Route to Blyde River Canyon and visiting time

Good evening

I booked 1 night at Forever Resort

Which one?

Swadini or Blyde Canyon?

True enough Boat ride = complicated Phalaborwa Hoedspruit Graskop It’s on this route that you get the Panorama Road

Hi Agnès, Blyde Canyon. Coming from Olifants via the Phalaborwa Gate on the morning of 14/10, heading to Blyde and needing to be at the Balule Reserve at Imagine Africa Lodge by around noon on 15/10, I don’t have much time for travel and visits. If I understand the route I need to take correctly, I’ll first pass by the canyon and the Three Rondavels, then head down to Graskop to take the Panorama Route? So, is it a good idea to spend the night at Forever Resort? What would be the best compromise, considering my lodge in Balule is 45 minutes from Hoedspruit? As I suggested, if it’s too tight, I could do part of it on the afternoon of the 14th and a bit on the morning of the 15th, and another part on the 17th by spending less time in Cape Town! Thanks for your thoughts on this—I still haven’t managed to find a map, so I’m a bit lost! Have a great day, Agnès. Dan

Hi Michel, thanks! See the reply I gave to Attila... do you have the answer?! Not sure if I should spend the night at Forever Resort or rather Graskop?! Your insight will be really helpful. Dan

Personally, Arriving from Hoedspruit, we’re on the Panorama Road. For me, One day is necessary. Personally, I stay in Graskop, which is roughly at the heart of the area. One stretch on arrival and another the next day. Last time, I left early from Dullstroom. First part: Blyde. Night in Graskop. Second part to finish near Tzaneen. We’d done it all… After that, if you want a boat ride and a hike, You’ll need an extra day.

Hi Danyèle,

Blyde is nice, but it’s not the highlight of a trip to South Africa. Plus, if the weather’s bad, well, you won’t see anything!

Personally, I’d exit Kruger via Phalaborwa Gate, which will take you along new roads in the park (about 85 km, or 3 hours depending on wildlife sightings).

Then I’d head to Bourke's Luck Potholes via the north (150 km, or 2.5 to 3 hours).

After that, I’d visit the various viewpoints up to Forever (so you’ll need to backtrack): about twenty kilometers.

The next day, I’d go to Swadini (the lake), where you can take a boat ride (book in advance given your tight schedule) or go for a walk. (Barely 100 km, or 1.5 hours.)

From there, you’re only 60 km from your lodge, about 1 hour away.

Then, you spend two nights in the reserve, visit what’s near Graskop, and stay there before heading to Nelspruit for a late-morning flight.

Alternatively, you could skip what’s near Graskop and head straight to the airport to catch your flight. If your flight is early evening and you leave the lodge around 11:00 AM, you’ll still have a little time to make a detour to Graskop.

It would’ve made more sense to visit the private reserve first and then Blyde.

But I assume everything’s already booked?

Happy planning!

Agnès

Personally Coming from Hoedspruit, we took the Panorama Road. For me, A full day is necessary. Personally, I stay in Graskop, which is roughly at the heart of the area. One part on arrival and another the next day. Last time, I left early from Dullstroom. First part: Blyde. Night in Graskop. Second part to finish near Tzaneen. We did it all... But if you want to do the boat trip and hike, You’ll need an extra day.

Thanks Michel, I understood your message about the language... not all is lost!!! I manage more or less, but I have some gaps... haven’t practiced in ages!!

For Blyde, yes, anyway, I don’t have a choice but to split this visit into two because of the morning drive to get there from Olifants Camp, and the next day’s drive to head back up to Balule!! I’m trying to move my Balule reservation so I don’t have to rush and can spend two nights at Blyde, but it’s not a sure thing!! The boat trip—if I can’t extend my stay, we’ll skip it, along with the hike! On the other hand, the towns you mentioned are Greek to me—I need to figure out where they are. Since I’m coming from Hoedspruit, I’ll take the Panorama Route down to Graskop (R532/R534), and when I arrive in Graskop, will I have seen everything??!! Actually, I still don’t have a proper map to locate your towns—just something I scribbled on paper, but it’s really just a "thing," not detailed at all!! And when I think that I have to go back up to Balule, which is northwest of Hoedspruit, it’s so frustrating!!! I should’ve done the southern part of Kruger and exited through Phabeni Gate instead of Phalaborwa... bad route planning!! Now I have to deal with it and reorganize.

I booked at Blyde Canyon Forever Resort, but I think I can cancel or change the dates—I just need to be within the rules!! See you later, Dan

Hi Danyèle,

Blyde is nice, but it’s not the highlight of a trip to South Africa. Plus, if the weather’s bad, well, you won’t see anything!

Personally, I’d exit Kruger via Phalaborwa Gate, which will take you along new roads in the park (about 85 km, or 03:00 hours depending on wildlife sightings).

Then I’d head to Bourke's Luck Potholes via the north (150 km, or 02:30–03:00 hours).

