Panorama Route

Mpumalanga (Zulu name for “the place where the sun rises”) is one of the most geographically diverse and unbelievably beautiful places in eastern South Africa, bordering the nations of Swaziland and Mozambique. It embraces the southern half of Kruger National Park, a huge nature reserve with abundant wildlife including SA’s famous Big 5. The province’s iconic Blyde River Canyon, among the world’s largest, is known as a green canyon because of its subtropical foliage. There are lots of cultural history and beautiful places to see and experience. To describe the natural attractions with the written word is difficult, but people recount being able to ‘touch the clouds’ whilst others have called the route the ‘most beautiful place in the world’.

The Panorama Route’s popularity has much to do with its proximity to the Kruger National Park. It is often part and parcel of any organised trip to the game reserve. But it is also favoured for the access it provides to one of the province’s major scenic draw cards, the Blyde River Canyon, one of the largest canyons on earth.

The most popular stretch of the route is the R532 that winds its way from the town of Sabie via a selection of graceful waterfalls – the Sabie Falls, Bridal Veil Falls, Mac Mac Falls – to God’s Window, the Blyde River Canyon, Bourke’s Luck Potholes and the three Rondawels. The famous Lowveld View is not even 5 km north of Bourke’s Luck Potholes. This view out over the canyon from a height of 1 219 metres above sea level, the Blyde River cutting its way through the valleys below and the Blydepoort Dam in the distance, is unspeakably beautiful!

To rush the drive would be to miss the enchantment.