THE KRUGER TRIP

Places visited: KNP, Gods Window, Berlin Falls, Bourke Luck Potholes and Blyde
River Canyon, The Three Rondawels (3 sisters)
From: 27th April 2007 To: 29th April 2007
Participants: Kirti, Abhilasha, Deepali, Vijay, Pravash, Prakash, Zafar
Written and Compiled By: Zafar Shaikh
 INTRODUCTION
Trip to the Geecko Lodge
Day 1 (Saturday- In Kruger’s National Park)
Day2 (Sunday – The Panorama Route)
Breakfast
Gods Window
Berlin Falls
Bourke Luck Potholes and Blyde River Canyon
Three Rondawels (3 sisters)
On the way Home
INTRODUCTION
Preparations for the trip had begun way in advance. After a lot of searching done by
Abhi and Vijay, we finally got some accommodation though a little expensive but all
that was bygones when we saw the place. Any ways so 2 weeks in advance and we
were past 1 hurdle - accommodation.
But there was still one more pressing matter, and that was travelling!!! How do we
reach there with just 1 car??? We were hoping that Pravash would get a car when he
comes in to South Africa, but alas the 1 thing happened which we were afraid of, he
didn’t get the car on time. Now we had a problem. So after many frantic calls to car
rental agencies by me and end moment calls by Abhi and Vijay we narrowed down
our search to a 4 X 4 so as to accommodate all of us, but luck wasn’t on our side and
for some reason we ended up booking a Toyota Corolla which was to be driven by
me. (I must say except me no1 was confident about me driving)

Trip to the Geecko Lodge

So the D-Day arrived when we had to leave. Vijay picked me up at about 10:45 AM
from my place in Morning Side and we went to the car dealer – EurpoCar in Sandton
to pick the car. The car that we got was a silver colour smart looking Toyota Corolla.
After showing me the directions Vijay went to pick up Kirti, Pravash and Prakash
from DD office and I went to Checkers to finish off some last minute shopping for the
trip along with Abhi who was mid way shopping for some chips, jam bread, juice,
coke, first aid, etc and yeah I forgot Sun Glasses for Abhi.
Any ways so we went back to Kambula had our lunch and were ready to leave by
3:30 PM. There were 2 cars, Tata Indigo driven by Vijay accompanied by Kirti, Abhi
and Deepali and 2nd car was Toyota Corolla driven by me and accompanied by
Pravash and Prakash.
So finally we left taking a route from N12 until Witbank connecting N4 until
Neilspruit and then from R538 to Hazyview where we had to dump in for the nights to
come along.
The journey to Geecko Lodge was a nice and pleasant one with some beautiful view
and cloudy all the way. I had a nice time driving the car with Pravash pestering me to
let him drive :D. We also had the privilege of experiencing 2 rainbows together. (That
was beautiful!!!)
The overall journey would have been great except for a couple of spells of really
heavy rainfall reducing our vision to mere 10-15 meters from our cars that coupled
with the night made it one hell of a drive, even the high beam of the cars wasn’t
helpful. We took just 1 halt to fill in fuel in the Indigo, here we had some coffee and
after arguing for some time with Pravash for why he shouldn’t be driving at this time
we started from that place with me on driving seat again.
We reached the Hotel at about 20:30 after arguing (this time between guys from
Indigo and Corolla) as to which route to be taken, argument was between taking route
R536 or R538 eventually both reach the same place just that R538 was a bit longer.
We took R538 (You can’t argue with the girls can you?)
We checked into the room dumped our bags wherever we could and we were off for
dinner as we all were really hungry!!!
The restaurant was a classy one with nice ambience and we thought nothing would go
wrong, but alas what we get is, getting no other word for the food we ordered but
CRAP!!!!
There were 3 main dishes in all that were ordered, Feta Cheese (with something) that
was salty beyond compare, ordered by Abhi and was graciously given an extra
helping by the owner :D then there was Bbq Chicken which was supposed to be spicy
but turned out to be sweet Yucks!!!! And then chicken Snitzel was ordered by me
which was the best of all...(Even Deepali liked it, who normally doesn’t like the food
that I order) even the scrambled eggs ordered by Deepali were salt less and tasteless
and in time got cold and not edible for human consumption.
The only thing better than Chicken Snitzel was probably the chips that Vijay ordered
(he couldn’t have chicken cause it was already past 8:30 and that’s Indian time 00:00
and that’s when his fast starts for Saturday.) The end was with Pravash and Vijay
ordering 2 Huge Ice Creams and them gulping it down like there is no tomorrow.
So the Dinner was over with some antics done by me and Kirti with the Hat it was
some time to relax and have some fun... so we went to our rooms after taking our
luggage from the girl’s room where we were thrown out immediately!!! It was about
11:00 in the night when me and Vijay were just relaxing in our rooms when the girls
came in our room (I should say Barged into the room) accusing us of trying to sleep
and not trying to get in the mood of a vacation.
Here the sole target of entertainment for the girls was Vijay... Poor him they were
harassing him left right and centre, all this was going along with the Photo shoot that
took place in the room.
We were soon joined by Pravash who said that he couldn’t sleep cause of the
combined effect of Prakash snoring and Kirti laughing loudly (of course helped
eagerly by Deepali and Abhi who also like their counterpart laugh their hearts out
literally)
At about 1:00 in the night we all decided we had to hit the bunkers if we had to visit
Kruger’s first thing in the morning. So deciding that we would leave by 5:30AM next
day without having a bath, we let Queen fairy take us into the sweet world of
dreamland.

