28 Best Sights in Mpumalanga and Kruger National Park, South Africa

Daily game drives take place in the early morning and late afternoon. There's a strong emphasis on ecology at Sabi Sabi: guests are encouraged to look beyond the Big Five and to become aware of the birds and smaller mammals of the bush. You can also take a walking safari or a specialist birding or photo safari. There's also the Amani Spa, as well as stargazing in the evenings.

Guided tours are offered at Alanglade, the former beautifully restored home of the Transvaal Gold Mining Estates' mine manager, set in a forested grove 2 km (1 mile) north of town. The huge house was built in 1916 for Richard Barry and his family, and it is furnished with pieces dating from 1900 to 1930. Look carefully at the largest pieces—you will see that they are segmented so they could be taken apart and carried on ox wagons. Tour tickets are available at the information center and should be reserved in advance to ensure a guide.

Starting just below the point where the Blyde (joy) River and Treur (sorrow) River converge, the world's third-largest canyon is also one of South Africa’s most-visited natural attractions. Discover the spectacular scenery of red cliffs jutting up from the canyon base, unusual geological formations, indigenous and rare Afromontane forest, cascading waterfalls, and an abundance of birds, small animals, and biodiversity. You can also try your hand at all sorts of adventure activities, from white-water rafting and abseiling to mountain biking and hiking.

The amazing Bourke's Luck Potholes are 30 km (19 miles) north of Berlin Falls; if you only choose a couple of stops on the Panorama Route, this should be one (along with God's Window and the Three Rondavels). Named after a gold prospector, the cylindrical and rather alien-looking deep potholes filled with green water are carved spectacularly into the rock by whirlpools where the Treur (sorrow) and Blyde (joy) rivers converge—and where the canyon begins. Several long canyon hiking trails start from here, as do shorter walks and trails (pack a hat and sunscreen, there's very little shade). A three-hour walk, for example, could take you down into the bottom of the canyon, where you follow a trail marked by rocks painted with animal or bird symbols as the gorge towers above you. You could also do a much shorter visit along the walkways, just to see the potholes from above (you'll likely want to spend at least an hour or two here). Be sure to stop by the Blyde River Canyon Nature Reserve visitor center at the entrance to the site, where interesting exhibits describe the canyon's flora, fauna, and geology.

God's Window is the most famous of the Lowveld lookouts along the Panorama Route. It got its name because of the rock "window" that looks out at the sublime view below. Gaze out into seeming infinity from the edge of the escarpment (which drops away almost vertically). Geared to tourists, it has toilet facilities, paved parking areas, curio vendors, and paved, marked walking trails leading to various lookouts. The God's Window lookout has a view back along the escarpment framed between towering cliffs. For a broader panorama, make a 10-minute climb along the paved track through the rainforest to a small area with sweeping views of the entire Lowveld (it's well worth the climb).

The same Otis elevator brand that sails down Sandton’s tallest towers in Johannesburg can be found on the edge of a cliff in Mpumalanga. The Graskop Gorge Lift drops 51 meters (167 feet) into a magical world of indigenous forest, where guests amble along the signposted boardwalks (wooden walkways and scenic suspension bridges make up a 600-meter-long [1,969-foot-long] trail) to learn about local flora and enjoy views across the Motitsi Falls; the lift is wheelchair-friendly. After your walk, there are refreshments with upper-level views down the gorge at The Lift Cafe or Swing Cafe and craft shopping from local vendors at the community craft center outside. Veteran traders that previously sold from makeshift plastic and wood structures around town now operate from this sheltered, upmarket trading area. A must-visit is The Gallery, where local artists and artisans exhibit. If you'd like to boost your adrenaline, plummet down (think 20 stories) into the gorge on The Big Swing, or whoosh along the zipline.

There are nine entrance gates to Kruger, namely (counterclockwise from the north) Pafuri, Punda Maria, Phalaborwa, Orpen, Paul Kruger, Phabeni, Numbi, Malelane, and Crocodile Bridge. National access roads to all the entrance gates are paved. If you're staying at one of the park's lodges or camps, you can arrange for a late-entry escort until 9 pm for the following gates (and their nearby camps): Paul Kruger (Skukuza), Numba (Pretoriuskop), Malelane (Berg-en-Dal and Malelane), Crocodile Bridge (Crocodile Bridge), Punda Maria (Punda Maria), and Orpen (Orpen).

