The Great TREK - #3

July the 3^rd  - Mpumalanga

As I am writing this post I am already in Cape Town for a couple of days visiting the family, as I have not been able to post anything, due to Internet problems (Snail speed) both in South Africa and Namibia.

Anyway, on this date we took a scenic drive to the historical mining town of Pilgrim’s rest to show my son how the people used to mine in the early 19th century.

As we reached the town close to lunch time, the little one was hungry so we had lunch at the legendary Royal Hotel which was proclaimed as a National Monument in 1986, Pilgrims Rest has succeeded in preserving the quaint atmosphere of yesteryear.The Royal Hotel offers guests a unique taste of late Victorian style accommodation.

At about 15h00 we took the scenic road back to our base camp (Lodge) as I made a promise to myself before this trip that I had to reach all destinations before dark, and as it is winter in the southern hemisphere, it gets dark by 17h30.

Internet speed…. Bits per second.

The General Dealer in Pilgirm's Rest

The Legendary Royal Hotel

Inside the Royal Hotel

Front door of a street shop in Pilgrim's Rest

Smooth Operator

Haven't seen this sign for at least 30 years

The Great TREK - #2

Our second day in Mpumalanga

Our second day was to wake up early and start visiting this region. We started by our "base camp" Graskop and went straight to the Pinnacle Rock. It is a majestic free-standing buttress of rock rising vertically out of dense indigenous forest like a tall building. There are two different viewing decks to see this natural marvel.

After this, we went to see God's Window, which as the name implies, it is a wonder to see the Mpumalanga lowveldt. It is a 900m high viewpoint right on the edge of the escarpment

The third point to visit was Wonderview, which is about 2 km north of God's Window. At an altitude of 1730m, this is the highest viewpoint in the area and in my opinion, the best viewpoint. There is no walking necessary.

We set off to continue on the Panoramic route and did a quick stop to see the 45m high  Berlin Falls. These are among a cluster of Sabie Waterfalls comprising of the Horseshoe, Lone creek, Bridal Veil, Mac-Mac, and the highest of them all the Lisbon Falls (90m).

As my son started getting hungry we drove past a sign that said "Boere Kombuis" translated to Farmhouse kitchen. Stopped to see how was it, and..... what a beautiful surprise. We ate typical "Afrikaner" food, i.e. a Potjiekos (is an Afrikaans word, which simply means small pot food), which is the traditional stew that is native to South Africa, usually made from a small cast iron pot (Three-legged black pot). The place is right beside a river which just augments the whole experience.

At the end of the day we just waited for the sunset to make a photo or two... 

The Berlin Falls

Typical African Sunset

The Great TREK - #1

The first Leg

Today we started our first leg of our long journey through South Africa.

Left my sister's house in Johannesburg at 06h45 to Graskop in the province of Mpumalanga. We went through the "long way" taking on the Long tom Pass route.

We had lunch in Sabie, before arriving in Graskop just in time for the "world" famous pancakes. As there are really 2 famous houses, we decided to try the "Silver spoon" pancakes first, then sometime before leaving for the second leg, we will for for "Harry's"Pancakes.

The final stretch of road is really full of potholes, so we had to take it easy, appreciating the landscape view of this beautiful country.

I will leave some photos I took with my beautiful Fuji X-T1

Caught these "Tourists" viewing the wildlife on the rest station

Just loved this work of art

The Men's restroom entrance

Looong road ahead

The landscape view of the long Tom pass route going to Sabie

Sabie

Winter time is controlled fires time

The aftermath from the fire

Street art in Graskop

Street vendor in Graskop

We will be here for the next 5 days.

Will keep everybody posted