Day 1 (Saturday- In Kruger’s National Park)

Before we knew the alarm started ringing!!! Yawning and complaining we got up
with the sound of rain hammering the rooftops of our room (But later to our pleasure
we realised that it was the water running in the small tank outside our room). There
was no electricity and the girls and Pravash - Prakash took the 2 torches that we had,
so Vijay and me had to do with candlelight!!! (Our small adventure was already
starting) All of us were ready and up by 5:30 in the car and Abhi had a lightening idea
of getting our photographs clicked before leaving so we all got out of the car clicked
photos and then before reaching Kruger’s our adventure started, Vijay forgot the keys
in the car and he had locked the door!!!
 Starting of the Day

Juice was one of the Nutrition of the day

BOOOM!!! That was huge, now what do we do so we decided we break the small
glass window on the back seat and open the door. This started operation ‘Khul Ja Sim
Sim’. So all of us (guys) tried our hands in breaking the glass but only Vijay was
successful in doing so but only hurting his hand in the process… The operation was a
success but with loads of glass in the back the seat, which had to be cleaned.

Pravash removing the broken glass with my Sweat Shirt !!!

All this put us behind schedule roughly about an hour. So we finally left the lodge for
Phabini Gate (one of the Kruger’s gate), which was about 12 KM’s from our lodge.
One of the many gates of Kruger National Park

Kruger’s Entrance(that’s the loo :D )

Today Pravash was behind the wheel of corolla and me wanted to enjoy the view of
Kruger’s. We encountered a huge line of cars waiting to enter Kruger’s and we
thought that we aren’t going inside before 9:00 and were really sad about it. So we
thought of making the best of it and in no time we were out of the car and clicking
photos. I decided to go and check how long was the queue and was accompanied by
Deepali and Abhi. This is where we came to know that the authorities were leaving
the cars in groups of 4-5 in about 10-15 minutes interval so as to avoid congestion
inside where we had to park the car and pay the entry fee. We were inside by about ½
hour, here after paying the amount, 120 per head we finally started our daylong
journey in the wilds. Our plan was simple, Vijay and the girls had the map of Kruger
and so they would lead the way and we would follow them around. We were planning
to go around and reach Skuza camp – Crocodile Bridge and back to Phabini Gate by
16:30 for our tour of the night safari. The speed limit inside Kruger’s was 50 KM’s on
tar road, 40 KM’s on the dirt road and 20 KM’s inside camps.
We entered Kruger’s not with the intention of spotting the Big 5 along but enjoy the
drive of the wild and spot as much wildlife possible.
We had not even been about 100 meters that we spotted a Giraffe tall beautiful and
standing all alone savouring the taste of the leaves from the tree that he was munching
it from.

Giraffe

The one thing that was really common that we could see was an Impala. I must say
that the place is really well maintained. The roads were really nice and the 1 thing that
was common on the roads was elephant poo everywhere, which made us believe that
there are loads of elephants around.
 Impala

We had not even ventured more inside and we spotted the 1st of the Big 5, The
Bufallo… I was looking at this beast for the 1st time in wild and I was truly fascinated
by it. It was huge bigger than the bulls we normally see in India and very fierce
looking. You wouldn’t want to cross path with this one nor would you want to show it
the Red colour, you never know it might just come after you (Just kidding guys, I am
sure it doesn’t come after the Red colour)
 Buffalo

