Mpumalanga and Swaziland

We drove across into Mpumalanga to go through the gold towns of the Drakensburg and to see the Blyde River Canyon. The road took us along Long Tom Pass, where the Boers held off the British and we stayed in the delightful town of Pilgrim’s Rest in a preserved mining cottage, which was like a museum. The next day we spent going up and down the canyon, stopping at the many view points (the Pinnacle, God’s Window, the Three Rondavals, etc.), at the dam and once to watch the baboons play. We stayed the next night in a small town called Hazyview and they convinced us to drive through Kruger National Park on our way to Swaziland. We were really pleased that we listened to their advice! My experience last year had been a bit disappointing, but in the morning we spent there we saw no fewer than 22 animals – mammals, crocs and a few birds we could identify. We saw 3 of the Big Five in the first five minutes! Needless to say, we were really pleased and even more pleased to breeze across the border into Swaziland. We stayed the night on a sugar plantation enjoying a braai (BBQ) evening with a family from Jo’burg. The next day we went to Hlane Royal National Park, the biggest in Swaziland, to do some more wildlife watching. The watering hole was particularly good, as was the afternoon game drive where we saw a pride of lions and the lone cheetah in the park. We stayed that night in a beatiful rondaval with no electricity (it was very romantic with gas lamps everywhere) and spent the next morning driving south towards South Africa again. E

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