With excellent roads and accommodations, Kruger is a great place to drive around yourself, though first-timers may want to think again about getting behind the wheel, since not everyone knows what to do when an enormous elephant with flapping ears is standing in front of your vehicle, blocking the road. Travel times in the park are tough to estimate, in addition, and a hefty fine is levied if you don't make it back to your camp on time.

An affordable solution is to join a game drive with a park ranger, who will drive you around in an open-sided four-wheel-drive. All the major rest camps offer ranger-led bush drives in open-air vehicles (minimum of two people), and, if you're not staying in the park itself, you can still join a tour led by a ranger; your options for this are the Park & Ride tours, which leave from the park's entrance gates. Also, plenty of outfitters will arrange a safari for you (as well as accommodations). Most drives depart in the early morning for either a half day or full day.

There are also bush walks on offer, something else you can't do on your own.

Whatever you do, don't miss out on a ranger-led sunset drive, when the park is closed to regular visitors. Scanning the bush as dusk settles over the landscape, you'll sit in a large open-air vehicle with the ranger, who uses a powerful spotlight to pick out animals, including nocturnal creatures that you would never see otherwise. You might see bush babies (enchanting furry, big-eared, big-eyed little primates that leap from bush to bush), servals (mini-leopard-looking felines), civets (black-and-white possum look-alikes), genets (spotted catlike creatures with bushy tails), or an aardvark ambling along in the moonlight. Scrutinize branches of big trees for the giant eagle owl, with its pink eyelids, or a leopard chewing on its kill. Night is also the time when hyenas and lions hunt. These opportunities alone make a night drive an unforgettable experience. The three- to four-hour trip leaves the rest camps roughly half an hour before the gates close. Book drives at least two weeks in advance or when you make your park reservations, and don't forget your binoculars, a snack or drink, and a warm jacket whatever the season.

You'll find more gorgeous waterfalls clustered on the Panorama Route than anywhere else in southern Africa. Just north of Graskop, the dramatic falls are set in a bowl between hills just outside the Blyde (Motlatse) Canyon Nature Reserve, sending cascades 94 meters (308 feet) onto rocks below, throwing up spray over a deep pool. Named nostalgically by European miners who came here looking for gold in the late 1800s, this is a good kickoff point for the whole Panorama Route. Hike down (roughly 40 minutes) to the pool on a path from the parking area, and enjoy a picnic below Mpumalanga's highest waterfall.

From the moment you enter Sabie Valley Coffee the delicious smell of freshly roasted beans lures you in. Take a fascinating tour through the whole coffee-making process—from orchards to roasting to packaging. Find out about a coffee grower's life, and the different kinds of beans that produce different tastes, which is why there are so many (often bewildering) coffees available today. Challenge your taste buds with a tasting of homegrown, 100% pure Arabica specialty coffees, before sampling some of the coffee-related goodies for sale: coffee liqueur, cake, and candies. Call to make reservations.

This is one of the most spectacular vistas in South Africa—you'll find it in almost every travel brochure. Here the Blyde River, hemmed in by towering buttresses of red rock, snakes through the bottom of the Blyde River Canyon. The Three Rondavels are rock formations that bear a vague similarity to the round, thatched African dwellings of the same name. Before Europeans moved into the area, the indigenous local people named the formations the Chief and His Three Wives. The flat-top peak to the right is Mapjaneng (the Chief), named in honor of a Mapulana chief, Maripe Mashile, who routed invading Swazi at the battle of Moholoholo ("the very great one"). The three "wives," in descending order from right to left, are Maseroto, Mogoladikwe, and Magabolle.

The descent out of the nature reserve, down the escarpment, and through Abel Erasmus Pass is breathtaking. (From the Three Rondavels, take the R532 to a T, and turn right onto the R36.) Be careful as you drive this pass. Locals graze their cattle and goats on the verges, and you may be surprised by animals on the tarmac as you round a bend. The JG Strijdom Tunnel serves as the gateway to the Lowveld. At the mouth of the tunnel are vendors selling clay pots, African masks, wooden giraffes, curios of many kinds, and subtropical fruit. As you emerge from the dark mouth of the tunnel, the Lowveld spreads out below, and the views of both it and the mountains are stunning. On the left, the Olifants River snakes through the bushveld, lined in parts by African subsistence farms.

