Monday, 31 March 2008
Tuesday, 4 March 2008
Mpumalanga God's Country
Mpumalanga
By road from Gauteng:
Mpumalanga, or in the writers eyes “Gods Country” has the ingredients needed for a true South African experience. At Machadodorp the dry highveld air, suddenly starts to have a slight tropical feel and more then your normal amount of rolling green fields. ”All year round”
You skim past Waterval Bovan, nestled away from the main road, very secretive I hear. At this point if you are driving a fast car, slow down. For some bizarre reason the is a piece of road not more the 2km that has a speed limit of 80km. Considering you’ve been flying along at 120km/140km in can catch you by surprise. Would you believe there are always traffic police on that very strip of road, what a coincidence?
Next stop the tunnel, as tunnels go not that exciting but you know your close now. Amazingly when you come out the other side everything has changed. No longer is the horizon flat, but suddenly you see hills, large hills, green hills, for kilometre after kilometre. The drive into Nelspruit is beautiful, there are plenty of logging trucks that force you to slow down and take in the splendour that is Mapumalanga.
Its time to put your foot to the metal and head for the real reason that you travelled to Mapumalanga, in the first place. Where I hear you ask! Sabie, Hazyveiw, Pilgims Rest, Blyde River Canyon, and Dullstrum. Not necessarily in that order but believe me when you start travelling through the mountain passes, forest and strangely tropical “without the beach” landscape, you would be forgiven for getting lost and visiting some of the places twice.
There is an alternative and that is to turn off the highway to the between Belfast and Machadodorp towards the Highlands Meander. I’ve been told by a wise man that the Kilometres are the same, or be it 3km, but the view! Well that’s a whole new ball game. Just out of Lydenburg you experience the “Panorama” breath taking to say the least. You will go through Long Tom Pass and reach the highest point on the road. Strangely enough it seems to get even higher after that. If your driving the challenge is on the windy windy road if you’re a passenger and afraid of heights, don’t look down. The whole journey probably lasts about 40 minutes before you roll into Sabie, but you will find yourself talking about it for days. A must do stop is Sabie, it is home the best biker pub in the Lowveld. When you get to Sabie just look up and you will see the landmark pub deck.
After a quick lunch and some coca-cola, “you are driving” it’s the roller coaster ride. The road begins to meander down into Hazyveiw, but not for long. Very soon you are driving on a bush version of a race track which matches Kayalami for bends and thrills. Problem is just as you were really enjoying it and your passengers are getting a bit queasy, there you are. The, beautiful town of Hazyveiw.
Don’t expect the plastic “all is well” Sun City welcome. This is a real part of South Africa with warts and scars. But what is utterly amazing is the spirit of the place. There is something so fantastic about visiting the thatched shopping centre, and then heading off to your luxury accommodation to enjoy a Gin and Tonic at sunset. The climate: perfect. The accommodation: excellent. The experience: priceless. Here there is really only one thing to do, and that is stay for as long as you can.
Enjoy: Smoo
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