Blyde River Canyon and Back to Johannesburg

The final morning group shot.

 See the giraffe?

Blyde River Canyon and the Three Rondavels.

 The community tourist market. 

Enock, the nomad, Timon and Ernest.

Monday, October 23^rd.

Last day of the trip. We packed up and had breakfast by 5:30 and then posed for a group photo. The Kruger Rest Camps are excellent facilities and offer campsites for single travellers or groups like us. They also have cabins, which we could have upgraded to but no one did. The camps have pools, restaurants, information centres, souvenir shops and great showers and toilets. I bought two Kruger bracelets.

We left the camp and did a two hour game drive on the way to the park exit at Orpen Rest Camp. Along with the usual animal viewing we saw a black backed jackal and right before the exit we saw a white rhino in the woods.

Shortly after we left the park we drove through areas with large organized farms and orchards. Very different from anything we saw before in Botswana or Zimbabwe and much like North America. The area looked quite prosperous and probably most white. We stopped in a pretty little town called Dullstroom for refreshments, toilets and ATM's (most of us needed to get money for tips for the guides).

Then the landscape changed and we drove up the Drakensberg esecarpment to the Blyde River Canyon, which is the second largest gorge or canyon in Africa after the Fish River Canyon of Namibia. We stopped at a beautiful viewing spot where we could see parts of the canyon and the Three Rondavels, which are three large roundish rock formations that are said to be reminiscent of the houses or huts of the indigenous people, known as rondavels. This canyon is part of the Panorama Route of South Africa which I will be travelling through when I return to this country after Madagascar. There was also a large souvenir market here that the government encourages travellers to support as a way of helping the locals and the crafts people.

After that stop we had a long drive back to Johannesburg. Most of it was on a dual carriageway and we got to see what the truck and Ernest could do as we passed most traffic on the road. For a large vehicle it can really move.

We arrived back in Johannesburg, at the Holiday Inn Hotel in Rosebank, by 5:00. Then it was chaos as we all got our stuff off the bus, out of the lockers, and backpacks out from the storage areas, said our goodbyes to each other, took a couple of last photos, and presented a heart felt thank you to the three guides along with the tips from the group. I called Timon the guide extraordinaire, Enock a chef and Ernest the chauffeur. And then it was over. Several people were going to stay at other cheaper accommodation in the area, some were heading to the airport to catch flights and a few of us were staying here for at least one night before moving on. Thus ends a 5321 kilometre journey through three south African countries. What a great trip. As always it is sad to say goodbye to like minded adventurous people you have spent so much time with over the trip. 

The Holiday Inn is a beautiful modern hotel with all the amenities that we are used to back home. This is the hotel I was supposed to be at the first night I arrived in Johannesburg when I was picked up by the group tour company. They have a great restaurant and a bar and modern comfortable rooms. I checked in and found my room whereupon I had a much needed shower and shave. (I will be staying here again when I return to Johannesburg on November 24th).

I met up with Dennis, Phil and Karin for dinner and we had an excellent meal. Then it was back to the room to get organized for an early rise to catch my flight the next morning.