Echo Caves, Mpumalanga

Situated just outside Ohrigstad are the spectacular Echo Caves. These mysterious caves were discovered in the 1920's by the owner of the farm. After his cattle mysteriously disappeared on the farm he started looking for answers. That is when he discovered the Echo Caves. After exploring the cave, the discoverer realized that this is a gift from nature laid among the gentle undulating hills of the Mpumalanga escarpment.

The Echo Caves are some of the oldest caves in the world and were declared a Historical Monument. The caves are so called because the local people used one of the stalactites as a drum to warn of any approaching Swazi. As these caves extend for some 40 km, the sound travelled for surprisingly long distances and the people could take refuge in the caves. From an archaeological point of view, the caves are truly fascinating as finds here confirm the legend that strangers may years ago in long white robes came to look for gold and to barter with the inhabitants. Some of the finds are exhibited at the Museum of Man. One of the rooms of the cave has a height of 60m! 

There are guided tours through 2km of tunnels viewing impressive stalagmites and stalactites. New discoveries include the Madonna and the Crystal Palace. The Echo Caves are the least well known of the limestone caves. Therefore, the advantage is that fewer people visit them and you may be lucky enough to enjoy this amazing underworld with just your guide.

For the more adventurous, a special tour can be organized to go deeper into the cave. The end of the cave has not yet been found and it is said that the end of the Echo Caves is somewhere close to the Strijdom tunnel. The caving tour, however, is definitely not recommended for people with claustrophobic problems. For just R30 one can explore some truly mysterious and fascinating wonders in these caves. Be adventurous and come exploring. Who knows, if you brave enough, you may even find the end of these caves and where they truly lead to….

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Engela

Bokpoort Horseback Adventures

The Bokpoort Horseback Adventures, Holiday and Game Ranch experience is unique and unrivalled in Southern Africa. Come and visit Clarence’s own “Cowboy Ranch” and enjoy Western riding and Free State farm hospitality.

Bokpoort specializes in one thing: horse-riding safaris, Western style… “We do not only buy our saddles from trading stores, we also make 'em ourselves to the tough requirements of the 'ole West.”

 Our mustangs, (we call them Basotho ponies in this State) are born and bred in our rugged mountains and valleys. Only the toughest and ablest are selected to be used as Safari horses. When you ride them, they have been trained to the saddle and know every nook, crevice and cranny of this region. Be it a hot summer's day or in the freeze of a winter snow, they can always be relied upon. Our famous Snowy River horse trails' come in one-, two- or three-day specials, art, booze cruise and special student trails. For those who don't feel too steady on a horse and wish to stay closer to the ground, there are mountain bike trails available ( bring your own bikes) as well as bird and buck shooting. Trout fishing is available in the nearby rivers and we also do horse-cart rides. Mountain hikes and a 4x4 trail exist on the farm. We also do special Kid Adventure Camp. Campers are welcome.

Accommodation is rustic but adequate with comfortable beds, hot water and plenty of good food in the Stable restaurant. Some cottages are self-catering. And Golden Gate and Clarence are just a short ride away. There you can play golf, tennis and squash.

REQUIREMENTS FOR OVERNIGHT TRAILS: Sleeping Bag, Smooth-soled shoes for riding, Warm jacket/costume, Balaclava/Hat, Cutlery and crockery, Toiletries, Raincoat, Riding clothes, Light weight hiking mattress, Riding hat, Drinks for the trail.

Engela

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Gustav Klingbiel Nature Reserve, Mpumalanga

The Gustav Klingbiel Nature Reserve is situated on the eastern side of Lydenburg along the scenic Long Tom Pass to Sabie and is one of the most beautiful holiday destinations in the world. One of the main attractions in Gustav Klingbiel Reserve is its fascinating bird watching opportunities. About 320 bird species have been recorded in the reserve and its vicinity and several game species such as Bushbuck, Kudu, Impala, Zebra, Eland, Grey Rhebok and Steenbok also occur in reserve to add an extra bit of excitement to your trip.

