If you only have three or four extra days in South Africa, you don't have to choose between the dramatic scenery of the Panorama Route and a safari in Kruger National Park – the two combine neatly into one short but full programme.
The Panorama Route: Graskop, Pilgrim's Rest and the Blyde River Canyon
Graskop, perched on the edge of the Mpumalanga Escarpment, is the natural starting point. From there the route leads to God's Window, with views stretching down into the Lowveld, to the Three Rondavels rock formations that resemble round thatched huts, and to Bourke's Luck Potholes – a series of deep, water-carved holes where the Treur and Blyde Rivers meet. The Blyde River Canyon itself ranks among the largest "green" canyons in the world.
A stop in Pilgrim's Rest adds a historical dimension to the route. The town grew up after the area was officially declared a goldfield in 1873, and the entire town has been a national monument since 1986 – people still live there today, but it functions in effect as an open-air museum. There are five separate museums to see (including the Alanglade house and the Printing Museum), a cemetery with the famous Robber's Grave – the only grave in town that doesn't face the sun – and hour-long gold-panning tours where visitors try their own hand at the technique used to sift gold from the stream a century and a half ago.
Two to three days in Kruger National Park
From the Panorama Route it's a short run down into the southern part of Kruger National Park. Depending on how many nights you have, we base the stay around Skukuza or Lower Sabie, or further north around Satara and Letaba – each area has a different density and mix of game, and a different kind of landscape, from denser bush to more open savannah. Two to three days is enough for several game drives at different times of day (mornings and early evenings tend to be busiest) and a solid chance of seeing most of the Big Five.
This module works well as a stand-alone extension to a longer South African trip, or it can be combined with the next step – continuing on into Eswatini and the KwaZulu-Natal coast.
Want to add the Panorama Route and Kruger to your trip? Let us know how many days you have, and we'll put together a specific route.