Panorama Route to Sabi Sands/Kruger - don't pee your pants!

After Randy (Pat's mom) and Linda (Pat's Aunt) got here to watch the girls, Pat and I headed out on the Panorama Route toward Kruger National Park in South Africa. We were going on SAFARI, but first did this fun route along the way.....

"The fresh mountain scenery and panoramic views over the Klein Drakensberg escarpment are quite spectacular and give the area its name of 'Panorama Route'."

First Stop = Mac Mac Falls

"Although the Mac Mac Falls are named for the Scottish miners who sought their fortune by panning for gold in the here during the heady days of the 1870s gold rush, they themselves didn’t come up with the name. Apparently President Thomas Burger was visiting the area in 1873 and was struck by how many of the miners’ names began with ‘Mac’. On the spot, he named the area Mac Mac – a name that has survived to this day. You’ll find the name on many of the nearby tombstones."


There was sooo much fog that you couldn't see anything! This was the best picture of the falls we could get.

Each stop had it's own little market. This was the Mac Mac market.


Then we ventured on into the town of Graskop. We stopped to eat at Harrie's Pancakes. This place is famous and in many guide books.



Next Stop = God's Window....too bad there was still a ton of fog. Couldn't get any good pictures here.

---"God’s Window played an important role in the plot of the 1980 cult film The Gods Must Be Crazy. Near the end of the movie, the Bushman character Xi (played by Namibian bush farmer N!xau) travels to God’s Window, and due to some low-lying cloud cover believes it to be the end of the Earth."

Next we stopped at Bourke's Luck Potholes....





"The naturally formed ‘potholes' in the waters in the Blyde River Canyon are most unusual. Formed at the meeting point of the gushing Treur River and the Blyde River, these holes have been created by centuries of whirlpools causing river sand and rock to scrape away at the river bed."
"These potholes get their name from gold prospector Tom Burke who had laid claim to some area nearby. Unfortunately for him, none of his area yielded any gold; but he did successfully predict that the Bourkes Luck region would be a good spot to find gold."


Now we were getting adventurous!
ANd I almost fell off....j/k



"Possibly the best view in the whole of the Blyde River Canyon is of the "Three Rondavels", huge, round rocks, thought to be reminiscent of the houses or huts of the indigenous people, known as rondavels. This canyon is part of the famous Panorama route. This route starts at the town Graskop and includes God's Window, the Pinnacle and Bourke's Luck Potholes."
Next was the Three Rondavels AKA Blyde River Canyon.... - the sign above is not in English, it's in Afrikaans.
Of course, here fog was a problem again! So we took some fun cliff top pics, b/c we couldn't see the 3 rondavels. It was sooo scary, but so fun. Not sure if you can really see how far down it was, b/c of the fog....but it was soooo freaky!
"Following the entry "Blyderivier" in the Dictionary of Southern African Place Names^[1], the name means "happy" in Dutch and came from a voortrekkers' expedition :

Dutch 'happy river', so called because in 1844 Hendrik Potgieter and others returned safely from Delagoa Bay to the rest of their party of trekkers who had considered them dead. While still under this misapprehension they had named the rivier where they had been encamped, Treurrivier, 'mourning river'."

Then I started to get more and more courage! haha can you tell?

Fog lifted a little down below.
Pat was toooo scared to get any closer than that. He wouldn't hang his feet over. haha




Now off to Sabi Sands/ Kruger National Park for our safari. People were walking along the road side the whole time with stuff on their heads.

At the Gowrie Gate heading to our lodge - Arathua Safari Lodge.

The front entrance to the lodge. The picture below of a leopard with a kill in a tree is what I now expected to see - since they were advertising it.

Here is our room. Room #10. Check it out!!! WE loved it!



No kids = time for the mini bar!!!!!!


Above: the bathroom
Below: the outdoor shower....we had an indoor and outdoor shower. cool huh

Main lobby and bar area

Above: Is where we ate all meals - under that thatched roof. The chef came out each day and offered a 3 course meal. A starter, a choice of 3 main courses and a dessert.

Below: A tree we saw on the bush walk with Phil, our ranger. Phil said you can scrap the bark from this tree and mix it with something, water I think, to make natural toothpaste!

Hanging out at the pool between game drives. Great view of the water hole. We could see different animals drinking out of it all week...drinking from the water hole, not the pool. haha Although they are not above that too.
Pat taking an outdoor shower....
I have one more post coming soon of the rest of our trip, plus the animals!!! Be on the look out for it!!!!!!!!!!!!

(Special thanks to the Gasper Family for helping us plan out this whole trip so we didn't miss a thing!!)

References:
-http://www.southafrica.net/sat/content/en/cn/full-article?oid=9963&sn=Detail&pid=7014
-http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/God%27s_Window
-http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blyde_River_Canyon
-http://www.panorama-tours.travel/panorama_route-guide
-http://www.sa-venues.com/attractionsmpl/mpumalanga_panorama.htm