Blyde River Canyon Nature Reserve (or Motlatse Canyon Provincial Nature Reserve) is situated in the
Drakensberg escarpment region of eastern
Mpumalanga
Mpumalanga () is a province of South Africa. The name means "East", or literally "The Place Where the Sun Rises" in the Swazi, Xhosa, Ndebele and Zulu languages. Mpumalanga lies in eastern South Africa, bordering Eswatini and Mozambique. It ...
,
South Africa
South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the north by the neighbouring countri ...
. The reserve protects the
Blyde River Canyon
The Blyde River Canyon is a 26km long Canyon located in Mpumalanga, South Africa. It is the one of the larger canyons on Earth but much smaller than those of Asia, the Grand Canyon and the Fish River Canyon. Unlike the Grand and Fish River Canyon ...
, including sections of the
Ohrigstad and
Blyde Rivers and the geological formations around Bourke's Luck Potholes, where the
Treur River tumbles into the Blyde below. Southwards of the canyon, the reserve follows the escarpment, to include the Devil's and God's Window, the latter a popular viewpoint to the lowveld at the reserve's southern extremity.
The Mogologolo (1,794 m),
Mariepskop
Mariepskop (also Marepe or Maripekop), at 1,947 m above sea level, is one of the highest peaks in the northern Drakensberg,The peaks of the Wolkberg region are higher, the Ysterkroon reaching 2,126 m, and Serala 2,050 m. The beacon ...
(1,944 m) and Hebronberg (1,767 m) massifs are partially included in the reserve. Elevation varies from 560 m to 1,944 m above sea level.
Its resort areas are F.H. Odendaal and Swadeni, the latter only accessible from
Limpopo
Limpopo is the northernmost province of South Africa. It is named after the Limpopo River, which forms the province's western and northern borders. The capital and largest city in the province is Polokwane, while the provincial legislature is ...
province. The area of approximately is administered by the
Mpumalanga Parks Board
The Mpumalanga Tourism and Parks Agency (MTPA) Board (formerly Mpumalanga Parks Board) is a governmental organisation responsible for maintaining wilderness areas and public nature reserves in Mpumalanga Province, South Africa.
Parks managed by ...
.
[
]
Bourke's Luck Potholes
This geological feature and day visitors' attraction, named after prospector Bernard Thomas Bourke (brother of Eddie Bourke
Edmund Francis Bourke ( ga, Éamonn Proinséas De Búrca; 27 January 1852 – 30 August 1926) was an Irish-South African politician and businessman who served as a member of the Transvaal Legislative Council and the first mayor of Pretoria.
Bio ...
), is situated at the confluence of the Treur and Blyde Rivers, on the reserve's western boundary . The reserve's nature conservation headquarters is located here, beside the village of Moremela, at the canyon's southern, or upper reaches. Bourke's Luck Potholes marks the beginning of the Blyde River Canyon
The Blyde River Canyon is a 26km long Canyon located in Mpumalanga, South Africa. It is the one of the larger canyons on Earth but much smaller than those of Asia, the Grand Canyon and the Fish River Canyon. Unlike the Grand and Fish River Canyon ...
.
Sustained kolk
Kolk may refer to:
People
* Douglas Kolk (1963–2014), American artist
* Hanco Kolk
Hanco Kolk (born 11 March 1957, Den Helder) is a Dutch cartoonist and comics artist. He is best known for his collaborations with Peter de Wit, with who he mad ...
s in the Treur River's plunge pools have eroded a number of cylindrical potholes or giant's kettles, which can be viewed from the crags above. It was named after a local prospector, Tom Bourke, who predicted the presence of gold, though he found none himself. The pedestrian bridges
A pedestrian separation structure is any structure that removes pedestrians from a roadway, street or railway track. This creates a road junction where vehicles and pedestrians do not interact.
This can be considered a type of grade separati ...
connect the various overlooks of the potholes and the gorge downstream.
The Three Rondavels
The Three Rondavels are three round, grass-covered mountain tops with somewhat pointed peaks. They quite closely resemble the traditional round or oval rondavels or African homesteads, which are made with local materials. Sometimes they are also called the Three Sisters, though this may confuse them with a similar threesome visible from the N1 road in the Northern Cape
The Northern Cape is the largest and most sparsely populated province of South Africa. It was created in 1994 when the Cape Province was split up. Its capital is Kimberley. It includes the Kalahari Gemsbok National Park, part of the Kgalagadi T ...