It was time to move again hoping that we would get the glimpse of some more wild
life on the way. It was going to be a long day. It was difficult to spot some thing in the
wild cause there was tall grass on both the sides and the animals don’t necessarily
come stay near the road, you have to be patient and vigilant. One thing that’s
important while in the safari is asking your fellow tourists in other cars and exchange
information, or you just carry around and if you see a couple of cars parked along the
road you go in there stop your car ask the guys what are u looking for and have a look
at it. It’s that simple. Ok enough lecturing, ill get back to the day.
We spotted something else that at 1st glance I though was the Impala that is seen
everywhere but was later corrected, it was actually a Bush Buck.
 Bush Buck

We were not only interested in animals but also the bird life that exists in Kruger’s.
The 1st bird that we spotted was a King Fisher; actually the girls spotted the bird. It
was perched way on top of a tree.
 King Fisher
Immediately after spotting the King Fisher a new species of bird was spotter Fish
Eagle and is seen mostly in Southern part of Africa.

Fish Eagle

We went ahead and we to cross a small bridge, and with the experience eyes of the
ladies, they could spot a croc (probably an alligator) in the water along with a small
kid croc.
Trust me this crock isn’t more than 4 feet, it’s the close up that’s making a fool. (Kid
Croc) It was now about noon and time for lunch but we decided that since we haven’t
yet seen much we will hog on to the various chips, chewda and loads of other things
that go into the category of ‘Chakna’, so we decided we would do a quick pit stop at
Skuza camp. So we steered our cars to Skuza camp. Enroute to the camp we saw a
wild pig better known as the Warthog.

Warthog

This beast was really huge, larger than the pigs that we normally see, but he didn’t
hold our interest for long and we went ahead. Just before entering the Skuza camp
there were several cars huddled around and we thought we were in luck, definitely
these people have spotted something BIG, imagining a lion or probably another cat
we went ahead and what we saw was astonishing, it was a Monkey (rather a Baboon)
!!! Grrrrrr
There was just one baboon there when we went in, going with the flow even we
started clicking pictures and guess what they acted the same as Humans do when
clicking a photograph, other baboons came out seeing this and started giving poses to
everyone around and in no time there were about 8-10 baboons on the road getting
their profile made. (Looks like we humans were really evolved from them).

Finally we entered Skuza camp. Here by the time Vijay and Pravash were filling in
fuel in the cars Abhi and me went in to the main building of the camp to have a look
at the map where animals were spotted. So we marked a route that would take us to
Crocodile Bridge Gate and then back to Phabini gate for the night safari. According to
the plan we were supposed to spot all the Big Cats there and then do our ultimate
night safari that every one was looking forward to, but when is a plan made that goes
perfect to the T?
So it was half a day gone about 7 hours driving and what did we spot a giraffe, an
elephant (oh I forgot to tell u about this one, we did see 1 but was too far away to be
clicked), loads of Bush buck, buffalo crocodiles and of course the our ancestors the
Monkeys (how can you even forget them?? That’s an insult to our ancestry)
So we started from Skuza camp at about 1:00 in the afternoon all geared up to look at
the wild part. (Wonder why didn’t we directly come in this part 1st, Abhi is going to
kill me on this comment). We (as in Corolla guys) had a map and the Indigo girls had
a map that we had to follow. We followed that for some time and then instead of
taking a left turn (A longer route to crocodile bridge) we took a right turn (Short cut to
Crocodile bridge) and the map that we had gone awry!!! (Grrrr Why did we even
bother jotting down the route?) Again we were the followers and no idea where we
were going, just following the Indigo girls. We were now in an area which looked like
inhabited with wild animals. We got really serious now knowing that we could find
some wild animals here. We came to a river and had to go on the other side, but then
there was traffic on the bridge, there were cars on both the lanes looking at something.
We thought not again we don’t want to wait and have a look at a crocodile again, but
what do we see… Hippo’s, it wasn’t seen clearly through naked eye but could be seen
clearly with the binoculars on. After 1st I thought that there were only a couple of
them but on further inspection I noticed that there were more than 4 of them. Even in
this picture if you can spot the other 4 (almost submerged in water you’ll know what I
mean)

After spending some time here, and with high spirits we decided to move along and
see what’s in store for us. We hadn’t gone ahead much and we spotted this beautiful
bird, Lilac Breasted Roller, it was as if he was waiting for us there. We had the chance
of clicking numerous pictures of this guy.
Lilac Breasted Roller
 Lilac Breasted Roller

