Situated close to the Mozambique and Swaziland (eSwatini) borders, the area is rich in cultural history. Visit the Samora Machel monument or venture further to the Panorama Route, Blydepoort River Canyon, God's Window, Pilgrims Rest and Graskop Gorge. Or venture south to Kaapsehoop with their wild horses and the Barberton Makhonjwa Mountain World Heritage Site.
The Blyde River Canyon is the third largest canyon in the world 26 946 ha, after the Grand Canyon in the United States and the Fish River Canyon in Namibia, and is the largest 'green canyon' due to its lush subtropical foliage, with the deepest precipitous cliffs of any canyon on the planet.
The Blyde River Canyon Reserve extends along the Blyde River Canyon's winding path, which at every turn offers more and more impressive views over sheer edges droper personing 800m into the riverbed.
The Blyde River Canyon Reserve is situated against the Greater Drakensberg escarpment and includes natural wonders such as the Bourke's Luck Potholes, the Three Rondavels, Pinnacle Rock and God's Window. While visiting the area we highly recommend you stop past the many spectacular waterfalls on the Panorama Route.
One of the main reasons to visit Nelspruit, the Lowveld National Botanical Garden lies just outside of town, a beautiful 159 hectare space dominated by rugged, rocky river scenery, and home to over 600 naturally occurring plant species, and a further 2000 that have been introduced to the garden.
The character of the Garden is shaped by the two main rivers that cut across it, namely the Crocodile and Nels Rivers. Before these two rivers converge in the Garden, they form spectacular waterfalls which can be viewed at the Cascades and the Nels viewpoints. When the Crocodile River is low, interesting geological formations are visible.
Situated within the beautiful 1,000 hectare Umhloti Nature Reserve, 15 kilometres outside Nelspruit, the Jane Goodall Institute (JGI) South Africa Chimpanzee Sanctuary is home to chimps that have been misplaced from their natural habitats in Africa.
The oldest well-preserved sequence of volcanic and sedimentary rocks spanning the time period of 3.5 – 3.2 billion years ago. The trail has 11 marked points, including Lebombo view which is 25km out on the trail. This is a beautiful lookout and perfect for a picnic. At this point there are examples of all the rock formations with descriptions for each. There are no toilets or cellular phone reception on the route, but travelers with passports can cross the border into Swaziland and visit the excellent mining museum just 2km from the border where there are toilet facilities and a restaurant.
The Sudwala Caves are part of the Malmani Dolomite Ridge, in turn part of the Drakensberg escarpment, near Nelspruit in Mpumalanga. They are solutional caves – that is to say they were formed by natural acid in groundwater seeping through faults and joins, and dissolving rock. This most often occurs when the rock is dolomite rock and/or limestone. The caves themselves formed about 240 million years ago. They are the oldest caves in the world.
There are a number of speleothem structures in the cave, known by names such as the "Lowveld Rocket", "Samson's Pillar", and the "Screaming Monster"; some have been dated to 200 million years old. There are also microbial fossils of a cyanobacterium known as collenia in the rock; these formed 2000 million years ago.
Please chat with our experienced team to help plan your stay with us. We can advise and assist with all your safari, tour and shuttle requirements.
We can also suggest things to do in the area and point out any necessary tips or need to know.
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