Mpumalanga
Mpumalanga (the ‘land of the rising sun’) covers the highveld plains and mountains from Gauteng to the borders with Swaziland and Mozambique. This is one of the key tourist destinations in South Africa, home, with the Northern Province, to the world-famous Kruger National Park, a massive reserve the size of Wales and among the best places in Africa to see the ‘Big Five’ as well as thousands of other species. The park features a wide range of accommodation from camping (in fenced enclosures to keep lions out) to self-catering huts and cottages. Surrounding the park, in a series of linked game reserves called Sabie Sand, Manyeleti, Klaserie, Timbavati and the Umbabat, there are numerous private concessions, less crowded but considerably more expensive than the National Parks camps. These small, luxury camps provide vehicles and guides, and offer facilities such as walks, night drives and off-road game-spotting not allowed within the park proper. As animals wander freely throughout the area, the game viewing is as good as in the main park.
THE ESCARPMENT: The other main area of interest to tourists is the escarpment just to the west of the Kruger boundary. This marks the edge of the African continental plateau with a series of dramatic mountains and plunging cliffs. The road along the rim of the escarpment provides spectacular views of the landscape below, including The Pinnacle, a massive, free-standing granite column; God’s Window, a viewing point over the Lowveld 1000m (3300ft) below; Lisbon Falls and Berlin Falls. It then turns to run along the rim of the Blyde Canyon (26km/16 miles long and 350–800m/1050-2400ft deep), passing Bourke’s Luck Potholes, a series of strange rock formations created by the swirling action of pebble-laden flood water. There is a spectacular five-day hiking trail along the canyon called the Blyderivierspoort Hiking Trail beginning at God’s Window.
The surrounding area has several attractive market towns, such as Sabie, situated against the backdrop of Mauchsberg and Mount Anderson, with an abundance of waterfalls and wild flowers; Graskop, a forestry village perched on a spur of the Drakensberg escarpment; and Pilgrim’s Rest, a gold-rush town with many historic buildings. Nearby, the Mount Sheba Nature Reserve embraces 1500 ha (3705 acres) of ravines and waterfalls. Nelspruit, the provincial capital, features the Lowveld National Botanical Gardens on the banks of the Crocodile River, specialising in Cycads, as well as other semi-tropical Lowveld vegetation.
NORTHERN PROVINCE: This province is bordered by Botswana and Zimbabwe to the North and Mozambique to the east, and contains a large section of the Kruger National Park (see the Mpumalanga section). This northern section is generally drier and has far fewer tourists than the southern section but still has excellent game viewing. Access is via the copper-mining town of Phalaborwa, which has some interesting prehistoric sites, or Hoedspruit, home of the Moholoholo Wildlife Rehabilitation Centre and Cheetah Project. Just west of the park, the Letaba area is a lush green farming district with excellent walking, riding and bird-watching amongst the tea plantations and Magoeboeskloof Mountains. To the north of Letaba, near the Zimbabwe border, are Venda and Gazankulu, largely rural peasant communities with a reputation for arts and crafts. The mystical South African artist Jackson Hlungwane, who has pieces of his remarkable sculpture in South African and European galleries, is based here. This is also the home of the Rain Queen, said to have been Rider Haggard’s inspiration for She, and the Modjadji Forest, the world’s largest collection of cycads (50-million-year-old palms).
In the west, the Waterberg mountains and the Soutpansberg provide excellent opportunities for hiking, riding and nature watching, and there are several private game ranches in the area.
In the far south, near the Gauteng border, Warmbaths unsurprisingly contains warm mineral springs. In the centre of the province are Pietersburg, the provincial capital, notable for the Bakone Malapa Museum, and Potgietersrus, an attractive old Afrikaaner town, with a rare breeds breeding centre.
Copyright © 2003 Columbus Publishing Ltd.
Terms and Conditions apply.
|
|
