South Africa: Sabie 2005 (part 1)

I promised that I would post some pictures of South Africa for you and show what a beautiful country it is. As I'm unfortunately not visiting Sabie when I go back in two weeks time, I thought I would post some pictures from our trip there in 2005.

Sabie is an area in the Mpumalanga Province which is situated in the north of South Africa, 64km from Kruger National Park. I talk about Sara a lot on this blog and Sara's parents own a bed and breakfast in Sabie so that was the reason for visiting this beautiful area (not that we needed an excuse).

We visited in August 2005 which is early spring in South Africa. You can see the effects of the long, dry winter. Okay, it is a 10 week or so winter but it feels long!

The first place we visited was Bourke's Luck Potholes in Blyde River Canyon. I had always wanted to visit this area as I love the idea of a canyon - one day I hope to visit the Grand Canyon in the US and it seemed a good idea to see what there was at home first!

Blyde River Canyon is by no means as impressive as the Grand Canyon and there is a much bigger, more impressive canyon in neighbouring Namibia (Fish River Canyon) which is the second biggest canyon in the world. Still, I was impressed and breathless and I took a ton of photos! You can click on all the photos in this post for more detail.

The famous cylindrical potholes at Bourke's Luck have been made over thousands of years as the Treur River plunges into the Blyde River. Bourke's Luck is named after a prospector who rightly predicted that there were large gold deposits in the region - you may have heard of Pilgrim's Rest. This is a major gold mining area.

How beautiful is that rock formation?

We had fun walking on the rocks at the head of the Treur River.

I often try to explain to people how beautiful the Blyde River Canyon is. I find it incredibly hard to put into words but suffice to say, whenever I recall the beauty of this region I get tears in my eyes. It is the most life affirming experience to know that my eyes have seen such beauty and wonder. Hmmm, I'm thinking I should quit with the soppy words and just show the pictures.

These are from our second stop - a lookout point of the whole Blyde River Canyon. To the left:

To the right:

Now that I am posting these pictures, I feel a strange pulling sensation in my stomach. It is as if my body literally longs to be back there, to take in such breathtaking beauty. There is one view near my old house in Johannesburg, in an area called the Cradle of Humankind. Perhaps I can visit there when I go back and it will still the longing in my heart and my body.

We then visited God's Window.  This is a vantage point offering the most awesome view of the Lowveld below.  "God's Window" refers to the feeling that you are indeed looking into God's own Window when you see the view.

First, this is a photo of the vantage point.  It is to the right of the photo and that is a sheer drop beneath the platform.

And now for the view itself:

Right now I am seriously considering disrupting our plans in South Africa next month and making a trip up there!  But I won't.

If you are ever in the area, I can absolutely recommend that you stay at Sabielala Guest House.  Their prices are extremely reasonable, at R195 per person sharing for bed and breakfast which is £14 or $20!!!  The best thing is, if you tell them you found the details on Mandy's blog, you can be sure to receive lots of extra love and attention.