, very far to the south.
The names of the peaks commemorate a 19th century chief, Maripi, and three of his wives. The flat-topped peak adjacent to the rondavels is Mapjaneng, "the chief", who is remembered for opposing invading Swazis
The Swazi or Swati ( Swati: ''Emaswati'', singular ''Liswati'') are a Bantu ethnic group native to Southern Africa, inhabiting Eswatini, a sovereign kingdom in Southern Africa. EmaSwati are part of the Nguni-language speaking peoples whose or ...
in a memorable battle. The three rondavels are named for three of his more troublesome wives – Magabolle, Mogoladikwe and Maseroto. Behind the rondavels the distant high plateau of Mariepskop
Mariepskop (also Marepe or Maripekop), at 1,947 m above sea level, is one of the highest peaks in the northern Drakensberg,The peaks of the Wolkberg region are higher, the Ysterkroon reaching 2,126 m, and Serala 2,050 m. The beacon ...
may be visible. Beside the dam, the isolated Thabaneng hill is known as the "sundial" or "mountain with a shadow that moves". It is said that the position of its shadow indicates the time of day.
On a clear day the lookout point provides extensive views. From here one looks over the canyon to the Three Rondavels on the other side, which is flanked on various sides by promontories of the northern Drakensberg range.[
The formation of the attractive sedimentary formations are explained geologically as the slow erosion of underlying soft stone, leaving exposed the more resistant quartzite and shale that form the rondavels.
]
God's Window
God’s Window is a popular vantage point along the Drakensberg escarpment
An escarpment is a steep slope or long cliff that forms as a result of faulting or erosion and separates two relatively level areas having different elevations.
The terms ''scarp'' and ''scarp face'' are often used interchangeably with ''escar ...
, at the southern extremity of the Nature Reserve.
Here, sheer cliffs plunge over 700 metres to th
Lowveld
From this escarpment—a mostly unbroken rampart of cliffs—opens a vista into th
Lowveld
expanse and escarpment forests, the Eden-like aesthetic appearance of which prompted the name. On a clear day it is possible to see over the Kruger National Park
Kruger National Park is a South African National Park and one of the largest game reserves in Africa. It covers an area of in the provinces of Limpopo and Mpumalanga in northeastern South Africa, and extends from north to south and from ea ...
towards the Lebombo Mountains on the border with Mozambique
Mozambique (), officially the Republic of Mozambique ( pt, Moçambique or , ; ny, Mozambiki; sw, Msumbiji; ts, Muzambhiki), is a country located in southeastern Africa bordered by the Indian Ocean to the east, Tanzania to the north, Malawi ...
.
God’s Window features prominently in the plot of the 1980 cult film
A cult film or cult movie, also commonly referred to as a cult classic, is a film that has acquired a cult following. Cult films are known for their dedicated, passionate fanbase which forms an elaborate subculture, members of which engage ...
'' The Gods Must Be Crazy''. Near the end of the movie, the Bushman character Xi (played by Namibia
Namibia (, ), officially the Republic of Namibia, is a country in Southern Africa. Its western border is the Atlantic Ocean. It shares land borders with Zambia and Angola to the north, Botswana to the east and South Africa to the south and ea ...
n bush farmer N!xau) travels to God’s Window, and due to some low-lying cloud cover believes it to be the end of the Earth.
The original Window is a rock that is set further back on a private farm and due to Quarry operations and tree plantation farming this actual rock that looks like a square window could not be used, therefore the site was moved by the government to the edge of the escarpment.
A viewing platform near the car park gives extensive views down the gorge to the plain below.
Fauna
The high plateaus are inhabited by mountain reedbuck
The mountain reedbuck (''Redunca fulvorufula'') is an antelope found in mountainous areas of much of sub-Saharan Africa.
Subspecies
There are three recognized subspecies.
* ''Redunca fulvorufula adamauae'' - Adamawa mountain reedbuck
* ''Redunc ...
, baboon troops and rock hyrax
The rock hyrax (; ''Procavia capensis''), also called dassie, Cape hyrax, rock rabbit, and (in the King James Bible) coney, is a medium-sized terrestrial mammal native to Africa and the Middle East. Commonly referred to in South Africa as the das ...
es. Impala
The impala or rooibok (''Aepyceros melampus'') is a medium-sized antelope found in eastern and southern Africa. The only extant member of the genus '' Aepyceros'' and tribe Aepycerotini, it was first described to European audiences by Germa ...
