After a leisurely start at the lovely Airbnb, with both of us starting our exercise regime, we bade farewell to Robert and Magda, who after only one night felt like good friends. Our journey today takes us to Crystal Springs mountain lodge recommended to us by SA friends Carole and Philip, who have helped us with an extensive travel plan around South Africa. Our brilliant stopover in Oliphants was also recommended by them.
A quick refuel in town, where the attendants and Glenn had a man chat about Leicester City and the Premier League and we headed to the R40. We’ll remember this road well as there were incredible potholes in the road surface and Glenn had to weave through them often driving on the opposite side to avoid them. Our hosts last night told us of the corruption in the district council whereby the taxes were being creamed off by officials leaving no funding for many things including road repairs. In fact the council’s answer to the problem was to erect roadside signs along the road stating ‘Potholes!’.
Leaving this road we took the scenic drive south constantly ascending and stopped to visit viewpoints of stunning scenery along the iconic Blyde River canyon, the third largest canyon after, Fish River in Namibia and number one spot to Grand Canyon, of course. Today has been very overcast and unfortunately without the sunlight the coloured rock strata, formations and the colour of the river winding through the floor were muted. However, the grand scale of this canyon was not lost and we drove following its course from the start at World’s End, with the famous Three Rondavels, right through to the end point, Bourkes Luck potholes. These water carved potholes were the largest we have seen and the smoothed surface of the holes highlighted the power of the water entering them from the waterfalls and streams above. We found a quiet spot and watched the water flow past us whilst keeping an eye on the local baboons.
Our last stop at God’s Window, gave us a fantastic panorama of the whole area, a real treat where we could see the mountains, plateaus and as far across to Kruger.
Heading up to the very top of the mountains through Pilgrim’s Rest, we made it through Robbers pass (luckily not today!) and hidden away under a blanket of mist we arrived at Crystal Springs to discover it is also a game reserve. With signs everywhere about baboons entering the properties so keep the door guards closed at all times we settled in to our lovely lodge. The view from our deck was beautiful and we watched the lowering red sun dip beneath the clouds and set behind the mountain ridges cloaked in mist.
After dark, we lit the log fire as it is slightly chilly up here (especially after 3 months in SE Asia!), and relaxed to watch Man City draw with Arsenal, on what we thought was a snowy day in UK but then realised it was the poor TV transmission, whilst dinner cooked including our beloved broccoli and carrots.
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| Blyde river canyon |
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| The three rondenvels |
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| Enjoying the view |
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| Waiting for customers |
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| The top end of the canyon |
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| Some of the many water worn potholes at Bourkes Luck |
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