This post was originally from February 9, 2024

Before we left I kept telling everyone that I wasn’t sure that there would be many stories on this trip and when I said that my one when friend scoffed back “Heather, you have stories the minute you walk outside your door!”  I never really thought about it but she may be right…our trip started off with a bit of a speed bump as soon as we got to the Edmonton airport. Our flight was supposed to go to Calgary then fly KLM to Amsterdam and then Johannesburg, but our first flight was delayed which would make us miss the entire series. Thankfully they found us a new route with British Airways that took us a little off track and into Johannesburg a day later, but better late than never right?! 

The best part of the journey was at the very end … as we were gathering our stuff to disembark, the guy sitting in front of us was frantically looking for his earbud. We were trying to help him locate by looking under the seat and in the cracks it, but alas the little bud was nowhere to be found. As we were walking down the aisle and just about to leave the plane Liza says “um Heather can you hold back for a sec? I think there’s something in my shoe”.  And just like that, the case of the missing earbud was solved!! Nothing like telling the guy that it was in your shoe the entire time! 

Because we arrived a day later than expected we haven’t had much time to acclimate before joining the tour group. Last night we met everyone and this morning at 5:30am we were on our way. 

Our group is made up of mostly older people but that’s not really a big surprise since it is a National Geographic tour (National Geographic Journey’s are much pricier than my usual Classic trip styles) . Some of the people in our group are no joke – I wish I could remember their job titles now but I know that they are something to do with heads of consulates and UN heads of states working for the tribunal in The Hague!!! I want go to back and ask them ‘excuse me, but what do you do again?’ but I’ve got to play it cool around these big guns! I’m sure they knew I was way out of their league when my eyes popped out of my head when they first told me. 

Anyway, this morning we were all set to get on the road at 5:30am so that we could travel from Johannesburg to the Kruger Greater Area along the majestic Panoramic Route. I feel incredibly lucky to say this is my second time to see these sights. The Panoramic Route is one of South Africa’s most scenic drives. It is located in the Mpumalanga Province, where driving through the Drakensberg Mountains you get to see the most spectacular viewpoints, waterfalls and incredible canyons.

My favorite stop was Blyde River Canyon. This is the 3rd largest canyon in the world and its endless lush green views are breathtaking beyond belief. Looking down from different viewpoints you can see the Blyde River snaking its way through as well as three rock formations that look like traditional African huts called the Three Rondavels.

Another incredible stop was Bourke’s Luck Potholes. No, these are not potholes on the road (although we did have to maneuver our way around those too while on the drive). This is an area of walkways and bridges where you can explore the incredible work of art that Mother Nature has created. After thousands of years of churning water, the rivers (both the Treur -meaning Sad and Blyde – meaning happy) have carved out smooth giant holes into the sandstone banks leaving stunning views that make your jaw drop. 

The last lookout in which we tried to stop at was God’s Window. This lookout point is at the edge of the escarpment and the location of one of the scenes from the movie The God’s Must Be Crazy. Supposedly on a clear day you can see all the way to Kruger National Park, however we could barely see our hand in front of our face as it became insanely foggy the closer we got. In fact there was a point in our drive where the visibilty was almost nothing. Hats off to our driver for navigating the winding mountainous roads in the dense fog!