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Mpumalanga - Graskop |
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In the uplands of the Mpumalanga escarpment, 15 kilometres south-east of Pilgrim's Rest This attractive little hillside town - its name means 'grassy peak' - is set atop Kowyn's Pass deep in forestry country, its few streets sometimes noisy, pleasantly so, with the heavy passage of timber trucks. Graskop actually started life, in the 1880s, as a miners' camp, but the alluvial gold soon ran out and milling eventually took over as its chief preoccupation. The town is also on the Panorama scenic route that winds its way through some of the loveliest upland terrain in Africa, cool and often mist-wreathed slopes that support dense evergreen plantations. The ocean of green is counterpointed, in their season, by scarlet-flamed aloes and a myriad of wild flowers that bring splashes of bright colour to the landscapes. Most of the trees are exotic - pines and wattles and eucalyptus - but here and there you'll find patches of natural forest that sustain yellowwood and black ironwood, white peach, cabbage tree, wild lemon, poison olive and others with such evocative names as bachelor's refuge and silky bark. There isn't very much to see and do in the village itself (though Harrie's Pancake Shop and its superlative crepes are famed and do attract a lot of hungry visitors); the tourist drawcards lie in the countryside around. Kruger National Park Like all the towns and villages of eastern Mpumalanga, Graskop is strategically sited for easy access to South Africa's premier wildlife sanctuary. The park's Orpen and Paul Kruger gates are little more than half-an-hour's drive to the east. Blyde River Canyon Graskop is the nearest centre to this awesome gorge, one of Africa's most stunning natural features. Its massive, majestic, green-mantled red sandstone cliffs rise up almost a kilometre, and almost sheer, to the great massif of Mariepskop and the hump-like peaks known as the Three Rondavels (a 'rondavel' is the European name for the circular hut traditional to some African communities). Viewpoints that take in the immensity of the canyon and the hot, hazy Lowveld beyond are easily accessible from the main road (the R532). Blyde River Canyon (Blyderivierspoort) Nature Reserve The gorge is the principal but by no means only attraction of this fine sanctuary, a 27,000-hectare (67,000-acre) expanse of rolling grassland, hill and quartzite cliff that is home to leopards, caracals (or lynxes), monkeys, a wide variety of antelope, nearly 330 different kinds of bird - black and martial eagles, brown parrots, three species of loerie and the endangered bald ibis among them - together with an intriguing plant life. The latter, subtropical bushveld in the lower parts ranging to dwarf mountain vegetation in the higher - includes two rare proteas. Some enticing hikes and rambles have been laid out. Worth walking to are Bourke's Luck potholes, a fantasia of rock shapes and colours created by water-erosion at its strangest. Two large resorts - virtually self-contained villages of, mainly, self-catering accommodation plus all the leisure amenities - have been established within the park. Pilgrim's Rest Gold was discovered in one of the highland creeks in 1873, drawing hopeful panners and prospectors from all over the country, indeed from all over the globe (news of a bonanza travels fast in the world of the fortune hunter), and the scatter of tents and rudimentary shacks soon grew into a thriving little village complete with solid brick houses, church, shops, canteens, a newspaper and the renowned Royal Hotel. The diggers called it Pilgrim's Rest because here, at last, after so many false trails and faded dreams, they had found their home. In due course the alluvial deposits ran out and the locals turned to forestry, but their village, whose residents still number in the hundreds, has been meticulously preserved in its entirety as a 'living museum' and major tourist venue. Sabie About 40 kilometres to the south and somewhat similar to Pilgrim's Rest in its origins, Sabie is a handsome little centre set astride the river of that name, the sound of water thundering through town a constant refrain. Born of gold, Sabie is now a major hub of the agro forestry industry: from the early days the mines of the area and especially those far to the west, on the Witwatersrand, have had an insatiable appetite for timber (for pit-props) and some of the world's largest man-made forests now cover the surrounding hillsides. Sabie boasts the country's largest sawmill; the forestry museum is well worth an hour of your time, as is the 'tree-breeding' centre just to the east. Quite a few affluent refugees from the concrete jungle have chosen to set up home, or at least a holiday house, in and around town. The town offers craft and other shops, one or two excellent restaurants and a sprinkle of guest-houses, self-catering bungalows and B&Bs. Mount Sheba Forest Reserve Just to the west of Graskop, the reserve, a private estate set in a deep green valley , is one of the region's loveliest sanctuaries. The rainforest here, made up of more than a thousand different kinds of tree and plant, is in what is called 'climax condition' (the trees complete their life cycle without interference), and the floral community is both stable and pristine - botanist's dream. Many of the trees are labeled, others wait to be identified; charming little paths wind their way up and through the hillside glades. In the lawned centre of the valley are the thatched buildings of a charming hotel. Echo Caves Beyond the Blyde River Canyon Reserve to the north-west (take the R532 and then the R36) is a fascinating series of formations that includes a vast (100 metres long, 50 metres high) cavern full of stalactites, stalagmites and other dripstone formations that, when tapped, echo with surprising loudness. There's also the Cannibal Cave, which is home to millions of bats. These and other caverns once sheltered Stone Age groups, whose life and art are featured in the nearby Museum of Man. Waterfalls The Escarpment's clear mountain rivers, streams and rivulets plunge over the edge of the broken ledge of the great interior plateau as it descends into the Lowveld plain in a myriad cascades, some of them exquisite, all worth a quiet and contemplative visit. Among the more notable are the Lisbon and Berlin, the Elands River, the Lone Creek, the Montrose, the Forest and the Macmac (named after the early diggers, many of whom were Scotsmen). The Panorama Route. Also known as the Summit route. This most pleasant of circular day-drives (with digressions) takes you through Sabie and Graskop to one or two of the most impressive waterfalls, to the bathing pools of the Blyde River, the enchanting picnic spot at Watervalspruit in the Blyde Nature Reserve, to the canyon itself, to God's Window viewpoint and to Bourke's Luck potholes, and through the deep-green pine plantations to Pilgrim's Rest. Abel Erasmus Pass On the R36 (take the R532 from Graskop), which runs down through steep cliffs, offering splendid vistas of the Olifants River and the Lowveld plain to the east.
Sabie and Pilgrim's Rest lie respectively to the south and north of Graskop. Nelspruit is to the south-east (head for the R37). |
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GRASKOP Western Cape
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