This has to be one of the most beautiful locations in the world. The reserve is 2200 hectares and the Klipgatspruit cuts the mountainous area into a deep valley. The main habitats include thornveld and bushveld on the low-lying areas, and montane grassland on hillsides and plateaus with protea woodland on the higher altitudes. Small isolated pockets of forest are present in the ravines that are tributaries of the Klipgatspruit.

Along the Long Tom Pass, scenic views of montane grassland with mountainous gorges and cliffs can be seen while small sprouting areas of Silver protea can be seen along the road and large concentrations of common Sugarbush can be spotted on mountain plateaus.

At the entrance to the reserve on the Long Tom Pass, there is a museum with an auditorium for conferences, an open exhibition and a curio shop. The museum has a very interesting exhibit about the town's history and history of the archaeological Stone Age sites, giving you plenty to do on your trip to the Gustav Klingbiel Reserve. 

The Gustav Klingbiel Reserve is absolutely stunning with marvellous views, fantastic sights and provides an opportunity for relaxation on an unequalled scale. Be sure to include the Gustav Klingbiel Nature Reserve on your next South African holiday.

Engela

Panorama Route, Mpumalanga

The magnificent Panorama Route in Mpumalanga is best known for its cultural heritage and its dramatic landscapes. 

Offering a vast array of exciting options for the visitor, the Panorama Route hosts some of the best adrenalin enhancing adventures in the country as well as some more placid pastimes.

One of the major highlights of the region is the Blyde River Canyon Reserve, home to spectacular wildlife and birdlife and some of the best views in South Africa. The Blyde River Canyon is the third largest canyon of its kind in the world. 

Other highlights include the exquisite waterfalls in Graskop and Sabie, the Echo Caves that speak of Africa’s powerful tribes such as Pedi, Mapulane and Swazi, trails left behind by the Voortrekkers in regions such as Lydenberg and Ohrigstad, ancient artistic footprints left by indigenous peoples of Africa and the Gold Rush territory, Pilgrim’s Rest, home to the early gold prospectors.

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Mark Gimenez

Pretoria Botanical Garden

The Pretoria National Botanical Garden, founded in 1946, is home to the Head Office of SANBI (South African National Botanical Institute). This Pretoria Garden successfully bridges the divide between scientific research and the recreational environment.

The Pretoria Botanical Garden is open daily, 365 days a year, from 08:00 to 18:00. (No entry allowed after 17:00). A 50 m high quartzite outcrop divides the Garden in two sections. Its frosty south-facing section and the north-facing, warmer section present two different worlds to the visitor and botanist. Paved nature trails give access to the fascinating natural vegetation on the ridge.

Fifty hectares of the total area are devoted to developed garden, using almost exclusively South African plants. All the flowering plant species to be seen including 50% of the country's tree species, make this Garden a botanical tapestry, offering the visitor a glimpse of different biomes such as Savanna, forest, fynbos and some plants of other biomes.

The Pretoria Botanical Garden is home to more than 198 bird species and a number of reptiles and small mammals such as the common duiker. Special features are the treed wisteria avenue and special collections of medicinal plants, cycads, aloes, tree species, succulents and natural ridge vegetation.

The green lawns and spreading shade trees in summer and the massed aloe collections that blaze into flower during winter, are just some of the seasonal features that draw visitors to this spectacular Garden.

Various capital development projects have been completed since 2002, including a new Visitor Centre and a gift/bookshop and the Environmental Education Centre, the new South African National Biodiversity Institute building was built adjacent to the existing herbarium building and was inaugurated on 2 December 2004.

Opened in May 2005, the Mokha Restaurant overlooks the wetland.

Engela

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Namaqualand - South Africa

In the north-west corner of South Africa is Namaqualand - famous for an extraordinary springtime transformation of the lifeless scrubland, into a veritable explosion of colours from a multitude of small flowers.

People come from all over the world to witness this spectacle, which usually peaks anytime from mid- August to mid-September. If you are driving towards the sun you may not see what the fuss is all about, but as soon as you turn your back to the sun, the full impact of thousands of yellow, white, orange or purple flowers, will astound you.

