Mpumalanga Explorations

After the Kruger National Park, we toured Mpumalanga and saw the biggest tourist attractions in this province over a few days, including places such as Pilgrim's Rest and the Blyde River Canyon. It was  an exciting (albeit exhausting) week and officially our last 'tourist-hat' days for a long time....Here follows what we did.

One fantastic Baobab Tree (Kremetart Boom) next to the road. We stopped spontaneously, as these trees are usually more north and we'd never seen one before.  

Coming out of the Kruger Park, we drove to Pilgrim's Rest and stayed in the caravan park that night. We arrived late afternoon and were just in time to check out the different museum buildings. 

Pilgrim's Rest are famous for the buildings made from sink, originally built by gold prospectors. 

Gold was first discovered by prospector Alec Patterson in 1873 who, when he grew tired of the nearby MacMac diggings, went out and explored the area on his own. He found gold in Pilgrim's Creek and soon more than a thousand people were panning for gold, resulting in a sudden village: Pilgrim's Rest. It only lasted a few years however, and then bigger companies moved in with proper equipment in order to mine the deeper gold ore. In 1986 the village was proclaimed a National Monument, and it is now mainly a tourist attraction as living memory of the gold rush years. 

Part of the museum, these are the kind of tents the gold prospectors lived in before they could build more solid dwellings. 

After a demonstration of what gold panning entails, the boys were in the freezing water and looking for gold themselves. They found flecks of gold, but it was so small it looked like misplaced glitter. 

In the transportation museum. Pilgrim's Rest is located between 2 passes, and thus in the old days it used to be very hard getting a car there. Cars and trucks had to be hauled over the mountains by horses/donkeys. 

The General Dealer store. Gold panning is very hard work - this guy was obviously a bit smarter than the rest of them, and got his gold by trading food and essentials with the panners. 

One of the old switch boards used when making telephone calls, in a museum. It was the first time we saw a machine like this. 

At the old Post Office museum - a Post Box really is a handy thing you know, how about a bit of appreciation?

One of the churches. 

Although the Pilgrim's Rest caravan park was a bit rundown, we decided to camp there as this 300-site park is beautifully situated amongst massive autumn trees with a lot of atmosphere. So, after looking for somebody to help us get permission and unlock the facilities, we camped there all by ourselves for one night.  

It got very cold as the campsite is next to a stream, but a local helped us with stacks of wood, so a good old campfire was made and it kept the cold at bay! 

Running amongst the huge autumn trees.

Pancakes for lunch the next day! 

Magical mirrors - I know you have a big brain and a long neck, but please shut your mouth. 

 We visited Echo Caves and enjoyed an hour-long tour of this surprisingly large underground network of tunnels and formations. Echo Caves were used by a black tribe as a hideout long ago, and when a farmer discovered it on his land in the middle 1900's, he found the evidence of their presence among the stalagmites and stalactites. He opened it as a tourist attraction soon after, however a big part of the caves (about 16 km) remain inaccessible to the public.

There were many interesting formations including a Madonna, an ostrich head, an ostrich body separate from the head, an elephant head, etc. Can you spot the ostrich head here? (It's upside down and just left of my dad's head).

Tree roots growing down more than 200 meters from the surface. 

Elephant skin rock (fascinating texture).

Apparently, some of the tribe members sometimes used stalactites as weapons/spears.

Red or blue, which to choose? 

We passed through Graskop (a town) and continued on to see some of the most popular sightings in Mpumalanga. The Lowveld Panorama Route (what the area around Graskop is called) is known for its spectacular views and many waterfalls, and we alternated between these, sleeping over at Blyde River Canyon Lodge. This is what we saw on route...

The Pinnacle, named for obvious reasons. 

Krugers in the Kruger

One of the biggest nature reserves in South Africa (and undoubtedly the most well known) is the massive Kruger National Park in the Northeastern corner of Limpopo and Mpumalanga. Home to an incredibly diverse range of species including the Big Five, the Kruger has come a long way since it was originally established as the Sabie River Game Reserve in 1898 by the then-president of the Transvaal Republic, Paul Kruger (the name was later changed when a few smaller nature reserves merged together to form the Kruger).

The Paul Kruger Gate - in honor of his original vision for a nature/game reserve in the 'bosveld' (bush). 

The Park is now a world-famous attraction, and so we couldn't say we toured South Africa but didn't go to the Kruger (surnames aside). Thus followed a day of game watching (though it should be called first game-searching, then game-watching). Considering we started out rather late, we saw a huge variety of animals. 

Of the Big Five we saw 4 - number one was a whole herd of elephants. These giants are quite destructive, but the calves stay adorable. 

Sibling rivalry is not just among humans. 

Concerning antelopes, we saw many Impalas and a few Kudu, Waterbuck, Bushbuck, Steenbok, Nyala, and Blue Wildebeest. Interestingly enough, the Kruger does not have Gemsbok or Springbok, both which we saw plenty of in the Kgalagadi Transfrontier Park.