, kudu
The kudus are two species of antelope of the genus ''Tragelaphus'':
* Lesser kudu, ''Tragelaphus imberbis'', of eastern Africa
* Greater kudu, ''Tragelaphus strepsiceros'', of eastern and southern Africa
The two species look similar, thou ...
, blue wildebeest
The blue wildebeest (''Connochaetes taurinus''), also called the common wildebeest, white-bearded gnu or brindled gnu, is a large antelope and one of the two species of wildebeest. It is placed in the genus '' Connochaetes'' and family Bovidae, a ...
, waterbuck
The waterbuck (''Kobus ellipsiprymnus'') is a large antelope found widely in sub-Saharan Africa. It is placed in the genus '' Kobus'' of the family Bovidae. It was first described by Irish naturalist William Ogilby in 1833. Its 13 subspecies ar ...
and zebra roam the wooded lowveld area. Hippo and crocodile
Crocodiles (family (biology), family Crocodylidae) or true crocodiles are large semiaquatic reptiles that live throughout the tropics in Africa, Asia, the Americas and Australia. The term crocodile is sometimes used even more loosely to inclu ...
are present in the Blyderivierpoort Dam
Blyderivierpoort Dam is a gravity-arch dam on the Blyde River, in the lower Blyde River Canyon, near Hoedspruit in Mpumalanga, South Africa. It also floods the lower reaches of the Blyde's Ohrigstad River tributary. The dam was completed in 1974 ...
.
Three species of flat gecko were described in 2014 from the reserve and its vicinity. The Blyde River flat gecko, discovered in 1991, is as yet only known from the cliff face of one of the three rondavels, while the Mariepskop flat gecko was discovered on nearby Mariepskop
Mariepskop (also Marepe or Maripekop), at 1,947 m above sea level, is one of the highest peaks in the northern Drakensberg,The peaks of the Wolkberg region are higher, the Ysterkroon reaching 2,126 m, and Serala 2,050 m. The beacon ...
in 1982. The Abel Erasmus flat gecko is known to occur at Bourke's Luck inside the reserve.
Exotic fish like smallmouth bass, brown
Brown is a color. It can be considered a composite color, but it is mainly a darker shade of orange. In the CMYK color model used in printing or painting, brown is usually made by combining the colors orange and black. In the RGB color model used ...
and rainbow trout
The rainbow trout (''Oncorhynchus mykiss'') is a species of trout native to cold-water tributaries of the Pacific Ocean in Asia and North America. The steelhead (sometimes called "steelhead trout") is an anadromous (sea-run) form of the coasta ...
occur in the river, which have reduced the range of the local Treur river barb to upper catchments of the Blyde River system. Thanks to reintroductions after its rediscovery in the 1970s, it now flourishes here. The Natal mountain catfish occurs as an isolated population in the Limpopo
Limpopo is the northernmost province of South Africa. It is named after the Limpopo River, which forms the province's western and northern borders. The capital and largest city in the province is Polokwane, while the provincial legislature is ...
system, and the Belvedere creek is the only place in the Limpopo system where the Rosefin barb is found.[
African fish eagle and ]African finfoot
The African finfoot (''Podica senegalensis'') is an aquatic bird from the family Heliornithidae (the finfoots and sungrebe). The species lives in the rivers and lakes of western, central, and southern Africa.
Description
The African finfoot is ...
are found along the Blyde River. The lowveld woodlands harbour purple-crested lourie, emerald cuckoo, red-backed mannikin
The black-and-white mannikin (''Spermestes bicolor'') also black-and-white munia or red-backed mannikin, is a species of estrildid finch, widely occurring throughout the African tropical rainforest. It has an estimated global extent of occurrence ...
, golden-tailed woodpecker
The golden-tailed woodpecker (''Campethera abingoni'') is a species of bird in the family Picidae. Its specific name commemorates the 5th Earl of Abingdon. It belongs to a species complex that includes the Knysna woodpecker to the south of its ...
, gorgeous bushshrike
The gorgeous bushshrike (''Telophorus viridis'') is a species of bird
Birds are a group of warm-blooded vertebrates constituting the class Aves (), characterised by feathers, toothless beaked jaws, the laying of hard-shelled eggs, a ...
