A kayaker dwarfed by the 56-metre-high Mac-Mac Falls, Mpumalanga, South Africa

If an epic experience means going beyond what is usual or ordinary – to encompass that which is extraordinary, momentous and great – then that is how I would describe my first descent on the creeking Mac-Mac River, beginning from the thunderous Mac-Mac Falls, a national monument of South Africa.

More than a monument, though, the Mac-Mac River is one of the country’s healthiest, most untouched biospheres. It is home to Red List fish species and many birds like the African finfoot, half-collared kingfisher and African crowned eagle. It’s also a botanist’s heaven.

And now, after two years of planning, contemplating and waiting for the right amount of water, there was no better time to tackle the 14-kilometre stretch of river between Graskop and Sabie, Mpumalanga. Fellow adventurer Andre van de Berg and I would start at an elevation of 1,220 metres and then drop 450 metres. With the help of maps and Google Earth, we had studied the steep gradient with lots of drops, which meant we should be prepared to face some serious rapids.

A Falls Start

Early one morning, after seeing my sons, Luan and Dian, off to school, Andre and I made our way to the still-locked gates of the scenic view point at Mac-Mac Falls. Some friendly craft ladies eagerly awaiting potential buyers pointed out a way around the locked gates and wished us luck. We needed it.

The 30-minute hike to the bottom of the world-renowned Mac-Mac Falls was nothing short of breathtaking. We clawed and slid our kayaks down a small path and already knew that there would be no turning back. There would also be no one that could come and help us. A rescue mission would be a mssion impossible: so we had to play it safe, even though playing it safe is not really in a kayaker’s genes.

Finally at the river’s edge, we quickly climbed into our kayaks and paddled up to the falls to capture the splendour and powerful thrust of the dropping water. We also wanted to mark the start of our epic journey. We tried to get as close to the eye of the falls as possible, but the force of the spray left us literally breathless. What a way to start an experience, at the bottom of one of God’s most amazing creations!

Before departure, we had used Google Earth to create checkpoints and to landmark water features, waterfalls and rockslides to tell us more or less where we might be. But with lots of shaded turns and thick tree cover, the satellite images could not really tell us what grade and type of rapids would be lurking around every corner.

The forces of gravity pull Andre over the first challenge: a seven-metre-high waterfall on the Mac-Mac River, Mpumalanga, South Africa

Some Early Reminders

Rapids were thrown at us from all directions right from the start. There was no stretch longer than 50 metres before we had to climb out to scout ahead. Always concerned about what lay hidden around each corner, we needed to plan our line of approach… if what lay ahead was approachable. This was basically the itinerary for the whole day as there was always something interesting around every twist in the river. A kayaker’s dream.

Our first landmark, just a couple of stone’s throws from the falls, was a seven-metre waterfall with an easy approach. For us, it served as a reminder that respect for nature must be a high priority for a safe first descent. Andre missed his line and disappeared into the curtain of the falls. A couple of seconds later he popped back up, but with nothing more than a paddle. His red medium-sized Solo Fluid kayak was nowhere to be seen: a fairly important item given the objective of our journey.

Andre was fine; with no more than a couple of bruises to his leg, we searched for his missing kayak, which Andre eventually glimpsed still pinned under the curtain of the falls. Our boat rescue attempt produced a kayak that looked like a tin can beaten with a five-pound hammer by an angry teenager. Luckily, as it was made from the finest materials, we could bash it back into shape and were left with only a 20-millimetre tear at the top of the cockpit – something with which we could live, although Andre had to drain water from his boat every 15-20 minutes.

The author enjoys a fast 'super tube' on the Mac-Mac River of Mpumalanga, South Africa

After some great drops and a 40-metre-long rock slide, we encountered our second landmark of the day: another waterfall that tumbled 15 metres down a hill and then disappeared over another ledge to somewhere we could not see. With no more than a glance at one other, we both knew that this was not just unrunnable in a kayak, it could even be impossible on foot. The problem was: there was no turning back!

So with blood sweat and close to tears we clawed our way through nearly impenetrable, thorn-infested bush that was so steep we had to anchor either the boats or ourselves to prevent serious injury. One and a half hours later, nature spat us out like ‘old chewed-on biltong gut.’

