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Panorama Route Tour

 

We weren't excited about sitting in a vehicle for 8 hours on day 3 of our 4-day Safari package but it turned out to be an incredible experience to see the breathtaking sights of this part of South Africa. 


It was nice to sleep in until 630 am. Throughout the night there was a lot of rain. At 7:30am we had a cold breakfast. There was the option for a hot item on the menu but the cold food options were enough. We enjoyed fruit, yogurt, granola and banana bread.

At 9am, 8 of us boarded the van for the panoramic tour. I had seen pics online but we were amazed by each spot on the tour. Our driver took us to each stop on the tour, deciding which spot to see based on the weather. It was a cloudy, cool and slightly rainy day but thankfully we were able to see a lot. 

The first stop was Lisbon falls. 


Then Berlin falls.



We then went to Blyde River Canyon Potholes, which was incredible. The nature was so amazing here.

We then went to Blyde River Canyon Three Rondavels. This lookout point was one of my favorites.


At each location there were many vendors selling local items for souvenirs. While each vendor had similar items, each wanted to negotiate the prices (which were already very affordable) to make the sale. We got a few items.

In my opinion, the vendors at the potholes and Rondavel had the best selection of local items.

Each location on the panorama tour had bathrooms. As part of our Safari package, our driver covered the costs for every entrance fee.

Next we went to Gods Window but unfortunately it was too foggy to see anything.

With that being the end of our panorama tour (~4 hours) we finished the tour with an incredible African lunch at the Garden Shed Restaurant. I got the vegetarian curry and Karel got the beef curry. We had so many great conversations with our European friends throughout lunch.



We then returned back to the lodge. I went for a dip in the pool and Karel ventured out of our gated lodge for a run (although he said this was the first time he didn’t feel safe running outside).

If you are in staying in or near Hazyview or Kruger National Park, I highly suggest seeing some of the sights on the Panorama Route Tour. Blyde River Canyons should be on the top of your list to see. If you are adventurous and active, you can also look into hiking there. I imagine the sights can get rather busy so we were lucky that the weather wasn't ideal, which helped so that there weren't many crowds.