Looking at the bird I was forced to think that this bird wanted us to read the sign
board that seems so important for the wild life. We now were pressing for time as it
was already 2:00 and now had just about 2½ hours to get back to the Phabini gate for
the night safari. We were now travelling in probably the densest part of the jungle.
Suddenly Pravash applied the brakes and said that he saw some animal on his right.
We went back and true to his word we did see an animal and this time it was a
rhinoceroses. Man was this thing huge. This was a white Rhino as it has a square
snout as u can probably make out from the snap.
 White Rhino

By now we had spotted 3 of the Big 5. We were now very eager to spot a cat, as we
hadn’t seen one since morning. Continuing our safari we went ahead and this time
again we spotted a Giraffe family (at least that’s what it looked like!).
There were 3 of them in all so I presume it was a mummy giraffe, daddy giraffe and a
baby giraffe. You can differentiate between a male and a female giraffe by a simple
thing; if the ears on the giraffe are bend down it’s a male else it’s a female (its said
that a male giraffe has to fight other male giraffes to mate a female and they fight with
their head). We were looking at this family and the indigo went in ahead, we thought
we would catch them in some time but they weren’t visible for quite a length of the
road. Thinking that they might have turned in somewhere to look at an animal, so we
turned back but couldn’t find them. The mobile wasn’t working so we couldn’t even
call them; we started giving a lot of gas to the car, as we did not know the road as
well. There were times when there was a cross road and we didn’t know which road
did they take, so just by hunch and we hit the road. We used to ask cars coming from
opposite direction whether they saw a car with a broken windowpane and they
confirmed it, making us more confident now. We were really driving fast now and
still couldn’t see them for quite some distance.
After driving for about ½ hour driving at 60km/h at a place where we had to drive at
40km/h we spotted them waiting by a tree. We couldn’t understand what they were
looking at, that’s when they pointed us to the tree and the birds on top of it. At first I
thought they were vultures but they were some other kind Southern Ground Hornbill
(looks like a handsome Vulture doesn’t he?).
 Southern Ground Hornbill

When we asked them why were they speeding they said that we have to cover a lot of
distance and very little time was available. And they were right we were running out
of time. If we did delay any more then we wouldn’t reach Phabini gate on time for our
night safari. But we were stopped again this time by a something little on the road.
 Southern Yellow-billed Hornbill

That bird again another of the Hornbill family and this one was one proud bird
walking tall on the road. We were now literally were pushing the cars to the limit
driving really hard on the road. Our speed was stopped again this time by another
rhinoceros.
This was really close; ill leave it to you guys now to differentiate between a black and
a white rhino.
Not very far away we spotted a small Nyala looking like its lost.
 Nyala

After this we went ahead and finally reached Crocodile Bridge camp. Went ahead to
the actual bridge thinking that we might get to look loads of crocodiles from the
bridge.
But this is what we saw.

Goliath Heron (looking really beautifu!!!)

and this
and this
It was already 3:30 and we had to reach Phabini by 4:30 an impossible feat
considering we had to cover about 150 km in an hour at the speed of 40km
We were now driving like our lives depended on it. We called them saying that we
were 7 of us and will get a bit late and is it possible for them to wait us. They said
they might wait for 15 mins max not more than that. We were heart broken and knew
that we wouldn’t be able to reach the gate even if we drive at 70km/hr speed on time.
Still we didn’t loose hope and kept driving. I was concerned about the corolla as this
was a rented one and any scratch on this car would cost us a bomb. After driving for
about 45 mins continuously we were reached Skuza camp and knew that were still
half way. This is when we thought that we would drive normally and enjoy the
evening. No sooner than we thought about this than we saw a car parked and this
couple were looking at something on the ground, by now we knew by experience not
to expect too much and what we saw a Mongoose!!!

Mongoose
 Sunset (Can you imagine its just about 5 in the evening)

This was like a sign for us after which we saw some spectacular things. We saw a
zebra crossing literally.
 Zebra Crossing

and followed by them was a giraffe.