Overjoyed to be back on the river, we stopped for a well-deserved lunch break of dried fruit, nuts, chocolate and water from a trickling stream that you just know is as fresh and clean as God intended it to be.

Rapid Thrills

As time was not really on our side, we wrapped up our leftovers and paddled over the next three-metre drop with renewed energy and purpose.

The next grade-4-plus rapid ended with the river pushing straight toward an undercut (water that disappears underneath a rock because of an overhang or ledge formed by a rock). After dropping two meters, the river passed through s-bends over and between massive boulders and then pushed directly toward the water hazard. To get through, at the bottom of the drop, after going over a ledge, we had to land on the lip of a hole (the side of a wave that shows the exit) and ride a lateral (crossing diagonal) wave to avoid the teeth of the undercut. I had a smooth run. Andre decided to skip this whole saga and tried an easier drop on the other side of the big boulder.

What happened next I can only describe as the most fun rapid I have ever run in my life! It was neither the scariest nor meanest, but it gave me a feeling which said, “Wow, I want to do that again!” It was a 40-metre drop with two super tube (water slide) launch pads (places from which to get airborne with your kayak), one at the beginning and the other in the middle of the rapid. True to its name, the first launch pad catapulted me through mid air to a landing on the second launch pad, which, in turn, sent me hurtling, a slave to gravity, into a big pool at the bottom.

There was nothing left to do but stick my fist in the air and shout my best war cry. Maybe I’ll ask Santa this year for a rapid just like this one in my backyard.

Colossal Challenges

Still filled with excitement and pure adrenaline, I ran the next rapid blindly, only to find out the wheel had turned. I boof stroked through a wave and landed in a massive hole with a terminal eddy (a water hole being fed from all sides like a hungry child in a chocolate factory). Andre, still packing away his camera after my 40-metre super-tube run, could only watch as my three-metre-long Solo cartwheeled like a Nemesis on 12Bb (a famous surfing wave on the Zambezi River).

After a couple of disappearing acts I decided to pop the cord and free myself from my boat. I had had enough of that chocolate factory! Luckily, the river spat me out while my kayak did a couple of solo runs. River=1, Jaco=0. This had Andre thinking twice about his approach. After some long thought, he opted to play it safe and not tempt the chocolate factory again.

The author uses a boof stroke to launch over a munching hole on the Mac-Mac River of Mpumalanga, South Africa

The onslaught of rapids did not stop here: drop after drop, with all that we encountered being runnable. A kayaker’s dream!

We then came to another waterfall we had marked as both unrunnable and maybe unwalkable. To get around it, we had to backtrack upriver and find a way to across the mountain and down to the water again. This was not what we had had signed up for. After 30 minutes of crawling on all fours, we nevertheless succeeded in getting back to the river below the falls. By this time we were tired and uncertain how far we still had to go. To top it off, Andre had snapped one of the blades off his paddle while bundu-bashing through the thickets. Reluctantly, I agreed to carry on with his paddle, which I called ‘stokkie,’ meaning ‘stick’ or ‘tree branch.’

The thing about steep creeking rivers is that when the water plummets down a drop or slope and there is a recycling hole (a dangerous water hazard that looks and acts like a funnel, trapping kayakers) at the bottom, chances are good that there is no easy way down, so you just have to face the gauntlet. However, there is less room for error than on high-volume rivers and there are more obstacles to negotiate. So it was with the next four rapids, all class-4 and each with a 50-50 chance of recycling us. We’d like to call it calculated risk.

So with energy levels in reserve and the sun bowing its head on Mother Nature, we were really hoping for no more surprises. Around the next corner, however, we were greeted with the sound of thunder. We agreed that on a regular day, the waterfall we faced would definitely be runnable, but this was no regular day and I was left with ‘stokkie’ to steer me over a two-level drop with sticky holes at each end and an unclear picture off what was still to come and how far we still had to go.

We opted for the portage and staggered down the side to a compulsory five-metre jump into the bottom of the pool.