The flora is characterized by a phenomenal variety of daisies, but there are also violets, pelargoniums, mesembryanthemums, gladioli and numerous other species.

Aloes also puncture this landscape of the Northern Cape and you know you are in an area of very low rainfall when you start seeing 'Quiver Trees' (Kokerboom - aloe dicotema), so named because the bushmen used the fibrous branches as a quiver for their arrows.

Namaqualand is home to the Nama people, who are direct descendants of the Khoikhoi bushmen, as can be seen in their pale skin and fine features. Their culture suffered when the apartheid regime prohibited their strange multi-click language from being taught in schools and forced them to re-locate to other areas. However, their cultural heritage and customs are slowly returning and their language - which is classified by UNESCO as Endangered - is being taught again and they hope to add it to the school curriculum in the area.

Spring flowers carpet the route all the way down the west coast of South Africa almost to Cape Town, so even if you don't make it up to Namaqualand, whose capital is the isolated town of Springbok, there other opportunities to see the flowers.

Most of the plants of Namaqualand are indigenous and some succulents are so rare they are found nowhere else in the world. Antelopes such as springbok and bontebok are at home in these areas and can be found in some of the reserves and you may also see tortoises and chameleons - the masters of camouflage.

Engela

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HLUHLUWE UMFOLOZI NATIONAL PARK

This is a large and incredibly scenic park with rippling hills covered in low acacia bush, and lofty viewpoints giving a bird's eye view of who's doing what where. The north of the park is more rugged and mountainous with forests and grasslands, while the south and west is more undulating with open savannah. Hluhluwe is a difficult word to pronounce but something sounding like "Shoushlooee" is close enough.

The park contains an immense diversity of fauna and flora and is particularly famous for its conservation of black and white rhino. It contains hundreds of endangered black rhino and the largest population of white rhino in the world.

Apart from game-viewing drives, there are two self-guided auto trails, for those wishing to self drive themselves around the park. There are a number of picnic sites and several self-guided walks providing magnificent views. Two daily walks in the company of a field ranger can be booked through the camp office and extended several day hikes are undertaken in the southern Umfolozi part of the park.

ANIMALS & BIRDS

Hluhluwe Umfolozi is home to 1,600 white rhino and 370 black rhino - an impressive number which means you are very likely to see one or both species. It also contains the rest of the Big Five; buffalo, elephant, lion and leopard, as well as many other species including blue wildebeest, zebra, giraffe waterbuck, nyala, kudu, bushbuck, warthog, cheetah, hyena and jackal plus about 24,000 impala. You may have some close encounters with elephants as they often cross or block the road right in front of your vehicle.

In excess of 300 species of birds have been recorded.

SEASONS

Rainy Season: This is a hot and humid sub-tropical area and most rain falls during the months of September to April. Annual rainfall is 29-39 inches (750-1,000mm).

Dry Season: The dry season lasts over winter from May to August and the temperatures are very pleasant with warm days and cool nights.

HLUHLUWE AND UMFOLOZI GAME RESERVE SPECIALITIES

· Black and white rhinos

· Rippling scenery with splendid viewpoints

· Self-drive, self-walk or guided walks

· 'Big Five' animals

· Close encounters with elephants

FACTS

·         This is a malarial area

·         There is no off-road or night driving

·         The park covers some 211,000 acres (96,000 ha)

Engela

Menlyn Park Shopping Centre

Menlyn Park Shopping Centre is situated in the East of Pretoria. It is conveniently located within a short distance off the N1 Highway and approx. 5km from the N4.

Menlyn Park Shopping Centre was built in 1979 and opened in November later that year. Menlyn underwent a major 2 year refurbishment in 1998, which cost approximately R800 million. This redevelopment increased the GLA from 60 000m² to 118 253 m², transforming Menlyn into a Super Regional Shopping Centre and growing the shop base from 160 to over 300 tenants.

Over 300 stores, 37 restaurants to choose from and a wide variety of entertainment, you would not want to visit anywhere else!