A small stream, Waterfall Spruit, runs through a broad expanse of grassland to Berlin Falls. A short walk takes you to a platform overlooking the cascade, shaped like a candle. It starts off as a thin stream that drops through a narrow sluice (this looks like the candlewick), and then widens out to fall 45 meters (150 feet) into a deep-green pool surrounded by tall pines. Why the not-very-local name? The German miners who came here during the gold rush in the late 1800s named it nostalgically after their home country.

This 700-hectare (nearly 37,000 acres) reserve in the Timbavati shares an unfenced boundary with Kruger National Park and has exclusive traversing rights, so prepare yourself for exciting wildlife viewing. The original land was donated by conservationist and philanthropist Hans Hoheisen to the WWF (World Wildlife Foundation) to be managed as part of the world-famous park. The impressive and well-known Birmingham pride of lions roams in and out of Ngala and includes the world's only known wild white lions.

The only one in South Africa, Jane Goodall Institute's Chimp Eden provides sanctuary to chimpanzees that have been uprooted from their homes. Established in 2006, it's located on 1,000 hectares (2,500 acres) of nature reserve just outside Mbombela. Visitors can observe the chimps from several viewpoints overlooking the forest. You can also take a one-hour tour during which you'll learn all about the chimps and the sanctuary. Tours run three times daily—10 am, noon, and 2 pm—and must be pre-booked via email or phone. A half tour is wheelchair-accessible. Cold drinks available.

To see how the whole valley looked during gold-rush days, visit the Diggings just outside the village. In the creek where the gold was originally panned, you'll find authentic displays of a water-driven stamp battery, the Gold Commissioner's hut, a transport wagon, a waterwheel, a steam engine, a sluice box, a prison tent, and wattle-and-daub huts typical of the early gold-rush years. The tour lasts about an hour, and you'll watch a gold-panning demonstration (you can even try your own hand at gold-panning). The local guides who conduct the tours add to the atmosphere with yarns about the old days. Tickets are available at the information center.

Experience life after the heady gold-rush days, and relive the '30s and '40s, when 16 general stores lined the streets of Pilgrim's Rest. By 1950 mine production had taken a nosedive, and most of the businesses had shut down. The Dredzen Shop and House Museum re-creates the look of a general store during those lean years, with shelves displaying authentic items that would have been on sale, from jams and preserves to candles and matches. The attached house belonged to the shopkeeper and re-creates the life of a middle-class family of the period.

This center, which cares for, breeds, and protects endangered species, is in the Kapama Private Game Reserve, outside the little Limpopo town of Hoedspruit. It started more than 30 years ago in a small way, when South African Lente Roode, who owns the reserve, decided to dedicate herself to saving cheetahs—a highly endangered species. The center quickly gained credibility and fame when other animals and birds were brought to her, nursed back to health, and returned to the wild (when possible). It now has a state-of-the-art veterinary center, a highly respected research program, outreach programs for schools, international volunteer programs, a shop, and is a great day trip destination. You’ll meet rescued white rhinos (often with tragic backgrounds), watch wild vultures feast at a vulture restaurant, or see wild dogs being fed on a daily tour. The center maintains a strict policy of no contact or interaction with animals kept on the property. Two-hour tours are offered daily at 9 am, 11 am, and 1 pm but should be booked 24 hours in advance.

Originally a doctor's house, the House Museum, across and up the street from the Royal Hotel, re-creates the way of life of a middle-class family in the early part of the 20th century. The house was built in 1913 of corrugated iron and wood and is typical of buildings erected at the time. Check out the late Victorian furnishings, kitchen utensils, and the very grand carved wooden commode (precursor to the toilet). Purchase tour tickets at the information center.

This is the prettiest, most peaceful, and last of three local waterfalls on a dead-end road (the others are Bridal Veil Falls and Horseshoe Falls). An easy paved walkway leads to the falls, which plunge 68 meters (225 feet) from the center of a high, broad rock face framed by vines and creepers. The path crosses the Sabie River on a wooden bridge and loops through the forest back to the parking lot. If you're feeling energetic, follow the steep steps leading up to the top of the falls. Lone Creek is accessible to the elderly and those with disabilities because of its easy approach.

