Panorama Route, Mpumalanga, South Africa

5Vadim 5:00 PM Nov 11, 2022

A picturesque road in itself with several Wow spots.
This scenic road is interesting in itself, but of course the main object of attraction is the canyon of the Blyde River. The 26-kilometer canyon itself is of course noticeably smaller than the famous American Grand Canyon or Fish River Canyon in Namibia that I visited in 2013, but unlike them it is covered with subtropical greenery. The most beautiful and transportable place is the bizarre rock formation of the Three Rondavels, where the river Blyde makes a bend. This is the most photo-replicated place on the route. By the way, during the campaign against the colonial past, the Blind was renamed Motlatse in 2005. However, tourists still use the euphonious old name, which in translation from Old Dutch means "glad" or "happy". You will be happy if you are lucky with the weather. I. For example, I got into a fog. In addition to the Three Rondavels (other names Three Wives or Three Sisters) on the R532 highway there are several waterfalls Berlin Falls (R10 per car), Lisbon Falls (R10), unusual Bourke's Luck Potholes,(R55) caves and several observation decks overlooking epic cliffs and valleys (God's Window (R10 per car), Wonder View (free), The Pinnacle (R10). All of the above is problematic to visit in one day. Having rented a car at Nelspruit airport, I stopped for the night in Graskop, as many travel bloggers advised. This town has been known since the time of the famous Voortrekker campaign, when the leader of the Boer settlers, Andris Pretorius, left women here on a "grassy hill" in 1837, if you translate the name Graskop. The town has a good tourist infrastructure, but "dies out" in the evening from 7 pm. The next day I repeated the classic route that thousands of tourists did before me and will do after me. In the morning I went to Three Rondavels, so that after visiting one waterfall, a viewing platform, I could visit Kruger Park, staying overnight in Hazyview.

5DianaG 5:00 PM Oct 5, 2021

Beautiful Scenery
A MUST if you're ever staying in the area of Graskop. We took a whole day to travel north of Graskop. Started at Pinacle Rock then God's Window was a long stop as its a lot of steps up to the most spectacular view (which they say on a clear day you can see the sea by Maputo). Don't bother with Wonderview, it's overgrown and not maintained and after God's Window, rather depressing. Then we went on to Lisbon Falls (if you have time try and find the correct pathway to the bottom of the Falls. We couldn't and got stuck on a cliff and just turned back but we saw peoples photo's when they got back and I was upset we didn't find the right path) and then Berlin Falls is beautiful but you can't go to the bottom so it's just a quick stop for R15 ea. Then up to Bourkes Luck Potholes where we spent quite a lot of time! This stop is a MUST!! It's well maintained and worth the trip. A bit further north is The three Rondavels which you can see from the R532 but if you want a closer look for photos, you can pay and drive in. Most of the places were between R15-R30 pp for entrance so it was affordable for the perfect photo's! Graskop has the gorge and and glass lift as well as the Big Swing and ziplining across the gorge. That all takes some time too and with restaurants there, you can spend another whole day there. It's R40 each entrance but if you do one of the activities, you don't pay entrance. If you take the glass lift to the bottom of the gorge, there is a beautiful walk to follow through the trees and at the bottom of the waterfall. South of Graskop, you need another day to view all the waterfalls to Sabie. After Mititsi Falls at Graskop, we stopped at Forest Falls but they said it was a 3km hike to the Falls and it was drizzling, so we gave it a miss. Then at Mac Mac Falls there's a short walk till you get a lookout where you take photos. Then we moved on to Sabie. Sabie Falls is beautiful but the surroundings are depressing. Stop anyway because it's only R15ea and it's 2 beautiful Falls (Sabie and little Sabie rivers fall down into one. Then....a really long terrible potholed road (you can't even call it a road) but at the end of it is Lone Creek Falls which was absolutely beautiful!!! We also went to Bridal Veil Falls but it was a total waste of time because there wasn't much water flowing and there was no veil bit they said in December it's more spectacular.