Menlyn has Edgars, Hyperama, Woolworths, Truworths, Stuttafords, Foschini, Game and Nu Metro as anchor tenants. In addition to this, the centre also has 10 USP's (unique selling points) namely, Outdoor Events Arena, Play Park and the World's First Rooftop Drive-In, Festival Market, 3D Nu Metro Cinema, Go-Karts, FLY Me – Helicopter rides, Fufi Slides and Quad Bikes.

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Engela

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Fourways Mall

Fourways Mall is situated in the heart of one of Johannesburg's most prestigious suburbs and has accommodated, entertained and delivered for over a decade continuing to welcome guests from both near and far.

With easy access to the N1 freeway connecting Johannesburg and Pretoria, as well as excellent link ups to OR Tambo International Airport, Fourways Mall continues to pave the way in offering a unique and exciting shopping experience to the community and tourists in one.

With extended trading hours, and over 168 stores within Fourways Mall, shoppers can enjoy a fabulous shopping experience. Free parking and 24 hour security allow patrons to shop, browse, enjoy a refreshing cup of coffee or dine in a relaxed and tranquil environment at any one of the numerous restaurants and coffee shops.

Fashion is the key word at Fourways Mall. With exclusive stores featuring stylish shoe boutiques, fabulous high quality clothing stores catering for superior men, women, and children's clothing. If jewellery is what you are after then look no further. Fourways Mall's elite jewellers offer a choice of selected jewels and gems to satisfy everyone's desires.

Shopping is made effortless to all Fourways Mall out-of-towners where banking facilities, foreign exchange, travel agencies, a pharmacy, optometrists, hair stylists, beauty therapists and curio shops are available for shopping at ease and convenience.

Entertainment for the whole family includes cinemas and miniature golf for all to enjoy and delight. The ideal meeting spot, Fourways Mall with eating places when looking for a quick meal to fine dining no matter what your taste.

Fourways Mall, for everything fashionable. 

Engela

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Nelson Mandela Square

Nelson Mandela Square is one of Johannesburg’s most popular and fashionable shopping centres, and its convenient location in the heart of Sandton and next to the equally popular Sandton City, means that it’s almost always buzzing with fashionistas sipping lattés, families catching a quick movie or theatre production, or tourists snapping photographs alongside the giant statue of Nelson Mandela.

As its name suggests, this shopping centre is focused around a square, which is lined with trendy sidewalk cafes, various exclusive restaurants, and a range of high-end stores. There are dozens of attractions in the area, including exceptional hotels and theatres, and you could easily find enough to keep you, your family or your business associates occupied for a day at this exclusive shopping center.

Golfers are spoilt for choice with a range of upmarket golf courses located in surrounding areas including The Bryanston Country Club Golf Course, The Country Club Johannesburg, Riverclub Golf Course and Houghton Golf Club.

Experience the best Sandton has to offer with a range of tours, hotel accommodation, galleries and sightseeing activities.

Engela

Timbavati Game Reserve

The Timbavati Private Game Reserve lies in the western region of the Kruger National Park, north of Sabi Sands Private Game Reserve; the borders between all of them unfenced allowing greater freedom of access to wild life. This is typical lowveld terrain and home to the big 5, not least because the huge tracts of land that make up the Timbavati Game Reserve have only ever been very lightly inhabited and have thus remain largely unspoilt and wild. The Game Reserve has never had to resort to restocking its wild life.

The other famous fact about the Timbavati is its association with the white lions, known as the 'white lions of Timbavati'. Timbavati in ancient Sangaan means 'the place where something sacred came down to earth from the heavens' and refers to these genetically rare specimens that are not albino lions but are actually listed as a sub species of lion.

Here is a beautiful photo of an entire pride of white lions

Chris McBride first spotted two white lion cubs in the Timbavati Reserve back in 1975 and today there is a whole pride of white lions in the greater Timbavati area. People come from all over the world to spot them, and they're the stuff of legends.

Recommended accommodation

Kambaku Safari Lodge is situated in the Timbavati Private Nature Reserve, which is open to the world renowned Kruger National Park.