We didn’t go further ahead that we saw a group of elephants finally we have a picture.
Every complain that we had of not being able to spot a single cat just went away
looking at this amazing thing. But it was not going to end, we saw something more
spectacular, cant explain the beauty of it so you have a look at it.
This is a group of rhinos, and it is a very rare that you can see a group of so many of
these beasts together. Rhinos are primarily solitary animals so looking at them in a
heard was something really out of the box.
Finally the day was coming to an end. We saw the last animals, the 1st ones that we
spotted, it was like the Bushbuck had come to receive us and see us off.
We reached the gate at about 6:00 in the evening. Abhilasha and Kirti went in to the
office for conformation about the night safari and came back with the info that the last
safari had left and the morning safari had only 5 seats available, unfortunately or
fortunately we were 7.
The day came to an end we had a nice time unfortunately we couldn’t do the night
safari, but as they say, keep something for next time, we have kept the night safari for
some other time. But the adventure wasn’t about to end here. After freshening up a
little we decided we would go in town and have something in KFC, and we left again
for dinner. This time I was driving the corolla. When we reached KFC we could only
see black people around, I am not a racist but I wasn’t in favour of eating in there as it
looked really dangerous there. So we left again. Vijay told me that we would go to
Hazyview and have dinner there. Instead of taking a left turn I took a right turn, and
went in quite ahead without realising that I was driving in the wrong direction. Vijay
called us up and said we had to take a U turn. So we went further ahead (We must
have crossed about 3-4 km) and turning back to where we had begun. There was this
place that we crossed was called Pizza Place something deciding that we would go
there but then again we missed to take a turn and went in ahead and bumped in
Nandos. Looking at the blacks that were there we decided against waiting in there. By
this time all of us were really tired and just wanted to hit the bed. Atlas we reached
Pizza Place and decided not to have an eat in but a take away. But then here as well
the owner informed us that it would take at least 2 hours to make a pizza as one oven
wasn’t working and there were lot of customers that night. But we could get the
burgers fast butt then there was no Veg-Burger. Whoosh man this was too bad cause
we had 2 vegetarians that day Abhi and Prakash. So it was decided that we order 5
Chicken Burgers and get 2 Veg Burgers from Nandos. Prakash and me went in to
Nandos to get the burgers. I parked the car and the moment I entered the place, I
thanked my stars that we hadn’t come in here in the 1st place, and that’s when I started
praying that God please don’t let any mishaps happen in here. After waiting for like
an eternity the burgers came in. We literally ran out of that place. After finally having
the dinner we decided that now we can go home. So we left again and we went in the
direction of the Phabini gate thinking that we came in from the other side. After
driving for about 8-10 km we realised that we were on the wrong road (Not Again!!)
So it was time to call the Geecko guys and ask for directions and guess what, the road
to Geecko lodge was exactly next to Pizza Place where we had our dinner. We kicked
ourselves for this stupid thinking. Now finally on the correct road we reached Geecko
lodge at about 9:00 and the day finally came to an end. (Whew what a day!!)
Day2 (Sunday – The Panorama Route)
Breakfast
This was the last day of our small vacation and the plan was to go up Grascop visiting
Gods Window, Berlin Falls, Bourke Luck Potholes and Blyde River Canyon, The
Three Rondawels (3 sisters).
We got up at about 6:00 in the morning again complaining and gruelling!!! But that’s
natural isn’t it, who likes to get up early especially when you have slept really late.
I got up 1st we didn’t have toothpaste so I decided to have a bath get ready and then
go ahead get the toothpaste from either of our neighbours. In the meantime Vijay
called up the girls to ask if he can lie in for some more time!!! But then he was
declined again, complaining he got up and got ready. He really was sleepy that
morning. I went in to wake up Pravash – Prakash and then went in to the girl’s room
to get the toothpaste, and only after promising them that ill get it in immediately did I
get the paste (girls can be very fussy at times).
So I was ready by then and so was Deepali (We even argued on the fact that who got
ready 1st I won this time, I got ready before her), I wanted to video shoot the entire
lodge before checking out so I ventured out in the cold without a jacket and shivering
accompanied by Deepali (who had a jacket but wasn’t wearing it but rather just
holding it, God knows why). Deepali wanted to check the honeymoon suit but was
declined by the owner sweetly as it was already occupied. By the time we came back
everyone was packed and ready to leave. We left the luggage in the rooms and went
ahead to the breakfast table. Here surprisingly the breakfast was really nice, they had
a buffet with assorted fruits, yogurt (strawberry being favourite amongst us). So after
a heavy breakfast, (here again Vijay was grilled for not having a proper breakfast) we
were all on our way out.
We checked out the lodge and now had to do a photo shoot again, but the sole reason
to do this was to cover the beautiful lodge in still photographs of course with beautiful
people in it (The photograph wouldn’t be complete with us not being in there would
it?).
We left the lodge by about 9:00 in the morning with Vijay leading the way and me
following them. The way to Gods window via Grascop was breathtaking, it was just a
single lane road but there ware green all around, there was plantations of trees for
lumber work and the entire mountain was covered with the same type of trees, some
small some big but all in perfect formation.
While on our way there was this beautiful tree where people had already halted to
take pictures, I guess the girls wanted to do the same so Vijay hit the brakes and I hit
the breaks harder, the effect causing all the contents on the back seat of our car to fall
on the floor. Eventually we didn’t stop, so after cursing Vijay a little we were on the
road again.

