Travel - Eastern Transvaal
Graskop to Blydepoort
Introduction
There are many spots along the Blyde River Canyon worth stopping for that photo opportunity. Unfortunately, during the SA Soccer World Cup in 2010, someone decided that tourists must pay to visit these attractions, and this practice still carries on today. Also, there are thousands of curio sellers overrunning these attractions.
Graskop
Graskop is a quaint little village on the edge of the escarpment. It relies mainly on tourism as a means of generating income. Just as you head south out of town, at the top of Kowyn's Pass, there is a little open air pub which is the recieving station for a foofie slide from the other side of the gorge. [Update October 2017] Unfortunately, it looks as though a developer has taken over the area around the pub, so one wonders what is going to happen to it.
The gorge on the southern side of Graskop. Note the cable for the foofie slide on the left of the pic.
The Pinnacle
The Pinnacle is a free standing rock buttress just north of Graskop. Unfortunately, the weather was pretty overcast at the time when I took these pics.
The Pinnacle Rock
The Pinnacle in the mist.
The falls at the Pinnacle
A view down the gorge, with the Pinnacle on the left
A tree growing on a cliff near the Pinnacle
Lisbon Falls
There are many waterfalls in this part of the country. The Lisbon Falls is purported to be the highest in Mpumalanga (wikipedia), however, this is incorrect as the Elands River Falls are higher (wikipedia). The falls are on the Lisbon River which is a tributory of the Blyde River. It is a short detour off the R532 on the way to Blydepoort.
Lisbon Falls
Lisbon Falls
Lisbon Falls
Berlin Falls
The Berlin Falls are a bit further along the R532 from the Lisbon Falls, and also requires a short detour to get to them. They are not as spectacular as the Lisbon Falls, and this problem was excacerbated by the low water levels in the river during our visit. According to wikipedia, the falls are on the Sabine River, but the 1:50000 map, 2430DD (Graskop), shows it as being on the Watervalspruit. The Watervalspruit is a tributory of the Lisbon River.
Berlin Falls
Berlin Falls
The gorge below the Berlin Falls
Proffie trying to get a photo of a lizard at the Berlin Falls viewsite
Blyde River Canyon
The Blyde River Canyon is thought to be the largest green canyon in the world (green, as most other major canyons are in arid areas).
There are some stunning views of the area once one is out of the plantations, but there aren't always places to stop for pictures.
Some scenery before the start of the canyon. Note the edge of the escarpment in the distance.
Photo courtesy Pat Carr
A small waterfall on the Treur River, before the start of the canyon
Photo courtesy Pat Carr
A view across the canyon from one of the viewsites
Another view of the canyon with the Blydepoort Dam in the distance
Blydepoort
Blydepoort is a resort run by Forever Resorts. It is situated at the end of the Blyde River Canyon, just above the Blydepoort Dam. There are a few short drives and several walks in the resort area. It is worth staying a few days in the resort, as there is plenty to see and explore.
Day visitors get what seems to be a bit of a raw deal. The resort charges a R50 per head entrance fee (October 2017). However, this is not as bad as it seems as the entrance fee can be reclaimed from the restaurant if you eat there.
A view to the north of the resort
Photo courtesy Pat Carr
One of the day hikes on the resort
There are many small waterfalls on the hike
Unfortunately, it had been raining quite heavily upstream when I took these pics, and the erosion from the farmlands outside the reserve made all the streams very muddy. You can hardly make out the limestone formations in the tufa waterfall in the pic below.
There are several tufa waterfalls in the reserve
We didn't get as far as the Kadishi Falls because of the weather, but it almost looks as though a boat trip on the dam from Swadini may be a better option to see these falls.
There is a fairly extensive bird list for the area because of the different biomes. The Chinspot Batis shown below was taken in front of the chalet we stayed in.
A male Chinspot Batis
One unfortunate experience we had during our stay in the resort was a noisy neighbour on our last night. The unit we stayed in was a semi-detached cottage. However, there is no wall between the units in the ceiling space (not very safe from a security point of view!). The neighbours arrived very late in the evening, had food, chatted, and then around 2a.m. decided to bath. All this sounded as they were in our unit. I did get my own back by getting up at around 5a.m. and making my self some tea, then having a shower!
Back to the Eastern Transvaal.
