32 Best Sights in Mpumalanga and Kruger National Park, South Africa

Guided tours are offered at Alanglade, the former beautiful home of the Transvaal Gold Mining Estates' mine manager, set in a forested grove 2 km (1 mile) north of town. The huge house was built in 1916 for Richard Barry and his family, and it is furnished with pieces dating from 1900 to 1930. Look carefully at the largest pieces—you will see that they are segmented, so they could be taken apart and carried on ox wagons. Tour tickets are available at the information center and should be reserved in advance to ensure a guide.

The same Otis elevator brand that sails down Sandton’s tallest towers in Johannesburg can be found on the edge of a cliff in Mpumalanga. The Graskop Gorge Lift drops 51 meters into a magical world of indigenous forest where guests wander the brilliantly signposted boardwalks (wooden walkways and scenic suspension bridges make up a 600-meter [1,969-feet] long trail) to learn about local flora and enjoy views across the Motitsi Falls. After your walk, there are refreshments with upper-level views down the gorge at The Lift Cafe and craft shopping from local vendors in the market outside. Fourteen veteran traders that previously sold from makeshift plastic and wood structures around town now operate from this sheltered, upmarket trading area. The lift is wheelchair-friendly.

There are nine entrance gates to Kruger, namely (counterclockwise from the north) Pafuri, Punda Maria, Phalaborwa, Orpen, Paul Kruger, Phabeni, Numbi, Malelane, and Crocodile Bridge. National access roads to all the entrance gates are paved. If you're staying at one of the park's lodges or camps, you can arrange for a late-entry escort until 9 pm for the following gates (and their nearby camps): Paul Kruger (Skukuza), Numba (Pretoriuskop), Malelane (Berg-en-Dal and Malelane), Crocodile Bridge (Crocodile Bridge), Punda Maria (Punda Maria), and Orpen (Orpen).

With excellent roads and accommodations, Kruger is a great place to drive around yourself, though first-timers may want to think again about getting behind the wheel, since not everyone knows what to do when an enormous elephant with wavering ears is standing in front of your vehicle, blocking the road. Travel times in the park are tough to estimate, in addition, and a hefty fine is levied if you don't make it out of the gates on time.

An affordable solution is to join a game drive with a park ranger, who will drive you around in an open-sided four-wheel-drive. All the major rest camps offer ranger-led bush drives in open-air vehicles (minimum of two people), and, if you're not staying in the park itself, you can still join a tour led by ranger; your option for this are the Park & Ride tours, which leave from the park's entrance gates. There are also plenty of outfitters who will arrange a safari for you (as well as accommodations). Most drives depart in the early morning for either a half day or full day.

There are also bush walks on offer, something else you can't do on your own.

Whatever you do, don't miss out on a ranger-led sunset drive, when the park is closed to regular visitors. You'll sit in a large open-air vehicle, scanning the bush as dusk settles over the landscape with the ranger, who uses a powerful spotlight to pick out animals, including nocturnal creatures that you would never see otherwise. You might see bush babies (enchanting furry, big-eared, big-eyed little primates that leap from bush to bush), servals (mini-leopard-looking felines), civets (black-and-white possum look-alikes), genets (spotted catlike creatures with bushy tails), or an aardvark ambling along in the moonlight. Scrutinize branches of big trees for the giant eagle owl, with its pink eyelids, or a leopard chewing on its kill. Night is also the time when hyenas and lions hunt. These opportunities alone make a night drive an unforgettable experience. The three- to four-hour trip leaves the rest camps roughly half an hour before the gates close.  Book drives at least two weeks in advance or when you make your park reservations, and don't forget your binoculars, a snack or drink, and a warm jacket whatever the season.

All of the lodges overlook the river, which is a magnet for all kinds of game. You'll be able to peer into Kruger National Park, on the other side of the river, and watch game meander along the riverbanks among big riverine trees. You may never want to leave your personal deck, or the big viewing decks. But when you do decide to leave your perch, you have all kinds of options for activities, including game drives and walking safaris, spa treatments, and yoga beneath the African sun.

You'll find more gorgeous waterfalls clustered on the Panorama Route than anywhere else in southern Africa. Just north of Graskop, the dramatic falls are set in a bowl between hills just outside the Blyde (Motlatse) Canyon Nature Reserve, sending cascades 120 feet onto rocks below, throwing up spray over a deep pool. Named nostalgically by European miners who came here looking for gold in the late 1800s, this is a good kick-off point for the whole Panorama Route. Hike down (roughly 40-minutes) to the pool on a path from the parking area, and enjoy a picnic below Mpumalanga's highest waterfall.