An inspiring view of just some of the challenges overcome on the first descent of the Mac-Mac River from the Mac-Mac Falls of Mpumalanga, South Africa

A Safe Return

Slowly the steep gradient eased and the rapids became less and less serious. The last four kilometres were one continuous stretch of grade-2 rapids with a 100-metres-long pool in the middle. Those are conditions that I have rarely come across and were a great way to cover a lot of distance in the quickest time, with limited energy and tired bodies.

The take-out point greeted us like a family member after we had served a five-year jail sentence. We were safe, uninjured and more alive than ever.

On our way driving home, looking at the pictures, we let a feeling of ‘invulnerability’ creep back into our thoughts. We relished the idea that we were the first ever to witness the splendour and feel the power and rage of this never-paddled stretch of the Mac-Mac River.

We had done it! The first kayak descent from the Mac-Mac Falls!

For more about kayaking and other adventure-travel experiences in South Africa, contact Jaco Lubbe of Induna Travel, your whl.travel local connection for the Panorama Route in South Africa, also an expert on the area’s accommodation, tours, activities and loads of local hints.

This African Gospel Church - a structure like many in the townships - is in the Langa Township in the Flats outside Cape Town

So what are you to do? Are there reasonably priced accommodation options anywhere in South Africa? How can one find exciting and responsible travel options beyond the pomp of a month of games? And, as we’ve written about already, is there any way of ensuring that some of the money spent will be fairly distributed, so that the inflated profits benefit as wide a cross-section of people as possible, not just the already rich and powerful?

Opportunism and Exploitation

We’ve seen a growing number of articles decrying the avarice of accommodation owners in South Africa as they set special room rates to laughably outrageous levels. “Research this week on Hotels.com UK website showed that the four-star, centrally located Cape Town Lodge Hotel, which from May 28 to June 5 charges £68 per room per night, is raising its rate on June 11, when the tournament gets under way, to £395,” reported Travelmole in mid-December 2009. “Hotel rates always rise during big sporting events: during the Olympic Games in Athens (2004) and Sydney (2000) they were three times the usual level. But the increases in South Africa almost match those made during the Beijing Olympics, when hoteliers were accused of exploitation.”

The lion is one of the Big Five found in Kruger National Park, the country’s largest game reserve and a superb place for a safari (photo courtesy of South African Tourism)

“The World Cup has brought out the worst in some sectors of the tourism industry both in South Africa and abroad, but it seems that this is a phenomenon that follows every big event of this sort,” added Martin Hatchuel, the South African travel writer who publishes www.thistourismweek.co.za. “I have had quite a bit of contact with people in Australia who tell me that Sydney suffered a decline in tourism in the three years following its Olympics – and the reason most people seemed to have for avoiding the city as a destination was ‘greed.’ So South Africa is not alone.”

Given the price gouging and apparent absence of reasonable oversight, one real fear is that not only will little of any profits actually reach the local level, but that any backlash suffered as a result of unfair market practices will hurt locals the most.

Finding a Fair Room

One way of helping to make a small difference – and help redress some of the possible imbalances – is to book accommodation and tours with locally run, small-scale lodges and tour operators, especially those committed to bringing opportunity to the townships. This is not only in keeping with FIFA’s social development policy of providing support to community-based organisations, it also provides alternative lodging options in World Cup host cities where exploitative pricing is now evident.

In fact, continued Hatchuel, “It seems to me that the people who are being most sensible about this World Cup are those who own the smaller accommodation establishments and other small tourism businesses.”

To help the price-daunted World Cup fan, below is a list of off-the-beaten-track lodging options on offer through whl.travel, in some cases the only online booking service available for these properties. While other hotels are charging outlandish rates, these B&Bs promise not to bamboozle their customers. Their rates will be higher than usual, but still most definitely a bargain, especially considering the unbeatable cultural experience of life in a South African township (especially during the World Cup) and the assurance that the money spent is actually reaching the people.

Cape Town

• Kopanong
• Liziwe’s Guest House
• Majoro’s B&B
• Malebo’s Bed and Breakfast
• Ma Neo’s
• Ndibovayo Bed and Breakfast
• Radebe’s B&B
• Vicky’s Bed and Breakfast

Mossel Bay (on the Garden Route, midway between Cape Town and Port Elizabeth)

• Polani’s Xhosa Homestay
• Yonwaba Sesotho Homestay

Meeting the People

Whether or not alternative accommodation is key, meeting the people and experiencing the country should be. In a previous blog post, we’ve already proposed community or nature tours and activities in or near the World Cup host cities. What follows is a more targeted list to help zero in.

