Panorama Route: Take Two

We woke up this morning hoping the weather might have a change of heart and reward us with those big, sweeping views the Panorama Route is famous for. No such luck—the skies looked about the same as yesterday, gray and stubborn. But we’ve learned by now that you don’t let a little weather boss you around on a trip like this, so we piled into the car and set off to make a few stops anyway.

Our first was the Africa Silks Farm, where we took a tour of the silk production process. I’ll admit I didn’t expect to find this as fascinating as I did, but watching how it all comes together—from the humble silkworm to the finished thread—was genuinely interesting. It’s one of those things you never think about until someone walks you through it, and then you can’t believe how much work goes into something so delicate.

From there we made a quick stop at Berlin Falls for a peek. With the overcast skies it wasn’t exactly postcard weather, but the falls have a way of holding your attention regardless.

Then came the real highlight of the day: Bourke’s Luck Potholes. If you’ve never seen them, picture a series of smooth, cylindrical holes drilled straight down into the rock, almost like someone took a giant drill to the canyon floor. They sit right where the Treur River (“river of sorrow”) meets the Blyde River (“river of joy”), and over thousands of years the swirling water—carrying sand and pebbles like nature’s own sandpaper—ground these deep, sculpted pools into the bedrock. The site marks the very beginning of the Blyde River Canyon, and a network of footbridges lets you wander out over the gorge and look down at the whole strange, beautiful spectacle from every angle. It’s named after a gold prospector named Tom Bourke, who staked a claim nearby back in the day. Even under gloomy skies, it was well worth the stop.

After all that, we decided we’d earned a treat and headed back to Graskop for lunch—at Harrie’s again, naturally. Today I went with a pancake filled with ground beef and cheese. Now, I know how that sounds. A pancake? With ground beef? But trust me on this one: it was absolutely delicious. Sometimes you just have to throw your assumptions out the window and let the locals show you how it’s done.

We made our way back to the bed-and-breakfast after that, where we settled in for a relaxed cocktail hour before dinner. Weather or no weather, it was a good day.

I had crocodile and shrimp tonight. It was great!