Each of the five camps offers unprecedented access to 34,000 acres of Africa's best Big Five game-viewing, led by renowned rangers and trackers. The camp is most famous for its leopards, with which its rangers and trackers have forged an intimate relationship over the decades. Leopard sightings are frequent.

MalaMala's animal-viewing statistics are unbelievable: the Big Five are spotted almost every day, along with plenty of other amazing viewings. At one moment your ranger will fascinate you with the description of the sex life of a dung beetle, as you watch the sturdy male battling his way along the road pushing his perfectly round ball of dung with wife-to-be perched perilously on top; at another, your adrenaline will flow as you follow a leopard stalking impala in the gathering gloom. The rangers are top-class and will ensure that your game experience is unforgettable.

Daily game drives take place in the early morning and late afternoon. There's a strong emphasis on ecology at Sabi Sabi: guests are encouraged to look beyond the Big Five and to become aware of the birds and smaller mammals of the bush. You can also take a walking safari or a specialist birding or photo safari. There's also the Amani Spa, as well as stargazing in the evenings.

From the moment you enter Sabie Valley Coffee the delicious smell of freshly roasted beans lures you in. A fascinating coffee tour, led by owner Tim Buckland, takes you through the whole coffee-making process—from orchards to roasting to packaging. Find out about a coffee grower's life, and the different kinds of beans that produce different tastes, which is why there are so many (often bewildering) coffees available today. Challenge your taste buds with a tasting of homegrown, 100% pure Arabica specialty coffees, before sampling some of the coffee-related goodies for sale: coffee liqueur, cake, and candies. Reservations are best.

This is among the crème de la crème of the Sabi Sands (although you pay for it) lodges. At Singita, you'll head out during the day on your choice of game drives, then prepare to be pampered. Whether you fancy a starlit private supper or just chilling alone in your mega-suite, you've only to ask. Forget the usual lodge curio shop and take a ride to the on-site boutique and art gallery where objets d'art, handmade jewelry, classy bush gear, and artifacts from all over Africa are clustered together in a series of adjoining rooms that seem more like a curator's home than a shop.

This is one of the most spectacular vistas in South Africa—you'll find it in almost every travel brochure. Here the Blyde River, hemmed in by towering buttresses of red rock, snakes through the bottom of the Blyde River canyon. The Three Rondawels are rock formations that bear a vague similarity to the round, thatch African dwellings of the same name. Before Europeans moved into the area, the indigenous local people named the formations the Chief and His Three Wives. The flat-top peak to the right is Mapjaneng (the Chief), named in honor of a Mapulana chief, Maripe Mashile, who routed invading Swazi at the battle of Moholoholo ("the very great one"). The three "wives," in descending order from right to left, are Maseroto, Mogoladikwe, and Magabolle.

The descent out of the nature reserve, down the escarpment, and through Abel Erasmus Pass is breathtaking. (From the Three Rondawels, take the R532 to a T, and turn right onto the R36.) Be careful as you drive this pass. Locals graze their cattle and goats on the verges, and you may be surprised by animals on the tarmac as you round a bend. The J. G. Strijdom Tunnel serves as the gateway to the Lowveld. At the mouth of the tunnel are stands where you can buy clay pots, African masks, wooden giraffes, curios of many kinds and subtropical fruit. As you emerge from the dark mouth of the tunnel, the Lowveld spreads out below, and the views of both it and the mountains are stunning. On the left, the Olifants River snakes through the bushveld, lined to some extent by African subsistence farms.

A small stream, Waterfall Spruit, runs through a broad expanse of grassland to Berlin Falls. A short walk takes you to a platform overlooking the cascade, shaped like a candle. It starts off as a thin stream that drops through a narrow sluice (this looks like the candlewick), and then widens out to fall 150 feet into a deep-green pool surrounded by tall pines. If the weather's good, plan to swim and picnic here. Why the not-very-local name? The German miners who came here during the gold rush named it nostalgically after their home country.

Starting just below the point where the Blyde (joy) River and Treur (sorrow) River converge, the world's third-largest canyon is also South Africa’s second-most-visited natural attraction (after Table Mountain). Discover the spectacular scenery of red cliffs jutting up from the canyon base, quirky geological formations, indigenous rare Afromontane forest, cascading waterfalls, and an abundance of birds, small animals, and biodiversity. You can also try your hand at all sorts of adventure activities, from white-water rafting and abseiling to mountain biking and hiking.

