South Africa 2013: Nelspruit, South Africa/God's Window/ Blyde River Canyon

After visiting Victoria Falls, Kruger National Park and traveling for so many days, we were kind of burnt out. So, we decided to stay another day in Nelspruit at our backpacker, and visit a botanical garden and the Blyde River Canyon, which is about an hour north of Nelspruit and the third largest canyon in the world! The botanical garden was, to my surprise, much larger than I anticipated and so beautiful! There was a waterfall running through it and TONS of jungle vegetation to see! I thoroughly enjoyed just walking through the paths, finally having a full nights sleep and just being in nature.

After the botanical gardens in Nelspruit, we drove about an hour north, to a place known as God's Window. The place gets its name, from the shape of the mountains forming a "window" and also being extremely beautiful, thus thinking it must be "God's Window." It was just a short hike to the top of the ridge over looking the scenic view, and of course, it was breathtaking.

After sightseeing at God's Window, we proceeded a little bit further north, to the Blyde River Canyon, which is the third largest canyon in the world! We actually had no idea it was so big or famous until we asked around! It was right under our noses the entire time! What was most interesting to me, is that the Blyde River Canyon is a "green canyon," so there is a lot of green vegetation, waterfalls and trees where as, for example, the Grand Canyon in Arizona is a desert canyon, without any trees, grass, etc. The Blyde River Canyon was, again, breathtaking! It was, behind Victoria Falls, one of the most beautiful places I have ever seen. I felt so tiny, sitting down on the rocks, overlooking the huge canyon. Everything was so quiet, peaceful and pristine. It was nice just to sit and look out over the canyon and listen to the silence.

After the Blyde River Canyon, we took a short stop at a restaurant the was recommended to us by the owner of our hostel in Nelspruit. It was called Harrie's Pancakes, and it was literally like a meal inside a pancake! YUM! One of the best meals I have EVER had!