"What a beauuutiful day," says the Waterbuck calf (I adore this picture). 

Little Steenbokkie.

Some cool Kudu calf moves (evening stretches).

Beautiful shy Nyalas. 

This hyena was lying right next to the road. We suspect she was either pregnant, or had just eaten an entire impala by herself.  

We saw a couple of warthogs (Pumba!)... 

Tanning hippos...

The odd giraffe... 

Scouting the West Coast

What does Saldanha, Langebaan and Paternoster have in common? Besides being weird names, these three towns are all found in and close to Saldanha Bay, a natural harbor of the West Coast. We've recently had a day-long road trip with fellow German volunteer Dana on the farm, starting through Goedverwacht (good expectations) to the little town of Hopefield around to places like Langebaan, Saldanha, Paternoster, Stompneus Bay, St. Helena Bay, and Aurora (quite a mouthful).

Passing through an area called Sandveld, our first stop was at Kersefontein out of pure curiosity. A beautiful and old guest farm near Hopefield, Kersefontein dates back to 1770 and is still in working order.

Sandveld scenery.  It is literally sand. 

Kersefontein  has been in the possession of the Melck family for 8 generations, and is now a National Monument.

In Hopefield we stopped at a recommended weekly Market for a drink, and then checked out the Simply Bee Center next to the market. It proved rather interesting with a display of a living/working hive behind glass.

At the market everyone was friendly, as so typical of small towns where everybody knows everybody else (and usually what they're doing too).

Watching the bees at work behind the glass. Safe from stings, you learn a lot more this way. 

Big church tower in Hopefield. 

A very old 'hartebees huisie', a specific type of house the first settlers in this region built. 

Onwards to Langebaan, where it's common for people from Cape Town to have a holiday house. We took a short walk on the beach - it felt more like walking on the shore of a lake though, as there were almost no waves (because of the natural harbor shape of the bay).

Just before Saldanha (the town), we drove past the Saldanha Works Steel mine. As a result of the mine everything in the area is reddish (I didn't edit this picture). 

Further on, we had a light lunch in Paternoster, possibly the quaintest fisher's village in the area.

Maarten approved of this sign at the restaurant. 

So Long, Somerset West

Our seven weeks of renting a garden flat in Somerset West came to an end last week, and it's been great. We've worked hard and our first school term is practically over. Here are a couple of photos taken during our stay.

We've been to the Strand's beach a couple of times, and got to know the neighborhood on our family walks.

Notice the way the wind is blowing the sand. 

The boys preferred to walk on the dry sand in order to collect 'treasures'. 

I prefer the wet sand (thanks for the picture, mom). 

Beach clouds. 

A delightful swing about halfway on our walking route. We stopped almost every time.

The palm tree where we stayed. Palm trees make really cool silhouettes. 

Weekends have been quite busy, and we've ticked a couple of activities and places off our bucket list (see some of the previous posts on these). Overall, it's been a necessary and productive two months. So long, Strand and Somerset!

My personal favorite picture from the Strand. 

A Garden, some Big Rocks and a Monument

Last Saturday we visited Babylonstoren, one of the oldest Cape Dutch farms and now rather famous for its big, well planned and interesting garden (see some good aerial pictures of the garden here on their website). We also checked out Paarl Rock and climbed Bretagna Rock in the Paarl Mountain Nature Reserve, then had a lovely full moon picnic at the Afrikaans Language Monument ('Die Taal Monument') with friends.

Babylonstoren farm dates as far back as 1692, and with its eight acre garden as a focus point it is now a venue with two restaurants, a Hotel and Spa, a Farm Shop, etc. The gardens are divided into 15 sections whch contain different fruits, berries, plants and lawns, with interesting features such as a prickly pear maze, a hanging pumpkin tunnel and a Mulberry Meditation corner.

Patterns of lettuce. 

The prickly pear maize - we doubt anyone would try to cheat in here.  

Mom got some inspiration for her future garden. 

And I got some photography inspiration. 

A tiny sleeping hedgehog found in the 'Almonds and Bees' section. 

Family picture with the hanging pumpkins (it really is pumpkins). 

The 'Puffadder', just an interesting shadow tunnel. 

The enclosed Mulberry Meditation corner. 

'Kalkoene en pampoene' (turkeys and pumpkins). 

Then we drove to the Paarl Mountain Nature Reserve, where we had a good view of the Paarl from suitably named Paarl Rock.

(Click to view large). 

 Maarten with a canon they used in the old Cape signalling system. 

Looking up at Bretagna Rock. 

My two 'Supermen'. 

Then came the topmost Bretagna Rock and Gordon's Rock. It was a very short but slippery walk up, and we only realized the size of these solid granite rocks when we got there.