The amazing Bourke's Luck Potholes are 27 km (17 miles) north of Berlin Falls. Named after a gold prospector, the cylindrical and rather alien-looking deep potholes filled with green water are carved into the rock by whirlpools where the Treur (sorrow) and Blyde (joy) rivers converge—and where the canyon begins. Several long canyon hiking trails start from here, as do shorter walks and trails (pack a hat and sunscreen, there's very little shade). A three-hour walk, for example, could take you down into the bottom of the canyon, where you follow a trail marked by rocks painted with animal or bird symbols as the gorge towers above you. Be sure to stop by the Blyde River Canyon Nature Reserve visitor center at the entrance to the site, where interesting exhibits describe the canyon's flora, fauna, and geology.

Experience life after the heady gold-rush days, and relive the '30s and '40s, when 16 general stores lined the streets of Pilgrim's Rest. By 1950 mine production had taken a nosedive, and most of the businesses had shut down. The Dredzen Shop and House Museum re-creates the look of a general store during those lean years, with shelves displaying authentic items that would have been on sale, from jams and preserves to candles and matches. The attached house belonged to the shopkeeper and re-creates the life of a middle-class family of the period.

Make time to visit the Forestry Industry Museum, which provides information on South Africa's wood and timber industry in a fun and interesting way. Sabie itself is in the middle of one of the biggest human-made forests in the world. These forests produce more than half of South Africa's timber, and where once the wood was mainly used for pit props in the gold and diamond mines, today they provide the raw material for paper, furniture, and all sorts of consumer products. The museum is a little dated, but has some quirky displays, from the matchmaking industry (wood, not people!) to a 100-year-old hand-carved Irish gypsy clothes peg.

God's Window is the most famous of the Lowveld lookouts along the Panorama Route. It got its name because of the rock "window" that looks out at the sublime view below. Gaze out into seeming infinity from the edge of the escarpment (which drops away almost vertically). Geared to tourists, it has toilet facilities, paved parking areas, curio vendors, and paved, marked walking trails leading to various lookouts. The God's Window lookout has a view back along the escarpment framed between towering cliffs. For a broader panorama, make a 10-minute climb along the paved track through the rain forest to a small area with sweeping views of the entire Lowveld. The altitude here is 5,700 feet, just a little lower than Johannesburg.

This center, which cares for, breeds, and protects endangered species, is in the Kapama Private Game Reserve, outside the little Limpopo town of Hoedspruit. It started in a small way, when South African Lente Roode, who owns the reserve, decided to dedicate herself to saving cheetahs—a highly endangered species. The center quickly gained credibility and fame when other animals and birds were brought to her, nursed back to health, and returned to the wild (when possible). It now has a state-of-the-art veterinary center, a highly respected research program, outreach programs for schools, international volunteer programs, a restaurant, and a shop, and is a great day destination. You’ll meet Little G, a white rhino found in 2014 beside his mother, who had been brutally slaughtered for her horn. You can also watch wild vultures feast at a vulture restaurant or see wild dogs being fed. You can take a standard tour, or join a dawn or dusk tour; a cheetah-focused tour is also available. The center also rents out two three-bedroom, self-catering cottages on the grounds, and the staff can help you arrange guided game drives; alternatively, you can visit and do things on your own.

Originally a doctor's house, the House Museum, across and up the street from the Royal Hotel, re-creates the way of life of a middle-class family in the early part of the 20th century. The house was built in 1913 of corrugated iron and wood and is typical of buildings erected at the time. Check out the late Victorian furnishings, kitchen utensils, and the very grand carved wooden commode (precurser to the toilet). Purchase tour tickets at the information center.

This is the prettiest, most peaceful, and last of three local waterfalls on a dead-end road (the others are Bridal Veil Falls and Horseshoe Falls). An easy paved walkway leads to the falls, which plunge 225 feet from the center of a high, broad rock face framed by vines and creepers. The path crosses the Sabie River on a wooden bridge and loops through the forest back to the parking lot. If you're feeling energetic, follow the steep steps leading up to the top of the falls. Lone Creek is accessible to the elderly and those with disabilities because of its easy approach.