Gods Window
We finally reached Gods Window, there were shops at the foothills of Gods Window
where I finally could buy a cap for myself and Abhi also could find an English lady
like Hat for herself. That was one smart thing bought (I am talking about my cap not
Abhi’s hat). There were 2 things in here, 1 was the Gods Window and the other was
the rain forest walk and view. We started our hike towards the 2 points. I had to go
back to get an extra DVD for the handy cam. When I came back I could only find
Pravash – Prakash and thinking that the others must have moved ahead we started
hiking along the small walk. It was Pravash who said he couldn’t walk more ahead
fearing that the pain in his knees would just come calling again, which he had
developed in numerous bike accidents back in India (he said he has fallen off the bike
at least 12 times). The trail at 1st started like a footpath along the edge of the mountain
but then was converted into a rainforest type-hiking trail and when we reached the top
the view was breath taking!!! You could see both Kruger National Park as well as
Mozambique from this panoramic view.

Pravash who probably couldn’t resist come up soon and joined us. This point was
called the Wonder view and is at an altitude of 1,730 metres, which makes it the
highest viewpoint in the area. After clicking a couple of photos the 3 of us started our
descend and here we encounter the Famous 4 (could hear the distinct chatter of the
girls even from a great distance) and I went along with them again to the top, to which
I also got a comment from a fellow beautiful female hiker that you have a lot of
enthusiasm going up again. Here again we got a few Baba Ambedkar style photos
clicked for Kirti and others and started descending.
After meeting Pravash – Prakash at the foothills we started towards Lisbon falls Vijay
leading the way; we ended up going back to the town centre for directions.

Berlin Falls
Here I earned a flak from every1 as I lead them to the wrong way so instead of
heading for Lisbon falls we landed up near Berlin falls (My wrong doing was
corrected and no1 was complaining, I was happy).
The moment we landed the ladies started looking at the relics kept in there, I must say
they can shop anywhere any time (I better not say this cause I was also amongst the
one who did a bit of shopping there). We left for the falls promising the lady to come
back and buy the relics. So here we were at Berlin falls (don’t know why the name
Berlin/Lisbon falls, wonder what’s the history behind the two). The falls is about 45
metres in height. It was a small descend that lead us exactly to a vantage point facing
the falls.
In no time Vijay started clicking pictures (we are all trigger happy folks, always ready
to get shot by the camera). We were having a wonderful view and in no time Vijay
was seen near the mouth of the falls (Man was he fast I never saw him leaving). So
we all started our trail to the mouth of the fall. When we reached there I realised that
the mouth is really small and the source of water was considerably small, but was
beautiful (guess the water was ground water). Here again we started clicking some
pictures some in titanic pose as well… cant help showing off can we.
After spending some quality time in there and clicking some more photos. While
leaving the spot we spotted a rainbow that formed somewhere midway in the falls (In
the past 6 months in South Africa I have seen more rainbows than my entire life in
India).
We took a smaller but steeper road to the parking lot; it was my decision to go that
way and was again cursed for this route by Deepali (This girl never misses an
opportunity to catch me on the wrong foot). Here some of us bought Big 5 carved out
wooden relics for 10 Rand each relic. Prakash wanted to buy a Cowboy Hat but the
lady was saying a huge price for the Hat so didn’t buy it. Probably didn’t like the
lady’s face. So we started venturing out again, this time I kept my mouth shut and
didn’t ask questions as to how we were gonna reach our next destination, but just
followed (didn’t want to be at the receiving end of another wrath)

