Day 12 Blyde River Canyon

After a another hearty breakfast, we set of towards Blyde River Canyon.
Blyde River Canyon Nature Reserve - The fresh mountain scenery and panoramic views over the Klein Drakensberg escarpment are quite spectacular and give the area its name of 'Panorama Route'. Viewpoints are named for the spectacle they offer, and God's Window and Wonder View hint at the magnitude of the scenery. The 'Pinnacle' is a single quartzite column rising out of the deep wooded canyon and the ‘Three Rondavels' (also called 'Three Sisters’) are three huge spirals of dolomite rock rising out of the far wall of the Blyde River canyon. Their domed heads are iced in green and their sides are stained with fiery orange lichen. From the 'Three Rondavels' you can see the extensive Swadini Dam in the far distance, which marks the end of the reserve.

Blyde River Canyon

One of the first places we stopped was at Mac Mac Falls which are 20 km from Graskop.  The falls are 65 metres high on the river Mac Mac and these are declared a National Monument.  The waterfall was originally a single stream, but gold miners blasted it with dynamite to divert the river in an attempt to work the rich gold bearing reef over which it runs.

Mac Mac Falls

At the side of the car park at the entrance to the falls, there were some craft stalls selling wooden carvings masks, spears, shields and carved hippo's and rhino's which were similar to the one called Chummie that we bought in Zimbawbwe years ago.  Lynn has always liked our Chummie and was looking for something similar but could not decide, all the hardwoods are not the same for the colouring and grains.
From here we continued along the main panorama route taking in the magnificent views along the way. Their were many stopping places along this route with each one making a different picture.

Pinnacle

The views above are of the Pinnacle which is self explanatory,  followed by another view called Gods Window and we have pictures of Kath and Jeff at the viewing platform, I took up as different position for a more daring picture.

                                                                     Gods Window

Not daring enough !!

I'm sure Kath said back a bit further!!

Kath went for the dare aswell!!

Our next town was Sabie, and although Mpumalanga's little farming town of Sabie owes its origins to the 1870's gold rush , today it derives its wealth from the forest industry. Sabie's market square is the hub for the surrounding farming community and the centre for the activities offered in this region. Also in the market square you'll  find the lovely little anglican church of St Peter.

                                                                        St Peter's Anglican church in Sabie

                                                                      Taken in the bushes outside St Peter's

This town is really quaint and we all enjoyed looking round the shops and art galleries, Kath and I both chose a picture of zebra's which we decided would be nice in our dinning room.  Lynn and Jeff also picked out a picture of the Three Rondavels which they bought.
The town is also famous for "Jock of the Bushveld" South Africa's most famous pouch, is commerated by a plaque in the market square marking the arrival of Percy Fitzpatrick (Later Sir Percy) and Jock his trusty little dog in 1885.

The book "Jock of the Bushveld" was written by Sir Percy for his young children and tells the story of his dog  Jock  who was his faithful obedient companion, as well as a champion fighter and hunter and their adventures over the past 20 years.
Further along the panorama route we stopped at the Tree Rondavels were you can also see the Swadini Dam in the distance.

Three Rondavels

Kath and the Rondavels

Right on the edge !!

The next picture is of little lizard with an orange tail and a vivid green body, he was quite happy posing while I took some pictures of him, before he skittered away across the rocks.

Friendly little guy

Further round this magnificent route we passed through Pilgrims Rest and Graskop which were typical of the gold rush towns in the Mpumalanga's province.
This wonderful journey that took us well into the afternoon, and on our return to Hippo Hollow, Jeff decided to have a rest before the evening, although Kath, Lynn and myself were still up for it.  So off  we went to Kruger National Park on our own for another game drive before it got dark, Kath drove for a little while in the park area, as I wanted to take some more pictures.

Not the Big 5, but 5 all the same !!

Still looking for the Hippo's