter than the next best one) which involved ~2 hours of driving through serious potholes. This delayed even more our arrival time. Our host, Dan, was very welcoming and very chatty. The place was well located (Graskop) and had everything we needed (the kitchenette was very useful). Day 1 (24.03) Lisbon Falls Forever Resorts: 5 Hours Link Route Day 2 (25.03) Natural Bridge Mac Mac falls Bridal Veil falls Lone Creek falls Bourke's Luck Potholes Berlin Falls God's Window The pinnacle Day 3 (26.03) Kruger National Park Day 4... read more

Geo: -24.9337, 30.8405So here we are in South Africa! The currency is the Rand and 1 AUD = approx 7.5 Rand. The weather is cool nights (down to around 2C) and moderate days 15-25C with minimal to no rain. We emerged in the lobby @ 6am for breakfast. Our tour was scheduled to leave at 6.30. Our group consisted of 12 members, and was generally an older age. Aside from Nat and I, theres a Belgian couple around our age (Bert & Nela), an American couple (50s; John & Paulie), two Australian sisters (70s; Margaret & Lesley) and four non-English-speaking-Russians 50-80 (didn't even learn all their names; Olga and Zoya were two of them).We have two tour guides for our tour, Jonathan and Shanli. Our transport is an all-terrain style twelve seater truck with full length ... read more

One shouldn't have to get up at 05h40 when on holiday. However, sometimes it is necessary to take a little pain for so much more gain. In this instance, the early morning was offset by a rather pleasant shower, followed by rushed packing of the rucksack to ensure that I was down in breakfast by 06h00. Simplicity was the order of the day so far as breakfast was concerned but the croissant, jam, coffee and water were enough to permit me to follow it all with my daily malaria tablet. The other interesting point about breakfast was that it would allow me to meet my fellow travellers for the first time. Looking around, the tables were empty. There was a receptionist but I knew she wasn't coming on the trip. Soon I heard a familiar sound; ... read more