South Africa - From Johannesburg to Kruger Park

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From Johannesburg To Kruger

I’ve now joined up with the group for my second organised tour, starting out from Johannesburg, travelling up to Mozambique, and then back to Cape Town through Swaziland, Lesotho and the eastern coast of South Africa.
Three of us are picked up from the hotel in Johannesburg and then we travel out to the airport to meet the rest of the group who are arriving on a flight from the UK. The rest of the group are going to be arriving after an 11 hour flight, put on our overland truck and driven 450 km in the direction of Kruger Park- I expect they’ll sleep well once we arrive! There are 11 of us in this group, mostly Brits but with an American and two Australians. Our tour leaders, Justin and Anneka, are both South Africans who previously worked together in Kruger Park.

Monday 8th March

We make three brief stops on our way to Kruger Park.

Pilgrim’s Rest was once the centre for a gold rush. I had expected it to be a ghost town with the original buildings having been transported here by Ox-cart {equivalent to a modern mobile home}. Instead I find that all the old buildings are very much in use as souvenir shops and that this is a busy tourist attraction. A short walk up the hill is the cemetery which includes the "Robber's Grave". He was caught stealing gold from the other miners and was quickly found a place in the graveyard - I don't think anybody ever found out his name.

Blyde River Canyon is a short drive from here. Having recently been to Fish River Canyon in Namibia I’m confused by all the conflicting claims for the world’s second largest canyon. But Blyde River Canyon is big, though - and unlike the others it is very green.
Our third stop nearby is at Bourke’s Luck Potholes, also near Pilgrim’s Rest and the canyon. These are a natural feature of cylindrical holes which have been cut into the rock by the action of whirlpools.

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Photos

Pilgrim's Rest
Now a tourist town

Pilgrim's Rest
They never bothered to find out his name

Blyde River Canyon
It's big, it's green

Blyde River Canyon
Another view