The Green Canyon

In my last post (to read it click here) I started describing some of the awesome places we visit on the Panorama Route, either going down to Kruger, or on the way back.

I am going to be away, and probably offline, for the next 10 days so I thought I would quickly (before I log off tonight) give you a tantalising glimpse of one of the most spectacular landscapes in South Africa .

This is the Blyde River Canyon. According to some references  it's the third largest river canyon of it's kind in the world, and it is the largest "green" canyon.

The canyon viewpoint that we stop at  is called the "Three Rondavels" and here are some photos taken in different seasons and in different moods.......

 Some of the other interesting things we find at the viewpoint.......

Flowers too.....

And to wrap up this posting how about some more views!

 PS: I've just realised that most of these pictures have a lot of cloud in them. Most of the time when we visit the viewpoint we have cloudless skies, but then I usually don't take photos.....

Beauty before the "beasts"

One distinct advantage of doing the long drive from Johannesburg to Kruger National Park is to witness some of South Africa's more dramatic landscapes.

The transition from the rolling, temperate grasslands of the highveld through the towering sandstone cliffs and forest clad slopes of the Great Escarpment to the warm, sub subtropical air of the bushveld, would be a wondrous experience missed if you were merely to fly into Nelspruit or Hoedspruit.

In particular, we turn off on to “The Panorama” route which, for the sake of a couple of hours added on to the journey, provides vistas and beauty to rival that of the better known Cape Peninsular. Many years ago I spent a whole week holidaying in this area and still didn't get to do or see everything.
So when we do “it” en route we take time to stop at just a few of the highlights.

One of these “highlights” is called Gods Window.

The following pictures will show you why we often stop here............

(please click on the photos to see them enlarged)

Gods Window

Forest View

 Some beautiful forest flowers....

Southern Double-collared Sunbird

The aloes are flowering now - an incredible sight, and of course, the sunbirds are here feeding...

Every stop has a colourful market....

Looking west towards the highveld....

 Other stops we make on the Panorama I will illustrate in later posts...........

Postscript:- I was originally planning to cover the whole distance (Johannesburg – Kruger) in another “day on the road” blog posting – because we do do it all in one day – either on the way down, or on the return trip.

But after a few days of trying to select and whittle down the photos I realised that I would not be doing the trip, or landscape, any justice by condensing it into just one posting.......