SA bits 39 - Christmas in Nelspruit,Mpumalanga (Part 2)

As planned, we started our first day in Nelspruit early. This is how 6am looks like here.

This first day would be a light & easy drive along the scenic Panorama Route of Nelspruit. It covers a wide area and along the entire route, one gets to tick-off a few high ground viewpoints, water falls and other recreational hot spots. We did not want to miss this chance.By the end of the day, we would have covered the towns of Hazyview, Graskop, Ohrigstad,pass by Sabie and Pilgrims Rest.First thing I noticed was the HUGE plantation on both sides of the road. At first I've mistaken them for pine trees, only to find out later that they were actually Eucalyptus. Nelspruit has a local industry of timber and paper production harvested from these trees and they are managed by the company called Mondi. Very nice view though, these plantations go as far as your eyes can see at many points along the way.



Our first stop at Graskop Gorge Falls. Water fall is just off the ledge and nearby is the Mogodi Lodge Resort.


We proceeded to God's Window, which I was looking forward to. Sadly, it was a cloudy morning on Friday and we couldn't really see anything from the top. Dissappointing, as we bumped into a family on the way to the top, and according to the man if it was a clear day, we could see see all the way to Mozambique. Damn!

Spider web covered in morning dew.

Imagine my frustration to see only mist and fog.
Anyway we hopped back into the car as it was also drizzling and made our way to the next point of interest, the Lisbon Falls. Check.






And next was the Berlin Falls.



Next point of interest was towards the Three Rondawels, but we stopped by Bourkes Lucky potholes. This valley is very unique as the "potholes" were formed by the swirling waters of the river. Over a period of millions of years and as the river runs dry, these magnificent formations are seen.





Had an icecream here, and off we went to Three Rondawels or also knowns as Blyde River Canyon. The pictures says it all.








As we started to make our way back, we made one last stop in Echo Caves. Nothing much to really shout about, as our shouts don't really echo. It's the stalactites that does echo (a bit) when you tap on it.
This was quite an adventure because at some point of our "caving" adventure, we had to crawl and squeeze into narrow paths and get on all fours to crawl under the stalactite. The best plus point about this cave is that temperature in the cave is very much cooler than the outside. So it was like air conditioning on a hot day.








By the time we finished here, we were all tired from the driving, hiking and crawling. We finally reach the hotel at 5 in the evening. Had dinner in the hotel as everywhere else was closed due to Christmas and ended the day with a few glasses of bubbly :)

to be continued...