SA Road Tripping 2: God's Window

So once we finally left Durban we headed out to Hoedspruit (a town near one of the Kruger National Park gates), where we planned to stay with the "host" family (an Afrikaans family at that!!!...and I'll tell you more about that later) of the volunteer I traveled with.  Our drive took us along the Indian Ocean coastline to evergreen forests (we actually drove through the largest man made forest) to mountainous regions (the Drakensberg Escarpment). The drive was absolutely breathtaking to say the least.

Lounge at the Backpackers in Nelspruit 

Even though we left at 7:30am we weren't going to be able to make it to Hoedspruit before dark (yeah the whole traveling at night thing isn't really the best look here especially in that area where you have to travel on roads winding through the mountains).  So we spent the night at a backpackers in Nelspruit.  It worked out perfectly though because we were able to stop and take in beautiful sites like the Pinnacle and God's Window and visit historic sites like Pilgrims Rest on our ride up to Hoedspruit!  Below are some pics from the second leg of our trip!

Enjoy
--Mei

PS: BTW-if you click on one of the pics you can view them all in a slideshow format


VIEWS FROM THE ROAD

View of the Road

Another view of the Road!

We encountered A LOT of road construction on one lane roads so we had to frequently wait for cars coming from the other direction to pass before we could go.  At more than one stop we had to wait for more than 20 mins. 

SITE SEEING IN THE MMPUMALANGA PROVINCE 

Bridal Veil Falls, One of Many Waterfalls Near Sabie

A Shop in Pilgrim's Rest, a Former Gold Miners' Town that Still Feels Like it is 1873, the Year Gold was First Discovered There 

General Store, Pilgrim's Rest

Ndebele Women in Pilgrim's Rest (i.e. a tourist area, this pic cost me 5 Rand) Making Beaded Jewelry  

Ndebele Woman in Pilgrim's Rest Making Beaded Jewelry 

Ndebele Beaded Sheep, Pilgrim's Rest

Ndebele Beaded Zebras, Pilgrim's Rest

The Pinnancle, A Rock Formation in the Blyde River Canyon Area of the  Drakensburg Escarpment

God's Window, the Title is Self Explanatory, in the Blyde River Canyon 

Vegetation at God's Window

Had to Hike up 300 Steps (God's Window)...

...And Go Through a Rainforest (God's Window)...

...To Truly Experience God's Window

Lorena, My Travel Companion, Taking in God's Window

Rainforest, God's Window

FROM THE MMPUMALANGA PROVINCE TO THE LIMPOPO PROVINCE

Lorena and I Posing with Freeda (She Wanted a Mexican Name and I Wanted a Name that Represented Our Trip) Our Road Tripping VW Polo (courtesy of Avis)

On Our Way to Hoedspruit (See the Waterfall) 

Traveling to Hoedspruit