The camp is well situated in this unspoilt natural wilderness area, home to an astonishing array of animals including the Big Five.

Kambaku Safari Lodge provides the ultimate escape from busy schedules, with only seven well-appointed thatched chalets overlooking its own private water hole.

Attracting guests from around the world, Kambaku Safari Lodge offers superior standards in all of their facilities yet always maintaining a high level of environmental consciousness. The dedicated staff will cater to the individual needs of the guests making for a truly memorable stay.

With scrumptious bush cuisine in a relaxed, rustic setting the guests can truly unwind and immerse themselves in the restorative powers of nature.

Engela

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Little Karoo Travel Guide

The Little Karoo is the hot, dry region squeezed between the Outeniqua Mountains that separate it from the green and luscious Garden Route, and the rugged Swartberg Mountains that separate it from the wider, hotter Great Karoo.

The well marketed Route 62 extends further than the actual R62, including parts of the Breede River Valley. It's a lovely, quiet alternative to the rather more goal-oriented N2, passing through some interesting little towns and winds its way past loads of wineries and guest farms that specialise in rugged activities like 4x4 trails and quad bike trails. The major part of Route 62 runs straight through the Little Karoo towns of Ashton, Montagu, Barrydale, Ladysmith, Calitzdorp, Oudtshoorn and De Rust.

It's a lot of fun to zig-zag backwards and forwards between the N2 and the R62 over some very scenic mountain passes, alternating between the lush green Garden Route and the drier, more austere Little Karoo. Most well-known for its ostrich farms, which have developed into mega tourist traps, the Little Karoo supports a thriving agricultural industry. Olives, deciduous fruit and wine add to the rather heady mix that most local restaurants exploit gleefully.

Calitzdorp, which is most well-known for its great port, holds a port festival every July, and there are fabulous wine farms along the whole length of the R62. Probably the most well-known attraction in the region, though, is the enormous Cango Caves in Oudtshoorn. There are some great rock paintings in various parts of the Little Karoo.

The magnificent landscapes, locally known as red hills, offer some fun day walks, and the high mountains on either side of this long, thin valley, offer fantastic multi-day hikes. There are loads of really great cultural attractions, not least of which is the annual KKNK, the Klein Karoo Nasionale Kunstefees (Little Karoo National Arts Festival) in Oudtshoorn. It's a party. Big time.

Engela

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Sun City South Africa

Sun City is internationally renowned as South Africa’s premier holiday resort offering a multitude of attractions and activities to keep everyone occupied.

With its combination of golf, game and gambling, as well as world class hotels, Sun City is the perfect choice for any holiday in South Africa.

Conveniently located about two and a half hours' drive outside Johannesburg, Sun City in South Africa has so much to offer. The resort dazzles visitors with its glamorous casinos, gourmet restaurants, extensive sports facilities and star-studded spectaculars.

The full variety of entertainment on offer ranges from slots to safaris; theatre extravaganza to a games arcade for children; horse-riding to golf; the Valley of the Waves to The Lost City… whatever it is you're looking for, you'll find it at Sun City in South Africa.

Overnight visitors to any of the hotels at the Sun City Resort have free access to the Valley of the Waves. This is the most advanced Waterpark in South Africa. A large lagoon dominates the scene with a wave machine capable of generating 1.8 metre waves every 90 seconds. This water park has five exhilarating flume rides. From the aptly named Temple of Courage, swimmers drop a heart stopping 17 metres down a chute and under a bridge before splashing into a small pool at the foot of the slide. For the less adventurous visitor to the Sun City Resort why not take a ride on the 'Lazy River'?

A variety of sports activities may be enjoyed at Sun City. Year round good weather in this part of South Africa ensures that tennis, squash, swimming, golf, mountain biking, horse riding, and parasailing are all on offer throughout the year. Sun City has laid out spectacular jogging trails. Sun City’s Gym and Health spa keep you perfectly toned, and a beauty treatment is the perfect way to wind down after a workout. A wide range of water sports including water-skiing, parasailing and sunset cruises can be enjoyed at the resort’s Waterworld.

Engela

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