Traditional Xhosa dancers in South Africa perform for guests at a Mossel Bay township's first non-alcoholic shabeen and day-care centre

Cape Town
whl.travel offers access to a variety of community-based cultural and volunteer experiences, including:

• half-day, full-day and three-day township tours, and
• extended (28-day) volunteer adventures involving cheetahs, lions, monkeys, surfing and outreach to children.

Nelspruit
Nelspruit is quite close to Kruger National Park and the Panorama Route, as well as within several hour’s drive of the Mpumalanga Highlands.

All three are superb destinations with a broad offering of nature-oriented and outdoor activities, like river rafting, geckoiing, mountain biking, zip-line flying, rock abseiling, mountain boarding and following an aerial cable trail over a forest.

Animal enthusiasts will find satisfaction in visits to the Moholoholo Rehabilitation Centre for abandoned, injured and poisoned wildlife or to an elephant sanctuary.

Geckoiing is the use of a small raft steered using webbed gloves. It is one of the best ways to have fun with family and friends.

Port Elizabeth and the Garden Route
In Port Elizabeth, both a Shebeen Tour and a Real City Tour bring travellers to the heart of township life, while the Addo Tour spends a day at the famous Addo Elephant National Park.

Further west, along the Garden Route, a Meet the People Tour out of Mossel Bay is an absolute must, although a coastal cliff hike, game drive in Fynbos or horseback ride through a private game preserve are also a treat.

The Day After It’s Over

Not long after Sepp Blatter, FIFA president, declared “This World Cup belongs to Africa!” on the day of the World Cup 2010 draw, Nelson Mandela, appearing via video link, closed a short speech by saying that “The people of Africa have learned the lessons of patience and endurance in their long struggle for freedom. May the reward brought by the World Cup prove that the long wait for its arrival on African soil has been worth it.”

It’s time to wonder if the reward, so promising in principle, is still out of reach in practice because of misguided expectations about who is coming to the World Cup, how much they can afford and how widely they will travel after it’s all over.

“I think that the organisers of the World Cup and the tourism authorities in South Africa have missed – or failed to communicate – one important piece of intelligence: the demographics of the average soccer traveller,” said Hatchuel. “I have a suspicion that most of them will be males in the 24-32 year bracket, and if that’s the case, I expect they’ll be sticking to the host cities, and looking for the parties rather than travelling round the country.”

If that does turn out to be true, then it’s even more important that the mindful minority shows genuine interest in more than just sport and partying, both during the World Cup and after it’s over. South Africa can’t afford to suffer as Sydney did for its greed.

“This World Cup belongs to Africa!” declared Sepp Blatter, FIFA president, at the Cape Town Convention Centre on 5 December 2009, the long-awaited day of the World Cup 2010 draw. Needless to say, since then, Africa’s already considerable pride at hosting the world’s most popular sporting event grows by the day, in lock step with the excitement of soccer fanatics from all across the continent (and around the world) eagerly awaiting kickoff of the first game – South Africa versus Mexico in Johannesburg’s Soccer City Stadium at 4pm local time on 11 June 2010.

Supporters of Bafana Bafana, the South Africa national soccer team (photo courtesy of South African Tourism)

The success of the World Cup will however be measured by more than just the tenacity of the teams. Nearly 500,000 people are expected to visit South Africa from game 1 until the finals precisely one month later. Their presence comes as an important economic injection, especially in the tourism sector, as the hordes head out to experience the country.

So, as a primer for the independent traveller in South Africa during the games – the traveller passionate about soccer, but also about meeting and making a difference with the local communities hosting the games – here’s a quick overview of how between games you can connect with the people, just a small but important step in being a good guest.

On the World Cup Trail

Nine cities will be the stage for the 2010 World Cup: Bloemfontein, Cape Town, Durban, Johannesburg, Nelspruit, Pretoria, Polokwane, Port Elizabeth and Rustenburg.

The spread of destinations covers a great deal of the country, facilitating discovery of the diversity of regions and people.

