Heading East: Potholes And Blyde Canyon

After Praetoria we headed east for two days, initially on the excellent freeways, then off onto secondary roads to see the sights...the Sabie region, up and over the Drakensburg mountains, Dullstrom and South Africa's fly-fishing capital (introduced brown and rainbow trout), spending the night at a campground near Sabie town. From Praetoria, it's high dry plains, dotted with gigantic gold mine complexes and mountain-like tailings, powerplants, small towns, heavy industry. Then you climb into the mountains, the Drakensburgs not particularly high but pretty, Next day we drove on to Pilgrim's Rest (a restored mining town; we've seen lots of gold mining towns, in MT, the US West, New Zealand, etc.; so no pix), Long Tom Pass, Bourke's Luck Potholes, and then the impressive Blyde canyon. The cloud ceiling was quite low, so we skipped God's Window and the Pinnacle, other canyon sights, stopping at another campground near Blydespoort. All this occurred August 27th-28th.

Gradually we are getting used to the new camper, the routine, the campgrounds, the driving, our new companions. Jet lag continues to be an issue, but it will pass. [Drafted and posted (?!) September 15th.]

Among first of many interesting signs...the top says "no stopping," and the second
says "no road-side vendors"

Bourke's Luck Potholes are a small gorge; Bourke was a miner,
of course

The potholes; a few days later we'd see more than our share of other potholes,
as we drove out of South Africa north to Botswana

Also little waterfalls

Low clouds and a bit of Blyde Canyon, one of the world's largest, we read

Sort of like Grand Canyon, but with trees, as Vicki observed

At the campground in Blydepoort, the southern hemisphere flora beginning to show;
it's late winter/early spring here

Campground showers...the last ablution block I remember was outside a mosque
somewhere

More helpful signage

And more, the next day, of Blyde Canyon

Pano

The Hornbill, no respecter of signage...