Bourke Luck Potholes and Blyde River Canyon

So we were now on the way to the Potholes… we had no idea what these potholes are,
at least I was completely ignorant and was having these really weird thoughts as what
these potholes would be like, would they be the like just holes in the rock or some
thing like real potholes on the road or so, my imagination was running really wild. All
these thoughts were running in my mind on my way to this most visited tourist
attraction. We reached there fairly quickly, and after paying the entry fee of 22 Rand
per head we went in. Before going ahead I would like to tell the history of this place.
The Burke Potholes was named after a gold digger Tom Bourke, who staked a claim
nearby. Although his claim did not produce a single ounce of gold, he correctly
predicted that large gold deposits would be found in the area. So after parking the car
we started the 1 thing that girls usually do, started to window shop and here as well it
was one of us guys who bought something, Prakash finally got the cowboy Hat that
we was looking for (although the same price that was quoted at Berlin falls, I guess
here he liked the sales lady). So we started walking towards the potholes my
apprehensions rising every second, we passed the main gate and one look at open land
and I was shit!!! Another long walk to be done in here… but trust me when I say that
we really had fun and were rolling on the floor laughing for all the adventures or
should I say misadventures that we had in there we really did have fun.
Here the 1st thing that we encountered was the bridge connecting 2 cliffs under the
bridge was the great canyon and the potholes as big as u can imagine (A car of the
size of a Toyota Corolla can easily fit in there). These potholes occurred as the Treur
River plunges into the Blyde River and this also is the beginning of the Blyde River.
As usual we clicked some pictures and went ahead.
Here Vijay noticed a dollar note fallen off and was hanging on to the bush, on closer
inspection that note turned out to be a Diram instead, my suggestion of getting the
note was immediately commented upon saying that I was running behind money, but
you know it’s the souvenir that matters not the money right guys? Behaving as great
trekkers Deepali and Abhi went in ahead and sat on a rock facing a small pool of
gushing water.

We followed them and in no time were again descending the rocks into the water.
Here the great Pravash immediately removed his shoes and started posing for
photographs in gushing water explaining me that the rocks aren’t slippery and you
need not worry and come inside, but as they say once bitten twice shy I had already
slipped once and wasn’t gonna try my luck again. But the others went in. In the mean
time our photographer wanted to click pictures of one of the great potholes that we
could see, so he went further down like an avid photographer amid shouting from
everyone not to go in. But he went in and was soon a source of inspiration for others
as well… mainly Pravash and Prakash who went down like he did. Pravash who cant
help but show that he is a tough guy was trying to show that even the force of water
couldn’t do any harm to him and that he can easily withstand the pressure but then he
was challenging mother nature and before he even knew he slipped, and Dhoop!!!
Inside the water completely drenched from head to toe. When he came up his 1st
reaction was that hope no1s seen me!!! But the damage was done, our now very
experienced photographer Mr. Vijay Golla took the photograph and all the gasps were
converted into laughs… so enough adventure was done and we were about to venture
further ahead.
All this time I was safely sitting on this rock and had removed my shoes so that I
don’t slip again when I try and cross the flow of water but as luck be I did slip
although just a bit. All of us were up and me like an idiot had one more great idea so
to cross the stream through the rocks, Pravash who had an eventful crash moments
ago immediately agreed to this absurd and dangerous idea of mine. So I followed the
avid trekker to cross water body…. He did warn me not to step on the moss but do I
listen I had to experience it myself and as it is, it was my chance to slip and make get
myself wet so I did slip!!! But not completely!!! Somehow I managed to reach dry
land (bless the dry land) holding on to the rocks almost on the fours and once more
our avid photographer caught the moment (damn he doesn’t miss a moment does he).

