Back to the largest green canyon on earth
We headed for the Blyde River Canyon again over Easter 2013 and had a most enjoyable time, as always, being out in nature. In June 2012, we based ourselves at Forever’s Swadini Resort in the lowveld portion of this beautiful nature reserve, and so this time around we spent three very comfortable nights at their Blyde Canyon Resort up top on the escarpment. While the climate and surroundings of the two resorts differ markedly, both are well managed with good amenities and very definitely worth a visit.
Camping at Blyde Canyon
Comfortable chalets at Blyde Canyon
At Blyde Canyon Resort a number of hiking trails and viewpoints are available to enjoy the spectacular natural surroundings, offering chance encounters with small antelope and primates. During our visit the resort also arranged a very informative talk on snakes, including a number of venomous specimens being displayed, which turned all the more exciting when a live, wild juvenile cobra put in an appearance between the visitors lounging on the lawn – luckily the presenter was on hand to capture it for later release back into the wild.
The resort is an excellent base from which to explore other parts of the nature reserve, such as the Bourke’s Luck Potholes, named after a prospector who expected to find alluvial gold deposits there. Here, at the confluence of the Blyde (meaning joy) and Treur (meaning sorrow) Rivers, the force of the cascading waters carrying with it all sorts of debris have weathered away the bedrock to form a series of very interesting formations. A number of popular viewsites and the Echo Caves are additional attractions in the vicinity to consider.
On the way to Blyde Canyon, we enjoyed a couple of hours exploring the Sudwala Dinosaur Park – have a read here if you’d want to see more of this worthwile destination.
DeWetsWild 
Pingback: Depth | de Wets Wild
I have listed you on my salute to bloggers here: http://wp.me/p23TG1-2zq
BE ENCOURAGED! BE BLESSED!
LikeLike
Wow Francine, thank you so much for the great honour! We’re genuinely blessed to have you as a regular visitor here at de Wets Wild!
LikeLike
Another very informative post Dries. Lovely that you are able to get out and enjoy nature in these beautiful surroundings. I always knew we had snakes in Africa but have to admit that I’ve encountered more here in the woods than I ever saw there. Maybe I was just young, foolishly oblivious or blind! I always look forward to your posts. They allow me to travel back in time. Keep them coming. Absolutely enjoy all the great images as well. Hope you had a good week and are now enjoying a relaxing weekend.
Joey
LikeLike
Hi Joey, and thank you very much!
We do not see many snakes while out in the bush – only one or two a day and especially when the temperatures start soaring, and then it’s mostly a very fleeting sighting of them slithering across a road or pathway. I think they are excellent at hiding and perhaps aren’t very bold due to all the predators that feed on snakes in our ecosystems. Are there many animals that would make a meal of a snake in Florida?
Interestingly, the black mamba at Pretoria Zoo escaped from its display and was on the loose for a couple of weeks before being recaptured, evading all kinds of high-tech methods. He has now been named “Houdini”!
Wishing you and Marks a beautiful weekend as well – ours has started off as cold and wet as the weather service predicted…
Dries
LikeLike
We’re grey and windy here Dries, with the promise of rain. Looking at the radar though I have a funny feeling that it will go around us. The temperature has fallen significantly which is great because it was way too hot yesterday 90 F (32 C). I believe you might be right. No real predators for snakes around here and that’s probably why we see more of them. We see a lot of rattlesnakes, pygmy rattlers, coral snakes and then the very common black snake which is harmless. “Houdini”!!! That’s too funny. I’m headed out to the darkroom to assist Marks with the toning of his pictures. Relax and enjoy
Joey
LikeLike