The gorgeous Lowveld National Botanical Gardens, just outside Mbombela, is the only one in the province. It's a must-see if you are at all interested in plant life. Apart from its collection of more than 2,000 species of plants, it has the largest collection of cycads in Africa. Take great photos from the wooden suspension bridge over a tumbling waterfall where the Crocodile and Nel rivers (which flow through the gardens) join together. In spring and summer, when many of the indigenous plants are flowering, you'll see lots of iridescent sunbirds feasting on the blossoms. But at any time of year, don't miss the lush man-made African rain forest that gives the gardens its "evergreen" moniker. The gardens are wheelchair-friendly.

Set in an amphitheater of towering cliffs, the Mac Mac Falls—a national treasure—is arguably the most famous waterfall in Mpumalanga. The water plunges 215 feet into the gorge as rainbows dance in the billowing spray. A small entry fee gets you through the gate for a closer look. At the gate a number of peddlers sell very well-priced curios. In 1873, President Thomas Burger named the falls after the area's Scottish miners who panned for gold. You can't swim at the falls themselves, but you can at the Mac Mac Pools, about 2 km (1 mile) before you reach the falls. It's worth the small fee to use the picnic and braai facilities there or swim on a hot day.

The park's grassy plains and mixed woodland attract good-size herds of general game and their attendant predators. This is a provincial reserve (as opposed to a national park) and comprises two sections. The government-operated side is open to self-drivers and offers rustic self-catering camps and the Manyeleti Private Game Reserve operates as a concession with more comfortable and upmarket private lodges. You have a strong chance of seeing the Big Five, but the Manyeleti lodges and tented camps, which are owned and operated by two separate companies (one for the lodge, one for the tented camps), focus more on providing an overall bush experience than simply rushing after big game. You'll learn about trees, birds, and bushveld ecosystems as you go on guided bush walks. 

The tiny Pilgrim's and Sabie News Printing Museum is full of displays of antique printing presses and old photos. The building, constructed in the late 19th century as a residence, later served as the offices of the weekly Pilgrim's and Sabie News. The first newspaper in Pilgrim's Rest was the Gold News, published in 1874 and notable for its libelous gossip. The editor, an Irishman by the name of Phelan, felt obliged to keep a pair of loaded pistols on his desk. Purchase tour tickets at the information center.

The Pilgrim's Rest Cemetery sits high on the hill above Main Street. The fascinating tombstone inscriptions evoke the dangers and hardship of life in Mpumalanga a century ago. Tellingly, most of the dead were young people from Wales, Scotland, and England. The cemetery owes its improbable setting to the Robber's Grave, the only grave that lies in a north–south direction. It contains the body of a thief banished from Pilgrim's Rest for stealing gold from a tent, after which he was tarred and feathered and chased out of town; he later foolishly returned and was shot dead. Buried where he fell, the area around his grave became the town's unofficial cemetery.

Pinnacle is a 100-foot-high quartzite "needle" that rises dramatically out of the surrounding fern-clad ravine, as it has for countless millennia. Way down below, beneath and to the right of the viewing platform, you can see the plateau beneath the escarpment. The watercourse drops down some 1,475 feet in a series of alternating falls and cascades. Stay away from the edge if you suffer from vertigo.

The Shangana Cultural Village is a genuine Shangaan village that's presided over by the incumbent chief, whose family have lived here for decades. An hour-long tour of the kraal (traditional rural village) includes a meeting with the chief and a visit to the sangoma (traditional healer who'll throw the bones to predict your future). Enjoy a traditional lunch or a light meal in the tea garden after visiting the Marula Market, where you can stock up on a great variety of good-quality handcrafted items (some made on-site). Don't miss the memorable evening firelight song-and-dance performance hosted by the chief portraying the history of the Shangaan people. A traditional dinner is included. Booking for the performance (5:15 pm in summer, 5 pm in winter) is essential.

Built in 1884, the iron-roofed stone building replaced the original makeshift wattle-and-daub structure. It was an uphill battle for the early ministers to lure miners from the town's 18 canteens. After a backbreaking week spent on the sluices, Holy Communion just didn't pack the punch of a belt of Cape brandy or Squareface gin. The organ is more than a century old.

To see how the whole valley looked during gold-rush days, visit the Diggings just outside the village. In the creek where the gold was originally panned, you'll find authentic displays of a water-driven stamp battery, the Gold Commissioner's hut, a transport wagon, a waterwheel, a steam engine, a sluice box, a prison tent, and wattle-and-daub huts typical of the early gold-rush years. The tour lasts about an hour, and you'll watch a gold-panning demonstration (you can even try your own hand at gold-panning). The retired prospector who conducts the tours adds to the atmosphere with yarns about the old days. Tickets are available at the information center.