| Mpumalanga's Highlands are a nature lover's paradise, boasting South
Africa's premier fly-fishing mecca, some of the sub-continent's rarest
birds, best rock climbing, and most spectacular wild flower displays.
The
region's diversity and string of quaint historic towns have made it a
popular weekend hideaway for well-heeled city sleekers, who flock to
hamlets such as Dullstroom for South Africa's best trout and fly
fishing. The town's stone lodges nestle along cool trout dams and
streams, where bright yellow arum lilies and 120 other species of
indigenous wild flower carpet the region in a kaleidoscope of colour
every spring.
Nearby Machadodorp and Waterval Boven are also
rich with Boer War history. Both towns are built along the Transvaal
Republic's major railway line to Delagoa Bay (Maputo), and were
fiercely contested by the British as the Boers retreated towards the
end of the war. Visitors can take a walk through the historic ZASM
tunnel through which the trains used to pass, and see a beautiful
waterfall that cascades along the Elands River course. The route drops
to the little town of Waterval Onder, where President Paul Kruger lived
for a month before finally fleeing into exile and a lonely death in
Switzerland in 1904. |
