Somewhere my love

Image:http://www.kwathabeng.co.za/limpopo-marulaneng-hoedspruit-gallery.html

Wat is a Tufa waterfall? and where can I find one in South Africa? and how can I get there…this post and this link here, give you all the answers! enjoy!
 https://chessaleeinlondon.wordpress.com/2007/09/19/what-is-a-tufa-waterfall/ The Link will open in a new window.

I hope you enjoy this “movie” about South Africa. The images are from the Eastern part of the country… the Mpumalanga province, previously called the Easern Transvaal. It was August…end of winter…and not holiday for South Africans, so we were lucky…. places were not crowded…. You will see mostly images about the third largest/deepest canyon in the world…the Blyde River Canyon. As it was the end of winter, the area wasn’t as green as it used to be during summer! The Grand Canyon is the largest, then the Fish River Canyon in Namibia… This canyon is the greenest canyon in the world. You will also see the potholes at Bourkes Luck. Then, in this canyon, there is a waterfall, called a Tufa waterfall. On one of the images I tell you in short what a tufa waterfall is… where other waterfalls wear away the soil…this kind of waterfall does the opposite! This tufal waterfall is called the “weeping tufa”, as it looks like a face with an eye…and the water flows from the “eye”…A Tufa waterfall is a waterfall where the calcium rich water builds the rock face over which it is flowing as the calcium and mud hardens in beautiful forms, that’s why it’s a “growing” waterfall. This link HERE has got a brilliant picture of the Tufa waterfall – the one you can see in my post too – in this canyon and awesome pictures and many links to places/resorts in that area. Here you can see the “face” of this waterfall…brilliant! The link will open in a new window.

You will see a cave, which can only be seen on the boat trip. You will also see some images from the Sudwala caves. You can put “Swadini” in my search box to find those fantastic links and to see more pictures of that area. I focused on this movie mostly on nature images …do enjoy! On THIS LINK you can see more pictures and links to sites to book a holiday! and on THIS LINK you can see pictures of Pilgrims Rest area and maps/info if you want to tour that are…really beautiful to visit!
If you have enjoyed this movie…Links will open in a new window. Click HERE to see another movie about South Africa which I posted a few days ago.

 

 

Somewhere my love…by the
Ray Coniff singers.

Somewhere, my love,
There will be songs to sing
Although the snow
Covers the hope of spring.

Somewhere a hill
Blossoms in green and gold
And there are dreams
All that your heart can hold.

Someday we’ll meet again, my love.
Someday whenever the spring breaks through.

You’ll come to me
Out of the long ago,
Warm as the wind,
Soft as the kiss of snow.

Till then, my sweet,
Think of me now and then.
God, speed my love
‘Til you are mine again.

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Tour the Lowveld!

All links in this post will open in a new window. Read on THIS LINK more about Pilgrim’s Rest with beautiful pictures and links to other posts on my blog. It was our second time in the Royal Hotel although we’ve been to Pilgrim’s Rest a zillion times. As a child I grew up on a farm just about 30 minutes’ drive from Pilgrim’s Rest and I don’t think I have to say more!
And of course…if you are in this area, you can’t go wrong by MOUNT SHEBA which is a resort situated in the northern part of the Drakensberg mountains near Pilgrim’s Rest. On the link you can see this map enlarged.

By looking at these pictures, you can see how beautifully this old Hotel has been decorated and I love this bath tub! You feel like spending hours in a bath like this! Everything in the rooms was really very neat and tidy and we couldn’t complain about anything. The service was outstanding and the cleaners very friendly and helpful. They were ready at hand to carry any luggage from the car and it was such a relief to find some fresh tea ready after a long way of travel from Blyde River!

 

 

These are the rest rooms of the Hotel it self. I found it very clean and tidy.