Johannesburg

The opening match, nine other first-round matches, two second-round matches, two quarter finals and the finals will all be held in Johannesburg’s two venues: Ellis Park and Soccer City stadiums. Despite its bad reputation, Jo’burg is the financial hub of South Africa and a city full of life and interesting sights.

The busy city centre of Johannesburg

In between games is a perfect opportunity to take them in, not the least of which are the Museum of Apartheid, Soweto or other townships, the Mai-Mai market and the botanic gardens. Perhaps the best way to get to them and understand their significance is on any of several emotion-packed Johannesburg day tours possible through Urban Adventures.

Jo’burg is also within easy reach of two other game venues: Loftus Versfeld in Pretoria and Royal Bafokeng Stadium in Rustenburg, both sites of five first-round and one second-round matches.

Cape Town

Cape Town’s Cape Town Stadium will welcome 70,000 spectators to each of five first-round, one second-round, one quarter-final and one semi-final matches. More commonly known as the ‘Mother City’, Cape Town is one of South Africa’s most storied cities. Naming Cape Town’s top five attractions – Table Mountain, the V&A Waterfront, Robben Island, the Winelands and Cape Point – conveys some of its richness but only just scratches the surface, for there is a great deal more to see and do.

Wine tasting and cellar tours are favourite pastimes in the Cape Winelands. These Franschhoek vineyards are a 1.5-hour drive from downtown Cape Town.

As in Jo’burg, Cape Town tours are highly recommended, not only because they can help you get to places a little difficult to reach but because the accompanying guides put you in the right frame of mind to understand the important but sometimes intangible historical contexts, especially on Robben Island, where many political prisoners were incarcerated, including Nelson Mandela for over 20 years; the Cape Winelands, a perfect retreat for wine lovers; and any of several township and volunteer experiences that show you a different side of Cape life.

Cape Town is a good launch point for travel along South Africa’s famous Garden Route, an unspoiled and often inaccessible coastal corridor rich with wetlands, dunes, rivers, ancient forests, beaches, lakes, mountains and indigenous flora and fauna. Beyond its eastern reaches lies the seaside city of Port Elizabeth, whose Nelson Mandela Bay Stadium will be the site of five first-round and one second-round matches, as well as a quarter-final game and the third-place playoff.

Nelspruit

The city of Nelspruit is the smallest of the host locations, a community of approximately 200,000 people who will welcome four first-round matches to their Mbombela Stadium.

Giraffes are commonly sighted in Kruger National Park, also home to the Big 5, Little 5 and the Birding Big 6

Nelspruit brings two of South Africa’s most tantalising natural wonders into easy reach: Kruger National Park, which is the country’s largest game reserve and a superb place for a safari; and the dramatic Panorama Route, just a short drive from Nelspruit. Both destinations offer an array of adrenalin-pumping outdoor activities, most of which are conducted in a responsible and sustainable manner involving both briefings about local flora and fauna and proactive measures to minimise impact on the environment.

Nelspruit could also be a point of departure to reach Polokwane, 300 kilometres to its northwest, where the Peter Mokaba Stadium will see four first-round matches. To reach Polokwane from Nelspuit, one could detour west across the nature-rich rolling hills of the Mpumalanga Highlands, where outdoor enthusiasts will find plenty of activities from which to choose.

Bloemfontein and Durban

Both Bloemfontein and Durban will host five first-round matches and one second-round match each in their Free State Stadium and Moses Mabhida Stadium, respectively. One semi-final game will also be played in Durban.

Bloemfontein, South Africa’s judicial capital, is popularly referred to as the ‘City of Roses’ due in part to its floral displays and annual Bloem Show (late April/early may), the largest agricultural and entertainment show in the country.

Coastal and cosmopolitan, Durban is the place to go for sun, sea and sand. Most city attraction are found along its Golden Mile of beach, including uShaka Marine World (one of the world’s largest aquariums) and Wilson’s Wharf (the trendy shopping and dining distrinct) on the Victoria Embankment, where there’s no shortage of restaurants and nightclubs.

In a gateway community in Southern Limpopo, South Africa, a woman weaves baskets. Travellers making local connections like this are what the Shared Growth Challenge Fund hopes to highlight.

