Just because a person is in a wheelchair, or is just not as mobile as the rest of us, why should they not be able to enjoy South Africa’s spectacular tourist attractions?
The Graskop Gorge Lift Company has ensured that a good part (but not all) of the amazing winding boardwalk at the bottom of the Graskop Gorge is accessible to everybody.
I have been to the gorge a few times. Being an adventure cerntre, it also offers ziplining across the gorge, and a swing line. Both are popular, and the participants are noisy, and scream in delight, or sheer terror as they are launched into ‘nothing’. Therefore, I do not advise visiting the gorge over weekend or public holidays, if you want the peace and quiet that is supposed to be at the bottom of a gorge.
Graskop Gorge, in Mpumalanga Province is a 50m deep gorge close to the small town of Graskop. Getting to the bottom of it, to enjoy the Afromontane forest, used to be a major mission, so not many people experienced the wonders of it. Then someone had the brilliant idea of putting in a lift. This lift is one of the best ideas I have seen in along time, to encourage tourists to visit.
Having gone through the reception area at the top, with numerous shops, restaurants and swing bridges across smaller chasms, it’s time to do the lift and gorge experience.
The top of the gorge: a swing bridge, and an outlook point.
An amazing experience it is; as you go down and down, and see the forest and cliffs, you have to wonder at who the intrepid person who originally went down there was, and then told of its wonders.
The bottom of the gorge has a circular boardwalk route of 600m, which follows the Mitsi River, and crosses it back and forth. Please note, if you are wheelchair bound, or walk with a cane or crutches, do check with the company for where you may have difficulties on the route. Going as far as you can in one direction, and then backtracking when you get to the steps, is not going to diminish your bottom-of-the-gorge-trip.
The forest is spectacular; my kind of cathedral, and a large stained glass ‘window’ depicting various birds and plants has been suspended over the wooden walkway, really bringing home the hallowed cathedral like feel to the place.
The trees are identified, there are information boards in strategic places, and for a bit of fun, humour was brought in, and cut out silhouettes of a hunting caracal sneaking away in the bush, and other animals can be seen ‘hiding’ in the undergrowth. A sign warns: ‘On no account climb the trees. There may be carnivorous monsters up there.’ No, the carnivorous monsters are extinct, but you will see an artistic grove of monster mushrooms, another whacky addition to the whole experience. Look out for the giant spider!
Below: A caracal sneaks past on a hunt, and giant mushrooms ‘grow’ in the undergrowth.
Above: now you can know your trees!
Enjoy the experience, listen to the birds, sink into a form of meditation, and spend as much time as you’d like down there. Sit yourself down near the waterfall that plunges into a straight-sided pool, which looks manmade, especially as a huge rock at the side of it looks like it is the square-ish piece which was removed to make the pool. Just relax, and soak up the magic.
Graskop is about 40km north west from the town of Hazyview, which is on the border of the Kruger National Park. In turn, Hazyview is about 70km from Mbombela, previously Nelspuit, where the Kruger Mpumalanga International Airport is, so if driving isn’t your thing, you can fly there, hire a car, or engage a tour company to take you to Graskop and other beautiful places in the area.
The road between Hazyview and Graskop. The elephant warning should not be taken lightly, this is Africa! The ‘tunnel’ is cut into a steep mountain side, and is there to protect cars from rockfalls.
Graskop, which literally translates to ‘Grass Head’, but is better translated from Afrikaans as ‘Grassy Peak’, is nearly 1500m above sea level on top of the Mauchsberg (Karl Mauch was a geologist who explored the area in the later 1800s). The town dates back to 1837 when Andries Hendrik Potgieter, one of the Voortrekker leaders, left the women and children there, while he went in search of a route to Delagoa Bay (now Maputo, Mozambique, which is about 300km as the crow flies, east of Graskop). This time he came back without too much ado, unlike when he left the women at children at the Treur (Sorrow) River, but was reunited with them at the Blyde (Joy) River – see my blog on the Blyde River canyon for that amazing story.
Another famous character who frequented Graskop was the dog, Jock (of the bushveld) and his transport rider owner, Percy Fitzpatrick, who gained fame from his book about his dog.
Graskop, apart from forestry as a money earner, has turned itself into a very welcoming tourist town, with plenty of restaurants and curio shops. Don’t forget to support the street vendors, who are a bit pushy, but polite – they sell macadamia nuts, fruit, and funky carved birds painted in bright colours. Be the supportive tourist!
Traveling again? Galavanting with Kathryn Costello 