After that, I’d visit the various viewpoints up to Forever (so you’ll have to backtrack): about twenty kilometers.

The next day, I’d go to Swadini (the lake) where you can take a boat ride (book in advance given your tight schedule) or go for a walk. (Barely 100 kilometers, or 1h 30.)

From there, you’re only 60 kilometers from your lodge, about 1 hour away.

Then you spend two nights in the reserve, visit what’s near Graskop, and sleep there before heading to Nelspruit for a late-morning flight.

Or you skip what’s near Graskop and head straight to the airport to catch a flight. If your flight is early evening and you leave the lodge around 11:00, you’ll still have a little time to make a detour to Graskop.

It would’ve made more sense to visit the private reserve first, then Blyde afterward.

But I assume it’s already booked?

Happy planning!

Agnès

Hi Agnès, I knew you’d come to my rescue, just like Michel!

Yes, the Balule reserve is booked—I asked them to let me know if there’s a cancellation so I could do it after Kruger from the 14th to the 16th of October, which would give me more flexibility to explore Blyde and make the itinerary more logical. That would be great if you or Michel could send me a map of the Panorama Route circuit, since I don’t have one. I’m sure you have it, but I don’t know if it’s possible to share! I’m throwing a message in a bottle here… Yes, you’re absolutely right—swapping Balule and Blyde would’ve worked better for me. I messed up my itinerary! Mea culpa! 😕 It’s a bit like what Michel suggested, breaking it into two parts: one after exiting Kruger and another before heading to the lodge. It makes total sense, but I need to be at the lodge around lunchtime to catch the early afternoon game drive, and I wasn’t sure if it was doable with everything else I had left to do. Stopping just for a quick photo (click, snap, thanks Kodak) feels a bit frustrating! Is Swadini worth the detour, or is it just an alternative to the boat ride on the Blyde? What interested me about that option wasn’t the boat ride itself but getting a different perspective from the bottom of the canyon. I imagine it must be even more impressive and different from the view from the top—so I’m curious about Swadini… For the airport, I was thinking of arriving and departing from Hoedspruit since I’m starting at Manyeleti. I assume you didn’t suggest it randomly, so tell me what’s best given the route. If I can’t move Balule, I think I’ll be closer to Hoedspruit. Anyway, let’s stay in touch, and thank you *so much* for your great advice—it’s really helping! Though I’ve noticed it’s only you and Michel replying to my posts! It’s odd… I must not be interesting to anyone else! 🙁 Have a lovely weekend, and see you soon—you and Michel are always so reliable!

I’ve always explored the area by car, so I’m not the best person to ask about flights.

You’ll need to check flight schedules, prices, and your final itinerary to see which airport works best.

For Swadini, Pierre wrote a great trip report—you can find it here.

Hi there, Flying into Hoedspruit CT is doable. Usually flights in the early afternoon. CemAir and Airlink—check their websites. Worked great for me. You’ll often have to pay for extra baggage, but it’s not a big deal. Depending on the rental company, you can leave the car there. Oh, right— We didn’t talk about the car, did we?

The boat tour sounds great in theory Always overbooked every time I wanted to go Check availability on the website before getting too excited

Hi Michel, Well, yes, the car indeed... I don’t know if you and Attila followed, but I managed to change the date of my accommodation in Balule, and as a result, it’s great—I’ll do Blyde AFTER my private reserve in Balule before catching my flight to CPT. I’m not sure from where yet—I’m exploring... (Hoedspruit, Nelspruit, and I saw there’s an airport in Graskop, so I need to check that out.) Anyway, I’ll take the Panorama Route from the top and drive back down, which makes more sense and means less driving to get back from Balule. So, I think it’s doable in a day. I might consider canceling the Forever stop since it’s not well-placed now, and instead make a stop at Thaba Tsweni, which would let me do the rest the next morning before catching an afternoon flight—much more relaxed! And yes, we were planning to rent a car in Hoedspruit (an SUV because apparently it’s better for elevation, but my husband says no for photos!!) but return it at Nelspruit Airport. I need to check if that’s feasible with the rental company! There you go... if you have any tips given the itinerary change, I’m all ears! Have a great day, `Dan

Well no, Graskorp, there’s no airport to get to Cape Town, so Nelspruit seems more sensible than going back up to Hoedspruit. So check with the rental company about dropping the vehicle off at another airport... to be continued. Dan

Hi Michel, You replied that it was better to head back toward Hoedspruit than Nelspruit (knowing I’d be in Graskop)... I don’t know why, though! But what I do know is that the flight ticket to CPT is more expensive from Hoedspruit (which makes sense, it’s farther north!) than from Nelspruit, but it’s double the price, while the extra cost to drop off the car somewhere else is much lower! Could you tell me what motivated your answer? That’d really help me out... Thanks, Michel. Dan

Hi there I was still thinking about the old route