But some people are already (wisely) asking what will happen when the trophies have been celebrated, the afterglow faded and media attention lifted. Well, the South African Tourist Board estimates that 300,000 more visitors than usual over the next five years will continue to respond to the hype of the first African country ever to host the world’s biggest sporting event.

While that’s very encouraging, a more long-term view of tourism development in South Africa suggests that it’s not far-sighted enough.

Local Partners to the Rescue

Thankfully, three local tour operators – Raw Africa, Induna Adventures and Roc ‘n Rope – have joined forces with WHL Consulting and the whl.travel Africa team to ensure that small accommodation providers in Mpumalanga, Southern Limpopo and KwaZulu-Natal are marketed well beyond 2010 both to international travellers and to South Africans eager to explore their own country.

The project is partly funded by the Shared Growth Challenge Fund, a Business Trust project that provides one-off grants to private companies to support ‘pro-poor’ innovation and investment. The 4.5 million rand (approximately US$600,000) project will take 18 months to give new online visibility to at least 150 small accommodation providers. The sustainable long-term effect of this enhanced exposure – including websites with room-booking functionality – is expected to be considerable, particularly in communities routinely excluded from the global marketplace, especially the e-marketplace.

Zachary Rozga, CEO of WHL Consulting, is extremely excited about this project, with ambitious visions far beyond the established scope of the work. The core objective, he believes, is “to get bums in the beds of small and medium tourism accommodation venues by setting up unique websites for accommodation providers, as well as offering affordable package holidays that combine accommodation and fun activities for visitors. Our goal in this project is to reach between 300-600 small and medium enterprises. If all things go well in the following year, we hope to expand that to 1,000 and move into other provinces.”

The project aims to support small and medium-size hotels and lodges (like the one pictured above) in Mpumalanga, Southern Limpopo and KwaZulu-Natal

Bums in Beds

Underpinning the Shared Growth Challenge Fund project is a new concept called the Tourism Development Bank that “uses room nights as currency” instead of money, said Rozga.

Local accommodation providers pay a small registration fee of 350 rand (approximately US$50) and then set aside 18 room nights. In return, the providers receive specialised WHL Consulting market-readiness assessment services. Those deemed ready are then eligible to receive:

• a selection of professionally taken photos of their property, including photos for use in ‘immersive tours’ whereby travellers take an online ‘virtual’ tour of a venue;
• a professionally drafted travel write-up highlighting the venue’s appeal to experiential and mindful travellers;
• a unique e-commerce website linked to the whl.travel global network;
• access to a local whl.travel tourism market training seminar.

The 18 room nights “banked” by WHL Consulting will in turn be incorporated into affordable package holidays made available exclusively through whl.travel and combining accommodation with local-economy boosting tours and activities, such as river rafting, abseiling, horse-riding and hiking.

In keeping WHL Consulting, whl.travel and all three local tour operator commitments to responsible travel, the whl.travel package holidays will aim to leverage interest in and support for the two World Heritage sites located in KwaZulu-Natal – iSimangaliso Wetland Park (once called and still better known as the Greater St Lucia Wetland Park) and Drakensburg – as well as the wildlife-rich and heavily protected Kruger National Park and Hluhluwe-Umfolozi Game Reserve.

The project will place great importance on supporting local resources, with a special emphasis on World Heritage Sites and the game parks of Kruger National Park and Hluhluwe-Umfolozi Game Reserve

Pushing a Winning Solution

The benefits to all partners make this project appealing on many levels, in particular for the three local tour operators, all whl.travel partners.

For Danny Pinkas (Roc ‘n Rope), the project is “a win-win situation for everyone involved, from tour operators and accommodation establishments to travellers as well as local communities, who will benefit from spinoffs.”

Darron Raw (Raw Africa), of www.kzn.travel (for KwaZulu-Natal) and www.swazi.travel, agrees: “Up until now a large number of SME (small and medium enterprise) accommodation and activity providers have not been able to participate effectively on the Internet, and this project will integrate them in a professional online e-marketing and booking service.”

