Blyde River Canyon
Blyde River CanyonThe Blyde River Canyon area is so spectacularly magnificent that those that write about it have run out of words to describe it. The third deepest canyon in the world with panoramic views over cliffs rising 600 - 800m out of the river bed, a visit to the Blyde River canyon is guaranteed to take your breath away. The reserve stretches for 25 000 hectares and is home to an abundance of bird life including a breeding colony of the rare Bald Ibis. The area dates back 200 million years to the time when Gondwanaland broke apart, freeing Madagascar and Antarctica.
The canyon starts at Bourke's Luck Potholes and ends at the Three Rondavels with a public road running along the western boundary to offer easy access to the sights including The Pinnacle and God's Window. The Pinnacle is a tall quartzite column of rock reaching up to the sky from the wooded canyon below and God's Window offers an expansive view out across the Lowveld. Bourke's Luck Potholes are a series of impressive rock formations found where the Blyde River and the Treur River meet and 'potholes' in the rock have been formed by the swirling water eroding the rock away. The Three Rondavels are three huge spirals of dolomite rock rising out from the canyon and are covered in a layer of green trees with orange lichen down their sides.