Winding our way through the largest pine and eucalyptus forest in Africa, we travel towards God’s Window where the escarpment abruptly plunges 1000 meters down to the Lowveld. This day includes visits to various scenic lookout points, waterfalls, Bourke’s Luck Potholes – surreal rock sculptures formed as a result of water erosion over thousands of years, and unquestionably being the largest Green Canyon in the world, the Blyde River Canyon -stretching for 33km and about 1 400 meters deep. Taking you back to the 1800’s – head out to the mining village of Pilgrims Rest where the biggest gold rush of the time was initiated with some 1500 fortune seekers flocking to the site from all over the world. Your guide will share interesting facts and stories, like the robber who was banned from town after stealing a tent. Visit his grave, being the only one in the cemetery facing in an opposite direction as all the other graves.
Also included today is the Graskop Glass Lift. The viewing lift takes visitors 51 metres down the face of the gorge into the forest below, where wooden walkways and suspension bridges meander along a 600 metre trail through the indigenous forest with interactive exhibits. Whilst the lift, which travels 51m down the cliff face of the Graskop Gorge, was a feat of engineering skill to construct, it is the Afromontane forest below that is at the heart of this development. In South Africa, Afromontane forests cover only 0.5% of the country’s land area. They occur in pockets along mountain ranges in well-watered areas, including ravines and south-facing slopes. Under the vivid green canopy of trees lies a lush wonderland filled with a spectacular variety of plants, animals, insects and birds.