, white-faced owl
''Ptilopsis'' is a genus of typical owls, or true owls, in the family Strigidae, that inhabits Africa. Its members are:
References
* Barlow, Wacher and Disley, ''Birds of The Gambia''
{{Taxonbar, from=Q1070928
Ptilopsis
''Ptilopsis'' ...
and a number of raptor
Raptor or RAPTOR may refer to:
Animals
The word "raptor" refers to several groups of bird-like dinosaurs which primarily capture and subdue/kill prey with their talons.
* Raptor (bird) or bird of prey, a bird that primarily hunts and feeds on v ...
s like white-backed vulture, gymnogene
The African harrier-hawk, harrier hawk or gymnogene (''Polyboroides typus'') is a bird of prey. It is about in length. It breeds in most of Africa south of the Sahara. The only other member of the genus is the allopatric Madagascar harrier-haw ...
, black-chested snake eagle
The black-chested snake eagle or black-breasted snake eagle (''Circaetus pectoralis'') is a large African bird of prey of the family Accipitridae. It resembles other snake eagles and was formerly considered conspecific with the short-toed and B ...
, Wahlberg's eagle and long-crested eagle
The long-crested eagle (''Lophaetus occipitalis'') is an African bird of prey. Like all eagles, it is in the family Accipitridae. It is currently placed in a monotypic genus ''Lophaetus''. It is characterized by the feathers making up the shaggy ...
. A number of raptors frequent the mountains and cliffs, including cape vulture, black eagle
The black eagle (''Ictinaetus malaiensis'') is a bird of prey. Like all eagles, it is in the family Accipitridae, and is the only member of the genus ''Ictinaetus''. They soar over forests in the hilly regions of tropical and subtropical South ...
, jackal buzzard, peregrine falcon
The peregrine falcon (''Falco peregrinus''), also known as the peregrine, and historically as the duck hawk in North America, is a Cosmopolitan distribution, cosmopolitan bird of prey (Bird of prey, raptor) in the family (biology), family Falco ...
, lanner falcon and rock kestrel
The rock kestrel (''Falco rupicolus'') is a bird of prey species belonging to the kestrel group of the falcon family (biology), family Falconidae. It was previously considered a subspecies of the common kestrel (''Falco tinnunculus'').
This spec ...
.
Birds associated with flowering plants of the higher slopes include Gurney's sugarbird
Gurney's sugarbird (''Promerops gurneyi'') is a medium-sized passerine endemic to the mid- and high-altitude grassland velds in southern Africa. It belongs to the family Promeropidae, which contains one genus, ''Promerops'', and two species. Gur ...
and malachite sunbird
The malachite sunbird (''Nectarinia famosa'') is a small nectarivorous bird found from the highlands of Ethiopia southwards to South Africa. They pollinate many flowering plants, particularly those with long corolla tubes, in the Fynbos.
Taxono ...
. A breeding colony of bald ibis
__NOTOC__
The small bird genus ''Geronticus'' belongs to the ibis subfamily (Threskiornithinae). Its name is derived from the Greek ''gérontos'' (γέρωντος, "old man") in reference to the bald head of these dark-plumaged birds; in Englis ...
occurs in the grassy uplands, besides small numbers of cape eagle-owl and red-breasted sparrowhawk
The rufous-breasted sparrowhawk (''Accipiter rufiventris''), also known as the rufous-chested sparrowhawk and as the red-breasted sparrowhawk, is a species of bird of prey in the family Accipitridae. It is found in Angola, Democratic Republic of ...
. Forest birds include crowned eagle, Knysna lourie, cinnamon dove
The lemon dove or cinnamon dove (''Columba larvata'') is a species of bird in the pigeon family Columbidae found in montane forests of sub-Saharan Africa. The São Tomé lemon dove is usually treated as a subspecies. The lemon dove has a generall ...
, olive bushshrike
The olive bushshrike (''Chlorophoneus olivaceus'') is a species of bird in the family Malaconotidae.
It is found in Malawi, Mozambique, South Africa, Eswatini, and Zimbabwe.
Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical dry forest, subtropica ...
, green twinspot
The green-backed twinspot or green twinspot (''Mandingoa nitidula'') is an estrildid finch found in many parts of Sub-Saharan Africa. The IUCN has classified the species as being of least concern.
Subspecies
The green-backed twinspot has four ...
and wood owl.
