Mpumalanga

Mpumalanga
Mpumalanga
Mpumalanga
Mpumalanga
   

Intro

Mpumalanga, the Province of the Rising Sun, was formerly known as the Eastern Transvaal. Straddling the Highveld and Lowveld and the slopes in-between, it opens up, among its many spectacular visual assets, immeasurable opportunities for jumping, flying and floating downhill. Criss-crossing the region, the wagon-roads of old creak with tales of heroism and highway robbery, dynamite and disease. Nowadays, however, the conflicts of yesteryear have given way to a fast-growing tourism focus.

The Lowveld includes Nelspruit (also known as Mbombela) – the burgeoning capital of Mpumalanga and an excellent launch-point for adventure in the region – and White River, a smaller and cooler town (in temperature if not in tempo) settled in 1904 by demobilised British officers and men, granted land by Lord Milner in lieu of payment for their services. White River being the more English-speaking town and Nelspruit more Afrikaans, the social division between the two communities is jocularly referred to as the “Boerewors Curtain”.

The town of Hazyview beyond the “Banana Curtain” is the adrenalin capital of a region rich with winding scenic roads and rivers, coupled with canyons, nature reserves and colourful traditions. On the escarpment Sabie, Graskop and Pilgrim’s Rest have their roots in the early gold rush, and subsequently in timber and further afield on the Highveld, myriad towns have sprung up around coal mines and power stations. And trout dams – hundreds of them – around Dullstroom, Mashishing and Machadodorp. Tight lines indeed.

Festivals & Fun

SABIE FORESTRY FESTIVAL – (November) – a gathering of timber folk (not puppets)

THE PARADISE RALLY (May) Motorbikes in paradise. Love it or hate it.

DULLSTROOM DOG-SLED DERBY (July). Yup, really. INNIBOS - a festival or art, music and theatre (June/July)

TONTELDOOS PEACH FESTIVAL (March). Everything is absolutely peachy.

Features, Creatures & Flower Power

Cycads – Dotted along the escarpment and in the rainforest near God’s Window are numerous evergreen, dioecious plants. But don’t dig them up. Many are protected species.

Proteas - SA’s national flower is to be found the length of the canyon and along nearby mountain-tops.

The kiaat tree is a rarity on much of the continent but still prevalent along the lower reaches of the great escarpment. Watch out for its twisting boughs on the slopes of the mountains.

Arum lilies – an iconic wild flower, once known as the South African weed. Catch it along the roadsides but again, no picking. The picking of indigenous wild flowers in South Africa is illegal without a permit.

Lowveld Botanical Gardens – Waterfalls, rainforest, clivias and a formidable collection of cycads in the fork of two rivers. www.sanbi.org.za

Blue Gums and Pines – White River lies at the southern tip of the second largest man-made forest in the world (after Johannesburg!) which stretches all the way to the Zimbabwean border. The swaying gums were originally planted as pit props but the poles were soon worth more than the dwindling gold in the pans.

Crafty Shopping

Malls Galore – Nelspruit offers two world-class shopping Malls. The Riverside Mall on the R40 north of the city and the i’Langa Mall on the N4 to the west.

Cabinet-makers – From gondola-like beds and extravagant dressing tables to a simple riempie (leather-strand) bench. Hans van der Merwe and Sons (White River), Elmswood (on the R37 to Lydenburg /Mashishing) and roadsides full of swinging garden chairs like hammocks made from gumpoles.

Casterbridge Lifestyle Centre, just outside White River, hosts the sought-after work of the recently deceased Zakkie Eloff at the Eloff Gallery as well as any number of other potters and painters. And a vintage car museum.

Delagoa Trading in Graskop for the widest range of curios in the region, although maybe not the cheapest. Also includes some extraordinary and often erotic exotica from West Africa.

The Thatched Lapha on the traffic circle, Hazyview. Where the locals gather to sell their wares. There are also hawkers all along the road to the Paul Kruger Gate including what has to be the finest marketing board in the country; it suggests buying ‘Gifts for your Lovely Ones’.

Perry’s Bridge in Hazyview offers a range of locally inspired decor shops. Orange wine and nuts galore Visit Rottcher Wineries outside White River for sweet citrus wine (Cointreau, it is not!) and a wide range of fresh and roasted Lowveld nuts – pecans, macadamias, cashews and more.

The Belgian Patissier – Perhaps not quite you’d expect but fine Belgian pastries are invading Hazyview thanks to Gerard Merchiers’s Congolese background. Find him in the Perry’s Bridge Centre.

Every lay-by from the Long Tom Pass to the border, although you might have to wake some of these rather unzealous salespeople to be able to buy something from them.

Critics Cuisine

Tshwala – the local brew, drunk from a calabash and passed around the fire. Available from the Shangana Cultural Village, Hazyview, and numerous other cultural experiences.

Bananas – Elvis Presley’s last meal was a banana and peanut butter sandwich - the closest the Lowveld can get to a connection with The King (apart from The Lion King, of course). Hazyview is the most intensively farmed banana-growing area in the world.

Pancakes – the sightseer’s snack of choice, endemic to Graskop but creeping into the region’s other major towns. Try Harrie’s Chicken Liver flavoured pancake.

Madumbes and Morogo – A madumbe is like a yam and morogo is spinach. Buy them at the roadside stalls but be sure to get cooking instructions.

Pap and Vleis – Maize porridge and stewed meat. The staple diet of millions of South Africans. There are as many ways to prepare pap as there are words for it.

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