1. Blue Swallows:
Regarded as South Africa’s most endangered bird, Blue Swallows can be found, if you’re lucky, in Limpopo Province, where they nest in old sinkholes, mine shafts and ant holes, or in Mpumalanga near Kaapsche Hoop. Alternatively, visit Nyika Plateau in Malawi for a sure sighting.
2. Grooming:
Some 20 of South Africa’s 35 endemic bird species can be seen in Wakkerstroom, a small town in Mpumalanga with a mix of grasslands and wetlands. Summer is the time to see grassland species when they are easily identified in their breeding plumage.
3. Mac Mac Duo:
At Mac Mac Falls in Mpumalanga, the Mac Mac River splits in two and plumes of water plummet past each other for 65 meters into a pool in the gorge below. Just one of many magical waterfalls in the area.
4. The Double Lisbon Current:
For the best view of Mpumalanga’s Lisbon Falls, hike a trail to the base of the falls, which drop in a 300-foot double stream over a semicircular rock wall.
5. Berlin Falls:
The mighty Berlin Falls are the most spectacular in Mpumalanga, which has plenty of waterfalls to boast about. The water cascades 80 meters over a cliff and into a deep green pool below. You can’t get too close to the falls, but an observation deck offers great views.
6. Country of the Cosmos:
Mention spring flowers and you’ll probably think of the West Coast and Namaqualand. But there’s also Cosmos Country in southwestern Mpumalanga, where in late summer the veld is blanketed with white and pink cosmos blooms. And as a curiosity, wild cosmos flowers always have eight petals.
7. Kaapse Hoop:
Kaapsehoop in Mpumalanga is the kind of place you’d miss if you didn’t know it existed. The houses are built against rocky outcroppings and against a hill, and cannot be seen from the main road. There are hardly any roads in Kaapsehoop, which is said to have wild horses living all around it. Enter the intriguing store that sells second-hand treasures. Arrive in an old Beetle if you can; you’ll be out of place in a Merc.
8. Songimvelo Game Reserve:
Little known and one of the Lowveld’s most scenic reserves, Songimvelo Game Reserve, on the border of Mpumalanga and Swaziland, offers nine-day horseback adventures into the big game area. If your guide is Steven Rufus, get ready for quite an adventure as he is a white knuckle horseman.
9. Mpumalanga Trout:
Dullstroom is unofficially the fly fishing capital of South Africa. The area’s dams and rivers are well stocked with rainbow and brown trout, but that doesn’t mean fishing isn’t a challenge.
10. The oldest rocks in the world:
It is always difficult to visualize how old the Earth is; we cannot count to a million, let alone understand how long ago 3.4 billion years ago. But if you go to Barberton, you can see some of the oldest rocks in the world that were formed 3.4 billion years ago. They existed when the first forms of life, bacteria, began to develop and not long ago a fossil of that bacterium was found near Barberton; it is estimated to be about 3.2 billion years old. You can take a walk through these Achaean rock formations on the 1.5-kilometre Fortuna Hiking Trail, which also boasts 100 species of trees.