Says Jaco Lubbe (Induna Adventures), who oversees www.panorama-tours.travel and www.krugersafaris.travel, “The outcome of this initiative will help local accommodation establishments to provide a more professional and technologically ‘with it’ service to the world. It will also create a platform and give the accommodation establishments the necessary tools to be more visible to specific target markets. I am convinced that this project will help make our piece of the earth more sustainable for generations to come.”

Even for WHL Consulting, this project is an opportunity “to invest heavily in new technology platforms that allow evolution of the Market Access Program from a purely donor-funded exercise to a more commercial enterprise,” said Rozga. “In so doing the intention is to bring the overall cost of the exercise down significantly so that the activities of the program, which are critical in many emerging destinations, can be more widely implemented.”

Of course, for whl.travel, the on-the-ground support of so many local accommodation providers significantly expands the product base offered to independent consumers headed off the beaten path and yearning to book with local businesses, no matter how small, and especially those making socially responsible and sustainable decisions about their destinations.

Just one of many stunning views along the Panorama Route

Winding northeast from the spectacular Drakensburg Mountains of Mpumalanga to the northeastern end of the Great Escarpment, the Panorama Route takes in some of Africa’s (and the world’s) most dramatic scenery. It is also the gateway to Kruger National Park, where you will find the Big 5, endless spectacular views, age-old traditions and cultures. It’s all part of an incredible adventure that will awaken the child within you. So buckle up as we take a quick journey through the highlights.

Real Highs and Brilliant Light

A single day is far too short for all there is to see on the Panorama Route, but if that’s all the time you have, you will not be disappointed!

Along the most famous and fabulous stretch – the 33km of Blyde River Canyon, the world’s third largest – don’t miss the Three Rondavels (giant spiral rock formations) and the Bourke’s Luck Potholes, both a glimpse at nature’s creative forces. Millions of years of swirling air and water have carved and shaped the rocks here resulting in unbelievable formations.

Whitewater rafting in Blyde River Canyon

Also noteworthy is God’s Window, from which there are incomparable views of the Lowveld, a vast blanket of plain almost a kilometre below.

Save your hunger for a stop at Harrie’s Pancakes in Graskop, or the traditional art and candy shops in Pilgrim’s Rest. Both towns impart a sense of the old gold-mining culture that once thrived here.

Even if you’re not usually impressed by waterfalls, check out those on the way to Sabie. Not only are they beautiful, but, when the weather’s right, you can take a moment to dangle your feet, or even swim, in the cool mountain pools. Some are a bit off the beaten track, so pack a good pair of shoes and a picnic basket.

The picturesque Maria Shires waterfall

End your day at the Shangana Cultural Village, where you can taste traditional food, participate in song and dance and experience the history and ways of the Shangaan people.

Outdoor Thrills

If life is your playground, or you don’t just want to be a bystander, dedicate as much time as possible to the many adventures on offer along the Panorama Route, from mild to wild all in one location.

Start off your day in a hot-air balloon and enjoy breathtaking views of the Sabie River Valley.

The more ambitious will thrill to an quad-biking experience that overnights at the private and secluded Matumi Log Cabin on the bubbling Mac Mac River. A typical South African braai under starry skies rounds out a busy day. This experience is ideal for backpackers, nature lovers and birders. The latter will especially appreciate sightings of the Purple-crested Turaco and the elusive Nerina Trojan.

Another special experience is a visit to the Elephant Sanctuary, where you can walk hand-in-trunk with Kasper and Kitso.

Getting It Right

A mother and daughter at the Shangana Cultural Village

* When embarking on any part of the Panorama Route, be sure to get an early start.

* It is advisable to choose a clear day in winter, as misty or cloudy weather, which is common in summer, will prevent you from enjoying the amazing views.

*  Even if it’s warm when you begin, take along some warm clothing, as the temperature changes with the different elevations.

* Get hold of a good map.

* If possible, hire an air-conditioned car. Having your own wheels will mean that you can spend as much time at the various sites as you want.

* The Panorama Route area is busy with thousands of children orphaned by HIV and Aids. Think of supporting and empowering these needy children by spending time at or making a contribution to Sizabantwana.

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For more information about the Panorama Route, including accommodations, tours, activities and lots of insider tips, contact your local whl.travel connection: the team from Induna Adventures at www.panorama-tours.travel.