Day 9. Panoramic Route

I ordered box breakfast from Loerie Guest House the night before. In the morning, we got the food. It was so much food that Claire and I only ate less than half of it, and we put the rest in the fridge.  

Sausage Tree Safari had a promotion of staying three nights to get a free Panoramic Route tour. I saw the promotion a few months after I booked the trip, but they were kind enough to give us the promotion. The tour started at 8am. It was with Buya Buya Tour and our driver turned out to be Patrick again. When we went outside of the hotel at 8, he was already waiting for us. He said that he hitchhiked to work at 5am in order to be there on time.

Our first stop was Three Rondavels. The three peaks were named after the three wives of a chief who won a war. There were lots of gift stands at the view points. This was true for all later places. Prices were very negotiable.  

The same spot also has a view of the Blyde River Canyon. Patrick said that this is the world's larges green canyon because it was covered by trees. 

Our next stop was Burke's Luck Potholes. That was a very unique landscape. Patrick said that two rivers meet here, the water swirls a lot and created these holes. We walked upstream and put our feed in the shallow water for fun. Patrick said that it would bring good luck.

 We then stopped by Lisbon Falls. 

We went to a pancake restaurant at Graskop for lunch. Patrick said that tour guides eat there for free. While I suspected the place to be a tourist trap, the food turned out to be really good. I had bobotie, which is ground beef with cheese. It was delicious. Claire also liked her food. We also bought some biltong as snacks.

After lunch, we went to God's Window and did a little hiking. This place provides a bird's-eye view of the land, and people thought that it must be a view of what God would see, hence the name. 

We only had time for these stops along Panoramic Route in a day. It is best to spend a few days driving along this scenic drive. Next time.

We asked to be dropped off at Kamogelo Center in Hoedspruit and that turned out to be a rather boring place. There were not many shops open. We went to a gift shop, and it was selling the same stuff we saw at the stands at those touristy places. We walked back to our hotel.

Claire and I were still full, so we skipped dinner and went to sleep.