Easter Weekend in Mpumalanga

An old school friend of mine, Ian was over in South Africa from the UK on a holiday with his partner Emmanuelle. We arranged to meet up over the Easter Weekend in a town called Sabie, which is situated in Mpumalanga and is a fantastic base to view the wonders of the Lowveld.

Below is a Boer canon called the "Long Tom". Germany sold many of these guns to the Boers during the Anglo Boer War from 1899 - 1902. This canon was photographed in the Long Tom Pass situated between Lyndenburg and Sabie.
Ruth and I left Jozi at around 4:15am on the Friday morning, to try and miss the traffic. Traditionally, Joburgers depart the city in droves over the Easter weekend and try and enjoy the good weather before the winter sets in. Unfortunately, rain normally spoils the weekend.

the trip took us about 6 hours from Jozi to Sabie. On the way we stopped at Lydenburg for breakfast and then on to Long Tom Pass which is a magnificent pass over the mountains, but unfortunately it was very foggy and the views were not so spectacular.

We eventually met Ian and Emmanuelle in Sabie where we had lunch on the Friday afternoon. We had planned on doing some hiking, but seeing as we had not seen each other for around 3 years and Ruth and I had never met Emmanuelle before, we decided to extend the lunch with copious amounts of grog.

Early the next morning (Saturday), Ruth and I went for a walk which took us to the hills above Sabie. We found an old train track to walk along. Fortunately the track hasn't been used for the last 4 years.

Once Ian had wiped the sleep from his eyes and we all had breakfast together, we clambered into the car and headed of to the Forest Falls hike. The hike to the falls only took around 45mins each way. As you can see, the falls are quite spectacular.

Ruth kneeling and posing on the edge of the Forest Falls.

Emmanuelle and Ian. And here is a picture of yours truly and his darling wife, Ruth.

After we had finished the hike around Forest Falls, we headed to another magnificent viewpoint called "God's Window". Situated high up in the mountains

Halfway between Sabie and God's Window is a rock formation called the "Pinnacle". Yet another wonderful scenic area.

No visit to the Lowveld is complete without going to Pilgrim's Rest. Pilgrim's Rest is an old gold mining town popular with visitors to the Lowveld. Unfortunately over the Easter Weekend, Pilgrim's Rest is full of bikies, so it was a bit busy, so we headed off to Graskop for lunch instead. Every town in South Africa has a Royal Hotel by the way.

On the Sunday, we drove out to the "Blyde River Canyon". I haven't been there for nearly 20 years and had forgotten the awesome beauty and vastness of the Canyon. The photo below of the "Three Rondavels" does not do the Canyon justice.

Ruth and I with the "Three Rondavels" in the background.