Had my blessed lie in this morning and then braved the outside shower, which was pretty cool, except was nervous that I could be seen, which was not possible, but hey! Went off on the Panorama Tour today - again with the French father & daughter from the treehouse camp - which was quite spectacular to see, if not to experience.

The tour was to see The 3 Rondovels, Bourke's Luck Potholes, Berlin Falls, Lisbon Falls and Gods' Window, all of which are in the Drakensburg mountain area which is a 2 hour drive back towards Jo'burg. Don't get me wrong, the scenery up there is breathtaking in its immensity and all well worth a visit, but it's a lot of driving from where we were and it all felt a bit rushed at times, the driver was not a very enthusiastic guide and we ended up not eating lunch until 3 in the afternoon, by which time we were wilting!! I think the tour could probably be re organised slightly to make it a bit more sympathetic to the tourists.

The Rondovels are amazing and the viewpoint over Blyde River is simply breathtaking. Think monument Valley, but lush and green. The sort of landscape that would be a climbers wet dream or where Greeks would have built a monastery - some high inaccessible place on a sheer mountaintop.

Bourke's Luck Potholes are apparently so named after a man called Bourke (naturally) who was in a caravan that made a long and difficult trek through the dry wilderness and when they finally found water there, he declared he would go no further and would settle right there. And I could completely see why. The gentle flat rapids and the strange shapes carved into the sandstone by the river are amazing and the whole place was the kind of place where you just felt tranquil. There were lots of tourists just sitting around on the rocks in the rapids absorbing the views and paddling and cooling off.

The 2 waterfall sites were very pretty, but only a couple of minutes stop each really, as they were quite small and Gods' Window was okay, but not really the best vantage point to see down the canyon to the plains below. What was interesting was the little micro climate that is created by the meeting of the cold and warm air, which causes alot of mist making it a little oasis of tropical fertile land, but I don't think they really made the best of it - alot more could be done to make the site more interesting.

There was lots of tourist tat on sale at each of the sites and I was vaguely tempted by some of the woodwork as some of the carving & sculpting I have seen in SA to far has been top notch, but I resisted as it looks pretty mass produced standard fare. All the stalls had the exact same stuff, and coincidentally we happened to see the same car at all of the places we visited, which was a guy stocking everybody up!!

So late lunch, which wasn't great and then back to the lodge for about 5ish and called Dad to wish him happy birthday. Had a bit of a nap, as I discovered I got burnt for the first time; got a couple of stripes on my upper arms, which sucks as I have been so careful!!

Anyway, final dinner and then travel day tomorrow to Jo'burg. Am supposed to do a morning bush walk tomorrow at 5am, but don't fancy it with the 4 american college grads, especially as I am sharing the bus with them tomorrow. 7 hours is more than enough of their company and I'd prefer to lie in until 7:30am thank you very much.

Went mad and had an Amarula this evening - the trees are everywhere and the elephants are eating them all at the moment - I'd forgotten how nice it tastes. Might have to treat myself to a bottle when I get home.