In the meantime Prakash and Vijay were having a hearty laugh on my expense (every
dog has his day now was Vijay and Prakash) and the girls too (though they were far
but could easily see me)
So now I decided no more acrobats in the water, but the day wasn’t going to get over.
We went ahead where the girls like the “Gau ki Chori” splashing their legs in water
while sitting on the rock enjoying the cold water intelligent enough not to venture
inside after 2 slips.
Now Vijay had clicked enough photographs and wanted to get photographed himself,
so I took the reins of the camera and he wanted to get a solo photograph on a rock
which was in middle of the stream. And besides shout of not going inside he went
(guys will be guys, we’ll never change will we) and so the inevitable happened, Vijay
slipped and not once but twice thrice and again and again until he reached the rock
completely drenched. By now everyone was on the floor laughing out so hard that our
stomachs started paining. Vijay’s sole purpose of getting him photographed was
complete but not 1 but many!!! Now it was time for him to come back… he had
experienced the slippery rocks and was really apprehensive of crossing over again
without slipping, but he had to do it, Pravash offered to come over and help him but
he declined (guys will be guys!!), so this time he started coming in very carefully but
the moment he stepped in water he slipped again and again and again.
Now no one was able to control their laughter, the girls in the mean time had formed a
chain and Kirti was holding out her hand to Vijay (this was a sight u could not miss!!
It was as if a tug-of-war team is getting ready) to get him back on the rocks, Vijay
reluctantly took the hand but felt a bit unsure and decided that he’ll make it to dry
land himself but he slipped again and this time he was literally on all his fours.
Somehow crawling in water he reached the rock, and the moment he came out of
water he started blaming the girls who send him inside water… and he asked me
whether I had taken any pictures of him falling (hoping against hope that I hadn’t) but
he was definitely disappointed by the fact that all this is now documented.
I can summarise this entire episode of Vijay falling by recalling the famous nursery
rhyme “Jack and Jill went up the hill to fetch a pale of water, Jack fell down and Jill
came tumbling after” only in this case it was only jack who went in the water
tumbling to get his photograph clicked and came tumbling. Now was time to get back
to the car and venture to our next destination. So all 7 of us ventured back with our
shoes in our hand (virtually everyone was wet till the knees, with the exception of
Prakash who didn’t have any casualty), surprisingly the only person prone to accident
– Abhi, didn’t fall anywhere I guess we took all her “Falling Luck”. So now we
decided to change into something dry, as we were wet so Pravash and me we changed
to spare clothes and we ready to go off… Now I get my car out and hit the road, but I
couldn’t see Vijay’s car anywhere so I went back to see where they were and guess
what these guys were nicely licking on some nice ice candy conveniently forgetting
us. But we weren’t about to be left out, so I parked the car and got the candy. After
having the candy, which was deliciously yummy we left to out next destination The
Three Rondawels (3 sisters).
Three Rondawels (3 sisters)

The three Rondawels or the 3 sisters are three well known gigantic peaks of quartzite
and shale with their sheer rock walls that tower more than 700 m above the
surrounding landscape. These peaks are named after the three most troublesome
wives of Chief Maripi Mashile - they are (from left to right) Magabolle, Mogoladikwe
and Maseroto (Incidentally even we had 3 girls now I leave unto your imagination to
interpret things). We weren’t here for a very long time as it was already 3:15 and we
had planned to leave for Johannesburg by 3:00 so as to reach Joburg by nightfall. The
moment we reached here photography session started with the 3 sisters on the
mountain and the 3 sisters here (that’s Kirti, Abhi and Deepali, see the coincidence).
I went in to the view point which was barbed by an iron fence I went ahead in the
place where there was no fencing and casually looked down and My was the valley
deep it was straight down, we could see the stream of water passing in the valley
looking perfect and very picturesque. We got out of that place and were asking
directions for a Garage where we could fill the car with much needed fuel. And so
after getting the garage address we left for Johannesburg promising to halt in between
to get a late lunch.

On the way Home

We were on the way to Lydenburg – Dulstroom route and connect it to N4, which
would take us to Johannesburg via Witbank. The roads were really pathetic with
“Potholes Ahead” signboard seen after every couple of KM’s it really reminded me of
the roads in Pune. By now in our car corolla we were listening to just one audio CD
the entire time and we really bored of the songs in it and in no time the 2 guys in the
car slept, I was getting really bored as well and there was one time when my car got
steered off the road for a second or two this got me back to reality and I was now
wide awake. I desperately needed a break and was really hungry too, I guess everyone
was hungry, and so thankfully we stopped in Lydenburg at steers. Man was it cold
there; this place being on an altitude is cool almost throughout the year. We went
inside ordered whatever we wanted and were waiting, and here was Pravash already
munching a chicken pie, guess he was more hungry than any of us (judging by the
size you cant blame him as well) but eventually he did order a burger for himself as
well. In the meantime Vijay discovered a mouth spray of strawberry juice which
everyone had a taste and playing with it, when I saw it 1st my 1st reaction was that it
was Pepsi that we used to get as children in India for 25/50 paise. Vijay was like stuck
to it like a little boy to his candy.
From here we left for Johannesburg all hail and heartily, fed up and all alive, just to
make sure that I stay awake I got myself a couple of chewing gums. We reached
Johannesburg by about 7:00 and decided that before we go home we better eat
somewhere so we decided to go to Vintage India – best Indian restaurant in
Johannesburg Pretoria area. The moment we got out of the car we were all cold and
numb at least I was. We ordered our soups and dinner and now were really ready to
hit bed. So we dropped Pravash and Prakash at their residence in Dion and went ahead
to Kambula. That was at 21:00 we reached at Kambula. After bidding the girls good
night Vijay and me left for our respective abodes and the end of our wonderful trip.