Winter retreat to Mpumalanga

Every winter, I try to drive far away to some tranquil haven to escape the claustrophobia of city life for just a little while. Last week, I retreated with the family up into the mountains of the Mpumalanga Province of South Africa.

Mpumalanga, meaning “the place where the sun rises” in the indigenous Zulu language, is bordered by Swaziland and Mozambique. It’s perhaps most famous for the Kruger National Park, a natural wildlife sanctuary which is home to the famous Big Five: lion, leopard, rhino, elephant and buffalo. This is apart from the multitude of other mammals and bird species.

I have visited this region of South Africa on several previous occasions and always find new and interesting sights. This year, I decided to leave my burdensome photographic gear behind and captured some of the stunning beauty with just my cellphone camera.

The drive up from Durban, which is now my home, is quite long and tiring, especially through the back roads of South Africa, which wind through many mountain passes. However, the landscape is truly spectacular and rarely dull.

Overnight rest stop at Machadodorp

On the way up to our mountain retreat, we stopped over for the night in a little town on the edge of the Mpumalanga escarpment. Machadodorp, now officially known as eNtokozweni, or “place of happiness,” is famous for trout fishing.

Crystal Springs Mountain Lodge

Our base for the week was a mountain lodge with breathtaking views of the surrounding mountainous terrain, gorges and forests, situated not far from the historic mining town of Pilgrims Rest. The vast property is home to several species of animals which graze freely, often just outside the windows of your cosy lodge.

Watching the sun set from the verandah over mountain ranges as far as the eye can see is something special. The evenings are very cold at this time of year, and they are best spent sitting around a log fire, watching sports, or just talking, snacking and having drinks. The many leisure activities offered by the resort are best enjoyed during the day when it becomes a tad warmer.

Many tourist attractions in the area

There are numerous tourist attractions in the immediate vicinity and around the towns of Sabie and Graskop. These include many waterfalls and sightseeing spots, such as Pilgrim’s Rest, God’s Window, Bourke’s Luck Potholes, Blyde River Canyon, and the Graskop Gorge. These attractions are located within a short drive of each other.

Blyde River Canyon, Graskop Gorge

The Blyde River Canyon is the third-largest in the world, behind the Fish River Canyon in Namibia and the Grand Canyon in the United States. Graskop Gorge, which plunges 50 meters into a rainforest, also offers views of the Blyde River Canyon. Visitors can explore the rainforest by traversing wooden boardwalks after descending into the gorge in a lift.

Bourke’s Luck Potholes

These natural sandstone geological formations are the result of the churning of the waters at the convergence of the Blyde and Treur Rivers. The area was discovered by a mining prospector named Tom Bourke, who believed he had discovered gold; however, he unfortunately did not find any. Gold was, in fact, found by others not far from this very spot.

Kruger National Park

The Kruger National Park, one of the largest nature reserves in the world, covers an area of approximately 360 kilometres in length, from North to South, with an average width of 65 kilometres and a width of around 90 kilometres at its widest point, East to West. It’s impossible to cover the park driving at an average regulated speed of 55 Km/h in any one day. There are rest camps such as Skukuza and Sabie within the park where visitors and tourists can stay.

Since I was preoccupied with driving, I couldn’t capture many photographs. I was also not fortunate on this occasion to sight any lion or leopard. While my gaze was averted in the dry foliage, I did, however, almost drive over a fairly large snake in the road, but some nifty last-minute manoeuvring averted a tragic end for the creature.

The Selati Railway line, which ran through the park between Tzaneen in the north and Komatipoort in the south, was discontinued to avoid negatively affecting the animals. An old railway station in the Skukuza Camp still remains, now housing a train donated by the South African Railways, which has been converted into a restaurant.

Ohrigstad

A short drive from Crystal Springs Mountain Lodge is the quaint little town of Ohrigstad, which is actually located just over the border in the Limpopo Province of South Africa. Ohrigstad is a farming community which was once home to Stone and Iron Age civilisations. The area features extensive citrus plantations, and while we were there, it seemed to be mandarin season as we could get the sweet, juicy fruit practically everywhere we stopped.

Pilgrim’s Rest

We left the historic and provincial heritage gold-mining town of Pilgrim’s Rest for last. Alluvial panning for gold in 1873 was later superseded by deep mining of ore. The town became a tourist attraction with numerous museums in the 1970s, following the cessation of mining activity.

While walking around, we bumped into a group of curious monkeys and an unbothered shop cat. The shop cat seems to be a common feature at many local businesses in these small towns.

A week is too little time to take in the many other attractions the Mpumalanga Lowveld has to offer. I prefer to visit in Winter as Summer weather can be stifling. Who knows when I will return to this part of the world, but I surely will.