The province's only botanical garden is just outside Mbombela and is home to hundreds of birds, butterflies, occasional small wildlife, and of course, plants. Apart from its collection of more than 2,000 species of plants (with two thirds of South African tree species), they have the largest collection of cycads (palm-like plants) in Africa. Take great photos from the wooden suspension bridge over a tumbling waterfall where the Crocodile and Nel rivers (which flow through the gardens) join together. In spring and summer, when many of the indigenous plants are flowering, you'll see lots of iridescent sunbirds feasting on the blossoms. But at any time of year, don't miss the lush African rainforest that gives the gardens its "evergreen" moniker. If you're walking-fit, take the lovely self-guided tour or just amble along as you please. The gardens are also wheelchair-friendly, and there's a pleasant restaurant.

Set in an amphitheater of towering cliffs, the Mac Mac Falls—a national treasure—is arguably the most famous waterfall in Mpumalanga. The water plunges 65 meters (215 feet) into the gorge as rainbows dance in the billowing spray. A small entry fee gets you through the gate for a closer look. At the gate a number of peddlers sell well-priced curios (they expect you to bargain with them!). In 1873, President Thomas Burger named the falls after the area's Scottish miners who panned for gold.

The park's grassy plains and mixed woodland attract good-sized herds of general game and their attendant predators. This provincial reserve (as opposed to a national park) operates as a concession with comfortable and upmarket private lodges. You have a strong chance of seeing the Big Five, but the Manyeleti lodges and tented camps focus more on providing an overall bush experience than simply rushing after big game. You'll learn about trees, birds, and bushveld ecosystems on your drives and guided bush walks. 

The tiny Pilgrim's and Sabie News Printing Museum is full of displays of antique printing presses and old photos. The building, constructed in the late 19th century as a residence, later served as the offices of the weekly Pilgrim's and Sabie News. The first newspaper in Pilgrim's Rest was the Gold News, published in 1874 and notable for its libelous gossip. The editor, an Irishman by the name of Phelan, felt obliged to keep a pair of loaded pistols on his desk. Purchase tour tickets at the information center.

The Pilgrim's Rest Cemetery sits high on the hill above Main Street. The fascinating tombstone inscriptions evoke the dangers and hardship of life in Mpumalanga well over a century ago. Tellingly, most of the dead were young people from Wales, Scotland, and England. The cemetery owes its improbable setting to the Robber's Grave, the only grave that lies in a north–south direction. It contains the body of a thief banished from Pilgrim's Rest for stealing gold from a tent, after which he was tarred and feathered and chased out of town; he later foolishly returned and was shot dead. Buried where he fell, the area around his grave became the town's unofficial cemetery.

Pinnacle is a 30-meter-high (100-foot-high) quartzite "needle" that rises dramatically out of the surrounding fern-clad ravine, as it has for countless millennia. It's well worth a quick visit and photographs. Way down below, beneath and to the right of the viewing platform, you can see the plateau beneath the escarpment. The watercourse drops down some 450 meters (1,475 feet) in a series of alternating falls and cascades. Stay away from the edge if you suffer from vertigo.

The Shangana Cultural Village is a genuine Shangaan village that's presided over by the incumbent chief, whose family have lived here for decades. An hour-long tour of the kraal (traditional rural village) includes a meeting with the chief and a visit to the sangoma (traditional healer who'll throw the bones to predict your future). Enjoy a traditional lunch or a light meal in the tea garden after visiting the Marula Market, where you can stock up on a great variety of good-quality handcrafted items (some made on-site). Don't miss the memorable evening firelight song-and-dance performance hosted by the chief portraying the history of the Shangaan people. A traditional dinner is included. Booking for the performance (5:15 pm in summer, 5 pm in winter) is essential.

Regardless of which lodge you're staying at, you'll be treated to wildlife-rich game drives with wall-to-wall game. You'll most certainly see the King of Beasts, as well as leopards, elephants, buffalo, and spotted hyenas. Rhinos are scarcer, but you might be lucky and see wild dogs, as they migrate regularly to this region from Kruger. The most amazing sighting, however, for which this reserve is famous, is the exceptionally rare white lion.

If you're into automobiles and their history, pop in to the Casterbridge Lifestyle Centre for the  White River History & Motor Museum. It has an impressive collection of more than 60 vehicles, dating from as early as 1911, including a 1936 Jaguar SS100, one of only 314 ever built.