Published: 06/06/2010 by South Africa Tourism

Welcome to the Kids Directory for Mpumalanga and the Kruger Park region, South Africa

Encounter the secrets of the dinosaurs and cavemen in an ancient grotto set in a land where wild horses roam free in the largest valley of South Africa at the fringes of the world's biggest man-made jungle. Experience the attractions of Lowveld Legogote, Mpumalanga

Wild horses won't drag you away from Lowveld Legogote, Mpumalanga. History, culture, wildlife, and adventure are only the most obvious Lowveld Legogote attractions.

Enter the Legogote via Nelspruit, a vibrant agricultural town set amidst lush hills and valleys. Here the riches of South Africa's flora are laid out for your perusal in the Lowveld National Botanical Garden, 183 hectares straddling the Crocodile and Nels Rivers. Take a leisurely walk through African tropical rain forest - the largest man-made rain forest in the world - into South African forest and dry Bushveld and admire baobabs, corkwoods, cycads, bush willows and more. The Garden is also an archeological site with remains dating back to the earliest hominids.

More ancient still are the Sudwala Caves 30km outside of Nelspruit. Held to be the oldest dolomite caves in the world, this mythical location provides a record in stone of life beneath the surface of an inland sea millions of years ago. At Sudwala, you can also encounter Africa's primitive past in the dinosaur park. You can always compare these reptiles with their modern cousins at the Nelspruit Reptile Park on the banks of the Crocodile River.

Some 25 km from Nelspruit on the edge of the Barberton Crater - the largest valley in South Africa - lies Kaapsehoop, once a gold mining town, now a quiet haven famous for its herds of wild horses (unique in South Africa) as well as arts, crafts, and a historic village. Schoemanskloof Valley has hikes catering for every fitness level.

Further activities in Lowveld Legogote include watersports on Da Gama dam near the town of White River, where you can enjoy a unique dining experience at Ijabula Boma and see Legogote, 'the rock that leans'.

Finally, take a tour of Kanyamazane for a colourful South African township experience.

Hit the Wild Frontier of Mpumalanga and take a trip back in time to the days of the Barberton gold rush and beyond in a landscape of ancient mountains where leopards and hyenas track their prey through woodlands and ravines haunted by the ghosts and ruins left by long-forgotten tribes.

Bordering on Mozambique, Swaziland and the southern extremity of the Kruger National Park, the Wild Frontier of Mpumalanga's nucleus consists of the historic towns of Barberton, Komatipoort, Kaapmuiden and Badplaas. Barberton in particular is perhaps the quintessential frontier town, site of South Africa's first gold rush in 1884. You can spend a couple days just exploring the museums and monuments, including the first South African stock exchange and the Victorian houses along Heritage Walk.

From Barberton on out, old wagon roads take you past the ghost mining town of Eureka into one of the world's most ancient landscapes. The Makhonjwa Mountains enjoy the status of a 'Centre of Biological Endemism', thanks to the plant and animal species nurtured by protected mountain catchment areas. Mountainlands Nature Reserve, just 10 minutes from Barberton, is the centre of a proposed World Heritage Site as the hub of the Archaean Greenstone Belt, containing rocks and life forms more than 3 billion years old. Some of the finest Mpumalanga camping sites are here.

The mountainlands also contain Songimvelo Game Reserve, Mpumalanga's biggest at 50 000 hectares. Buffalo, kudu, giraffe, elephant, white rhino, brown hyena and leopard are among the creatures roaming its grassy plains, woodlands and forested ravines, which are interspersed with rock paintings and archaeological remains dating back as far as 400 BC.

Explore at your own pace - the Wild Frontier has among the best Mpumalanga caravan sites. Drive slowly, especially in the rainy season, and watch out for local Swazi cattle.

In Panorama, Mpumalanga, with its breath-taking vistas around every mountain corner, waterfalls plunging down faces of sheer rock, memories of the gold rush following you as you meander down an endless river canyon, and eagles hovering above your head - you can't help walking with your head in the clouds.

Enter Panorama, Mpumalanga, as you pass the north-eastern part of the Great Escarpment in the northern Drakensberg. The land falls away sharply, opening up dizzying vistas of the Lowveld plains far below. One breath-taking view after another - that's South Africa's Panorama Route.

The small town of Graskop is the gateway to Panorama, South Africa. It's a good place to set up base. Scenic landmarks with evocative names like God's Window, Wonder View, the Pinnacle, Bourke's Luck Potholes and Three Sisters as well as the awe-inspiring Lisbon, Berlyn and MacMac waterfalls are a short drive away. Adding some historical romance into the mix, half an hour's drive from Graskop, the goldrush town of Pilgrim's Rest - a national monument in its entirety - gives you the chance to relive the 1873 goldrush in surroundings of unparalleled beauty. You can even try your hand at panning for gold.

From Graskop, you head on to the Blyde River Canyon Reserve. Imagine threading your way along the clifftops 800 metres above the Blyde River Canyon, third largest in the world - walking into the rain forest among the clouds. Although the visual element dominates, all your senses are enriched by the wealth of plant and animal life that the region supports: klipspringer, dassies, grey rhebuck, oribi, kudu, bushbuck, bushpig, monkeys, bushbabies, chacma baboons, and just about every kind of bird... including the eagles that might well look you in the eye. Unless you fly over them in a helicopter.

Some of Panorama, Mpumalanga's less renowned but no less fascinating attractions are clustered around Ohrigstad. Echo Caves extend for 40km into the rock, a limestone fairyland. At Ohrigstad Dam Reserve you can fish for yellowtail or carp on tranquil waters surrounded by mountains - an ideal refuge from the crowds in peak season.

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