Flora
The reserve's vegetation is classified as the Northeastern Drakensberg High-Mountain Sourveld ecoregion, an area prone to lightning-induced burning. Its very diverse flora is ascribed to the variation in altitude and rainfall (541 mm to 2,776 mm p.a.), and the extremes in geology and pedology.[ It is topographically complex with a variety of habitats which include grassland plateaus, wetlands and sponge areas, grassland slopes, ]afromontane
The Afromontane regions are subregions of the Afrotropical realm, one of the Earth's eight biogeographic realms, covering the plant and animal species found in the mountains of Africa and the southern Arabian Peninsula. The Afromontane regions ...
forest, riparian forest, moist woodlands, dry woodlands and shrubland
Shrubland, scrubland, scrub, brush, or bush is a plant community characterized by vegetation dominated by shrubs, often also including grasses, herbs, and geophytes. Shrubland may either occur naturally or be the result of human activity. It m ...
s. Its four veld types are Afromontane Forest, North-eastern Mountain Sour Grassland, Sour Lowveld Bushveld and Mixed Lowveld Bushveld.[
Around a 1,000 plant species have been recorded. This includes ]cycads
Cycads are seed plants that typically have a stout and woody (ligneous) trunk with a crown of large, hard, stiff, evergreen and (usually) pinnate leaves. The species are dioecious, that is, individual plants of a species are either male or ...
, of which the Blyde river cycad is almost endemic to the reserve, with some 200 individuals remaining. A variety of orchid
Orchids are plants that belong to the family Orchidaceae (), a diverse and widespread group of flowering plants with blooms that are often colourful and fragrant.
Along with the Asteraceae, they are one of the two largest families of flowering ...
, lily
''Lilium'' () is a genus of Herbaceous plant, herbaceous flowering plants growing from bulbs, all with large prominent flowers. They are the true lilies. Lilies are a group of flowering plants which are important in culture and literature in mu ...
and protea (genera '' Protea'', ''Faurea
''Faurea'' is a genus containing 16 species of flowering plants in the protea family which occur in the summer rainfall area of southern Africa, extending to tropical Africa and Madagascar. The name honours South African soldier and botanist W ...
'' and '' Leucospermum'') species occur, including the Blyde river protea which is endemic to the canyon,[ and the escarpment pincushion of which about 30 plants are present.] Tree ferns
The tree ferns are arborescent (tree-like) ferns that grow with a trunk elevating the fronds above ground level, making them trees. Many extant tree ferns are members of the order Cyatheales, to which belong the families Cyatheaceae (scaly tree ...
grow along seepages in the uplands.
Indigenous forest covers 2,111 ha of the nature reserve, or 7.3% of its surface area. These are fragmented into some 60 patches between 0.21 ha and 567 ha in extent. They are assigned to two forest communities, high altitude moist and low altitude dry afromontane forest. The altitudinal gradient accounts for most of their variation in plant communities.[
]
General area
The reserve is fringed to the east by the Mariepskop
Mariepskop (also Marepe or Maripekop), at 1,947 m above sea level, is one of the highest peaks in the northern Drakensberg,The peaks of the Wolkberg region are higher, the Ysterkroon reaching 2,126 m, and Serala 2,050 m. The beacon ...
and Klaserie Waterfall Nature Reserves, and the Mapulaneng forestry region, below the escarpment. National Park status had been considered, if some adjacent areas were to be incorporated and their forestry activities discontinued.
Percy FitzPatrick
Sir James Percy FitzPatrick, (24 July 1862 – 24 January 1931), known as Percy FitzPatrick, was a South African author, politician, mining financier and pioneer of the fruit industry. He authored the classic children's book, ''Jock of the Bus ...
and George Fullerton's summer quarters as transport riders during the 1880s was situated at ''Paradise Camp'' , some 6 km south of God's Window, and similarly perched on the edge of the escarpment. Close to God's Window are several waterfalls, including Berlin Falls
The Berlin Falls is a waterfall in Mpumalanga, South Africa. They are located close to God's Window and the highest waterfall in South Africa's Mpumalanga province, Lisbon Falls. They are less than a tenth of the height of South Africa's tall ...
and Lisbon Falls.
References
External links
* {{Commons category-inline, Blyde River Canyon Nature Reserve
God’s Window
* http://tabsolutions.co.za/bron2/index.php/toeka-se-dae-mainmenu-76/2851-karakters-op-n-kruising-stories-oor-ou-pretoria-se-winkeliers
Nature reserves in South Africa
Mpumalanga Provincial Parks