And, very odd, still in August – which winter in SA, but this plant was in bloom, so beautiful

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Pilgrim’s Rest

I’ve posted before about before about Pilgrims Rest and don’t want to bore you again with the history of the town. In short – for those “lazy” readers… – oh yes, HERE is a link! – this is a historical town in the Eastern part of the country… Mpumalanga. Mpumalanga means… place where the sun rises..so, it’s the East! Previously, it was called Eastern Transvaal and you were lucky (like me!) if you grew up in this part of the country as it is one of the most beautiful places in the country. This historical town – Pilgrims Rest – was founded during the Gold Rush in South Africa and the town is now a tourist attraction and really a “must go” when you go to South Africa. I’ve got some fantastic pictures that will get posted tomorrow about views of the town and more about museums in the town and from the displays in the musems and also from the Hotel itself. So…keep watching this space!

The Royal Hotel was THE place to be – I guess for those miners after a hard day’s work! If you walk into the Royal Hotel, you can “hear” them talking “gold”!  The atmosphere is really a relaxing atmosphere. The main road doesn’t go through the town anymore like before and that makes wondering/lingering through the town quite safe and less stressful!

These two pictures are some old posters and it grabbed my attention immediately!

I got permission from this art shop to take some pics inside and they sell the most wonderful art/pottery! Just have a look at all the designs, rich in colour and rich in Africa! I love these designs!

These menus can’t be ignored! You have to sit down and have something to eat, my favourite of course…scones and jam+cream! and those Koeksisters!! how can you resist it!

On these pics you can see evidence of the mining that was going on. There’s museums in the town that is very informative about the area and the “Gold Rush”.Read HERE MORE about the Gold Rush in Pilgrims Rest.

Click ON THIS LINK to see more beautiful pictures of Pilgrim’s Rest and take a tour through the eastern part of the country!

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Blyde River/Swadini

During our holiday in August – South Africa, we were really lucky to find accommodation at a place next to the Swadini Forever Resort (previously Aventura). I grew up in the Eastern Transvaal -now Mpumalanga, which means:”place of the rising sun.” We drove through Lydenburg, spent time on the farm where I grew up.Krugerspost lies between Lydenburg and  Pilgrims Rest, the historical town and from there we then ventured off to the Echo Caves. First we stopped at Ohrigstad to fill-up the car. We first thought to stay at the Echo Caves Motel, but changed our minds and headed for the Blyde River Canyon. We initially thought that we would just pop-in and have a place to stay! But, as we were on holiday and didn’t take any notice of dates and public holiday days in SA, we didn’t know it was a long weekend!Thursday was Women’s day and the Friday was a public holiday! Anyway, we got at Blyde River Forever Resort: “Sorry…we are fully booked!” Well, we didn’t expect to hear that, but then realised why we heard such unexpected words! OK! It was 7pm, not very late you know, but we’ve been on the road for a very long time by then. There were loads of B&B places, which we saw on random roads, not very far off, so, we decided to take the road, looking for some decent B&Bs.
Just as we took a turn-off, stopped to look at an entrance of a B&B, Andre stopped next to us. He was our angel! “Hello…are you lost?” he asked very friendly and with him was his partner.”No, but we’re looking for a place to stay”, we replied anxiously. “Come with us! You can stay in Marius’s lodge!” We didn’t wait for a second invitation. Tired of being all day on the road basically from Groblersdal, we followed him, for only just about 80 m! What we got, was a fantastic lodge, place for about 10 people to stay. We could pick and choose where to sleep, like Goldilocks!! haha..I tried different beds…playing Goldilocks…! It was fun…2 bathrooms, showers …huge kitchen…(if you keep coming back to my blog later, you will see all of this) It was fantastic.”Because you don’t have any cleaning services for the weekend, you can pay R30 per person less…,” he continued through all the non-stop talking! I wanted to say: “Shus, you’re talking too much,” because Andre was talking non-stop about all the places we can visit and the more he talked, the more excited he got!! He also told us about – click here: – Moholoholo Animal Rehabilitation Centre, but our time was limited and you have to book to go there. Our boat trip was already booked for the same time we could go to Moholoholo, so sadly, we couldn’t go there, as we were heading for Pilgrims Rest and Sabie the following day…If my memory hasn’t gone lost…”moholoholo” means something like…”falling rock”…or ‘rolling rock.’

Enjoy this movie about the area of the Blyde River, which I put together using some of my pictures, not a great camera, I need to warn you. Our video camera perished a few days ago and we need to wait till we’re back in the UK to try and get it fixed.

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