Addo Elephant National Park recently relaunched its Zuurberg Doringnek hiking trail and we were itching to give it a try. So, we packed a picnic lunch, donned our backpacks and ushered the boys into the car, giving them no option of staying on the couch despite their vehement protests that there is no point to hiking, especially on a Sunday.
We love everything about Addo, and one of all of our absolute favourite spots is Narina Bush Camp in the Zuurberg section. There is a really steep hike up a near vertical valley to a place where you feel on top of the world, and if this was anything to go by, we knew we were in for a treat at Doringnek.
My name is Sarah and I am an Instagram travel junkie.
I spend hours pouring over travel photos and dreaming of visiting the most Instagram-able destinations, taking my own photos and adding them to Chasing the Rainbow’s Instagram account. The Grand Canyon’s distinctive Horseshoe Bend, Canada’s pale turquoise Lake Louise, the Faroe Islands’ spectacular waterfalls, Victoria Falls’ rainbow in the mist….. there are just so many enviable destinations.
Top of my South African Instagram wish list is the Blyde River Canyon – the greenest canyon in the world. There is a rock that you can sit on with a view out over the Blyderivierspoortdam with its distinctive azure colour water surrounded by forest clad cliffs and huge rocky buttresses. My sparkly #rainbowtakkies would look oh-so-delicious right there on that rock.
I used to visit Mpumulanga’s Panorama Route every year way back before it was even called that. My parents owned timeshare at Crystal Springs Mountain Lodge and we did a yearly pilgrimage to the area, panning for gold in Pilgrims’ Rest, eating pancakes at Harries in Graskop, checking out all the incredible waterfalls – from Mac Mac to Lisbon, Berlin, Maria Shires, Bridal Veil and Lone Creek – and viewpoints at The Pinnacle, God’s Window, Bourke’s Luck Potholes and the Three Rondawels. But for some reason, in over a decade of visiting the area, I had never seen or heard of that famous view over the Blyde Rivier dam until Instagram popped it into my feed.
So when planning where to go in the week before our trip to the Kruger National Park, and looking for a timeshare swap in the area, Crystal Springs Mountain Lodge seemed like a great idea. Ralph and I had been there and done most of that, but it would be awesome to show it all to the kids with the added benefit of being able to capture it all on Instagram and get that sparkly rainbow nation takkie photo at Blyde River Canyon.
The 2018 IRONMAN 70.3 World Championship is around the corner and tens of thousands of top international triathletes and their families are about to flock into Port Elizabeth for a week. Most will never have visited our beautiful city and will have no idea of what to do while they are here. And there is just so much choice – Nelson Mandela Bay is a traveller’s smorgasbord of memorable experiences just waiting to be tasted.
Whatever direction you decide to head, there is something to see and do, and there is so much variety – beaches, forests and mountains for nature lovers, vibey hangouts for city slickers, waves, wind and bumpy tracks for sporty types and history and creativity everywhere for the arty folk. Whether it involves beachcombing, hiking, surfing, eating, culturing, adventuring, chilling or socialising, our lovely little coastal city has it all.
All this choice can be a little overwhelming, so to help make your travel planning a breeze – for the Iron-men, Iron-women and their families and friends, and for everyone travelling to Port Elizabeth for the first time – here is our guide to Nelson Mandela Bay’s Top 5 must-see tourist attractions.
One of my favourite childhood books was Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. Besides the deliciously fantastic storyline, the ending always fascinated me – when Willie Wonka took Charlie into his glass elevator and headed upward into the unknown.
This is exactly how I felt when we entered Graskop’s brand new glass elevator. The shiny modern structure clinging to the vertical side of a naturally stunning deep gorge is a sight to behold. Instead of up, it transported us deep down into the unknown caverns of the enormous gorge, below the canopy of tall trees and into a hidden world entirely magical and full of sweet and surreal surprises.
We are led silently in single file down a dark corridor and ushered into a small office. The door clicks shut behind us, locking our family into the room. We stand in a quiet huddle, staring at the ominous chalk outline in the shape of a fallen human body on the middle of the floor. My heart is pounding and my first instinct is to pat my pocket for my phone, but it’s not there – they took everything from us before locking us in.
We look around – besides the body outline, it looks like a normal office. Suddenly, a raspy voice crackles over a loud speaker telling us about the murder that happened here. He explains that our only chance of escape is to solve the heinous crime in under one hour. There is a large blank TV screen on the wall that suddenly flashes with a white number 60:00….59.59…..59.58…..the countdown has started!
Where do we even begin?
