We spent the day driving north and west to the Blyde River canyon area. This area of South Africa is full of incredible natural beauty, with a huge escarpment that drops down in a dramatic cliff out to the lowveldt, where Kruger Park is. We are staying in a small former frontier town called Graskop. It has a kind of American west feel, with one Main Street lined with low slung older wood buildings now housing shops and little restaurants. It's a little bit arty now, and in fact our hotel has each room decorated by a local artist--some rooms are very interesting and some are very very interesting! (Mine is hot pink, with striped wallpaper featuring large flowers, big fancy swirls, and naked Barbie-like dolls. In other words, it's perfect!)
We stopped today to see what they call the Bourke's Luck potholes, these are a natural river formation and not anything like anything we would call a pothole. These so-called potholes are carved out of a natural narrow river canyon by boulders that got washed in by floods and then stuck for years. The rocks grind circular holes into the floor and walls of the canyon. They have built bridges and walkways so we could walk over and around the potholes. When we walked further upstream, the river was wide and rocky, and we sat with our feet in the clear cold water and jumped from rock to rock in the river.
Later, we stopped at an amazing canyon that is very deep and wide, with colorful natural stripes down the sides. The canyon has huge rocky formations made by erosion over millennia. The most famous formation is called the three rondavels. It looks like three traditional round houses in a row, next to a much larger 'king's hut.'it's a glorious sight and it was a beautiful day!
We ended our day out with a stop at a place they call 'god's window.' It is high up on the cliff ledge, with a straight drop of thousands of feet. We looked out at the misty lowland starting to purple in the setting sun and it seemed we could see what seemed like forever. Our view was framed by all kinds of lovely plants and bushes and flowering aloes. There was a sweet and slightly skunky scent on the air and the view was amazing.
At each of these stops, there were local craftspeople who were selling handmade crafts in small open-air stalls. This is an initiative by the Limpopo province to help create economic opportunities for local artisans and craftspeople. Everything is made locally from local materials collected by local people. Often entire families collectively create craft projects--wood carvings, jewelry made with dried seeds or wood or pieces of bone, etc. there are some awesome gifts coming home!
Tomorrow we will drive back to Johannesburg and the airport. We'll be flying to the East Cape and staying overnight near Nelson Mandela's home village, Quna. The following day, we will head to the tiny Xhosa village where we will be staying for three days. This village is on a hill near where a river enters into the Indian Ocean. We will very likely not have Internet or phone contact for these days. Please don't worry if you don't hear from your student or if the blog isn't updated. We will be extremely remote, although if there is an emergency we will find a way to contact you. And of course we will be back in touch as soon as we can.
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