Tuesday, 7 June, 2011
Leaving Kruger: Bateleur to Graskop via the Panorama Route
By 6:40 a.m. we'd dropped off our keys and were headed for the
Kruger exit at Phalaborwa Gate, three-plus hours away. Today's
early start isn't for game viewing, but nonetheless, we're still on
the lookout for cats.
Tom and Jana too
early
Our route from Bateleur to Phalaborwa Gate: Southern S52 east, H1-6
south, Mopani Rest Camp, H1-6 continued, H14 southwest, H9 to the
gate. Except for the slight detour to Mopani, we didn't take any
side loops on our way out of Kruger today. No time!
On S52, between Bateleur and the first tar road, we saw elephants,
impala, and waterbucks, and then we were lucky enough to see one
last lion, a young male, heading home after a night of hunting.
Bonus cat!
Goodbye,
kitty!
Stopping by Mopani, we were hoping to get our car washed, since
we'd be only on tar roads from here on out. No way are we going to
return the car to Thrifty with that much dirt, not only on the
exterior, but in every crack and crevice in the interior. No
telling what the cleaning fee would be! Plus, our hope is that if
we wash the car, the scratches all down the side from pushing the
sedan to the limits on the secondary and tertiary roads of Kruger
won't be so visible.
Unfortunately, the car wash at Mopani was closed, it looked like
permanently. However, it wasn't a wasted stop, because we visited
their shop and were finally able to find the elusive Kruger map and
guidebook available in English! Granted, we were on our way out at
this point, but this will still help identify some of the mystery
creatures we've encountered.
The Letaba River crossing on the H14 gave us one of the best hippo
sightings of the trip. They were big and close and didn't take
kindly to us stopping to take their photos. Why are hippos so mean
spirited? We stopped on the bridge and got out of the car for
several minutes. No traffic approached from either direction. I
love how uncrowded Kruger has been. It's going to be weird
returning to civilization.
Hippo in the Letaba
River
Hungry for
humans!
After the hippos, we saw more zebras, giraffes, and elephants
before reaching Phalaborwa Gate, our exit from Kruger. I handed the
guard our exit permit, and all was in order. Then he requested to
search our trunk. Finding it completely free of poached wildlife,
we were free to leave at 10:30 a.m.
The name “Phalaborwa” was given to this area by the Sotho tribe and
means “Town of Many Car Washes.” Lucky for us, we found one as soon
as we exited the park. I made up at least part of this paragraph.
It is for you to decide which part!
The car wash guys cleaned the car inside and out and even polished
out the scratches. It was amazing. We figured the cleaner the
vehicle, the less scrutiny from Thrifty upon its return. Now our
hope is that the scratches don't become visible as the clean wears
off in the next day and a half. They cleaned the car for an hour
and a half and charged R135, about 20 bucks. So totally worth it.
The only damage to be seen now is the chip (or maybe two) in the
windshield.
Mitigating the
damage
Tom and
Geoffrey
While we were waiting for the car, I walked to the two closest
convenience stores to try and get some rand from an ATM. Much to my
dismay, both ATMs were out of service. We hadn't had an opportunity
to get any cash since arriving at the airport, and our supply was
very low. The car wash would use up most of what remained, and we
still needed gas! Luckily, by the time the car wash was done, one
of the ATMs was back online. We got cash, gas, and finally headed
out of town a little after noon.
This afternoon we're driving the Panorama Route over the
Drakensberg Escarpment and along the Blyde River Canyon, one of
South Africa's most scenic areas. The scenery started at Abel
Erasmus Pass, up a steep and twisty road with breathtaking views of
rugged mountains, high cliffs, and waterfalls. We stopped on the
pass at 1:30 and made sandwiches at a litter-strewn and
graffiti-covered picnic area. It was the first turnout we'd come to
without vendors.
Our clean car at Abel
Erasmus Pass
From our picnic
site
The Blyde River Canyon, at 33 kilometers long, is one of the
largest canyons in he world and, unlike the canyons we're used to,
is covered in lush green foliage. There are several viewpoints
around the canyon, most of them charging a nominal entrance
fee.
The Drakensberg
Mountains
The Three Rondavels (R5 per car), at the northern end of the
canyon, was the first place we stopped along the canyon, having
somehow missed the turnoff for World's End. The Three Rondavels are
named after the oval African huts with thatched roofs which they
resemble. This is considered by many the best viewpoint for the
canyon, and it certainly was for us, since later in the afternoon
the views were obscured by smoke.
Jana claims the Blyde
River Canyon
The Three
Rondavels
Souvenir
stands
Next we visited the spectacular Bourke's Luck Potholes (R5 per car
plus R25 per person). The potholes are funky cylindrical holes
carved into the rock by whirlpools at the confluence of the Treur
River and the Blyde River. There's a 1-kilometer path with several
pedestrian bridges leading to the best viewpoints.
Waterfalls at Bourke's
Luck Potholes
Canyon at Bourke's
Luck
Bourke's Luck
Potholes
Interesting
scene
While Tom and I walked the path and scrambled around on the rocks,
Linda went shopping and bought the one souvenir no visitor to
Africa must leave without – a wooden giraffe.
What
the...?
Leaving Bourke's Luck, we started seeing fires. At first we thought
they were wildfires, but soon we realized they were being purposely
set. Apparently in the winter they burn the tall wild grasses
around here in a controlled manner to prevent uncontrolled fires
later on. Makes sense, but it doesn't help our views. Wonder View
was a free viewpoint, which is good, because all we could see was
smoke!
Smoky Wonder
View
Our last scenic stop of the day was God's Window (R5 per car). Like
I say, it was pretty hazy by now, but it was still neat because of
the trail up through the subtropical rainforest.
Indeed
Jana at God's
Window
View from God's
Window
Subtropical
succulent
At 4:45 we arrived at Blyde Chalets in Graskop. Reception is located in
a gift shop, but they'd already closed the shop for the day.
Luckily, there was a note on the door that to check in, phone the
posted number. Unluckily, we still don't have a working phone! Now
what? We've already paid for the room. As we were pondering our
dilemma, a passerby came to our assistance and located the manager
at his chalet around back. So we checked in and all was well.
Our chalet tonight has two bedrooms, one bath, and a kitchenette.
Nothing spectacular, but it was fine except for one thing – No
heat! That was okay in Kruger, but here in the mountains, it's
cold.
Our
chalet
We had dinner at The Glass House, adjacent to the chalets. This was
the only night of our South African holiday that we weren't locked
in a compound, so we were actually able to walk to dinner. I had
rump steak with mushroom sauce and chips. Tom and Linda had lasagna
and salad. Our meals were excellent, and the African art decorating
the place added great ambiance. We all had Irish whiskey for
dessert to brace us for the return to our cold rooms.
I don't know the outside temperature, but it was 58 degrees in the
chalet, which is too cold for indoors! Sleeping was okay with the
super-warm blankets provided, but we were very cold until we went
to bed. I turned on the burners on the stove, and we huddled around
for warmth!
