Looking for a new holiday or weekend destination within four hours of Johannesburg? Let me guess, you've been to Clarens, the Waterberg, the Pilanesberg and Dullstroom. Here's a refreshing alternative: Limpopo's best-kept secret, nestled in the mountains between Polokwane and Tzaneen.
Magoebaskloof is a hiking, fishing, mountain biking and adventure sports paradise that some visitors know and love, returning time and again. In the past, there were only a few small B&Bs and the Magoebaskloof Hotel, which was built back in the 1940s.
But recently a new generation of energetic small hoteliers and adventure sports companies have made it their mission to share this spectacular part of South Africa with local and international tourists. Their goal is to transform the region from being Clarens' sleepy poor cousin into its rightful place as a first-choice weekend getaway from Johannesburg and an ideal stopover to the Kruger National Park.
Haenertsburg town is the centrepiece of the Magoebaskloof. It reminded me a bit of Pilgrims Rest but with a lot less candy and corrugated iron.
The Meadows Cafe general dealer makes some of the best biltong I have tasted. There's also a petrol station, tourist information centre and a few quaint little B&Bs and restaurants.
The town's main road is just off the R71 between Polokwane and Tzaneen, so you won't find the traffic rush hour that you do on Sunday afternoon in Dullstroom. Much of the region's accommodation and activities are within a 10km radius of Haenertsburg.
One of the area's traditional attractions is the Magoebaskloof Spring Cherry Blossom and Azalea Fare, held in the first week of September when the plants come into bloom.
The centre of the flower festival is Cheerio Farm and Trout Fishing Lodge. This lush river valley has a series of trout dams planted with beautiful gardens of tree ferns, oaks, flowering cherries, maples, azaleas, crab apples, manicured lawns and forest pathways, creating a garden wonderland that, when visited outside of the festival, you can have virtually to yourself.
When Sheila "Box" Thompson planted the gardens shortly after World War 2 as her personal refuge, she truly had a grandiose vision of what the gardens would become. The Cheerio tea garden at the top of the garden serves teas and lunches and nearby the Wegraakbosch Organic Farm, which makes fantastic cheese, is well worth a visit.
Other annual events include the Glenfiddich Fly-Fishing Competition, the Ebenezer Dam Mile swim, and the Kiwi Festival. But since the development of more activities in the area, Magoebaskloof has become an all-year getaway from the city.
Magoebaskloof Adventures is one company that provides both accommodation and adventure activities. It's set in a lush valley surrounded by forests about 5km from Haenertsburg on the Polokwane road.
There are 10 self-catering chalets and a tented camp with five two-man tents on decks at the edge of a fly-fishing lake. There's a farmyard, horse paddocks, a central entertainment area and conference facilities.
Activities include fishing, horse-riding, bird-watching, 4x4 courses, abseiling, paintball, quad biking, hiking, kloofing and river tubing. It's ideal for families, school groups and even corporate teams.
I hadn't been on a proper forest quad biking safari since braving the muddy forest tracks around Lake Taupo in New Zealand a few years ago, so I wasted no time in booking a trip. Our guide, Attie gave us a thorough safety briefing and put us through our paces in a quad biking skills assessment before leading us through the river and up into the forest.
The track was pretty tough and narrow, which made for a challenging and enjoyable off-road experience. We motored up and up through the forest and eventually emerged on to grasslands as we headed for the top of the mountain. We were even lucky enough to spot zebra, nyala and impala on the way up.
The views over the countryside were splendid and I felt invigorated.
As we headed down into the forest again, an ostrich decided it also wanted to use our narrow track and ran in front of us for about 20 metres with its ungainly gait.
My wife, Paula, held on to my waist for dear life as we negotiated some steep overgrown sections on our way down. There are easier routes that you can tackle but I revelled in the challenge. Afterwards we sat out on the chalet balcony overlooking the lake and enjoyed the tranquillity over a glass of port.
The next morning we were out early with a fishing rod and managed to catch and release a decent-sized trout.
There is plenty of open space around the lake so even an inexperienced fly fisherman like me doesn't need to spend any time pulling flies out of the trees.
After breakfast we jumped into my bakkie and headed out past Haenertsburg for about 5km on the Tzaneen road to the region's newest and most spectacular attraction - the Magoebaskloof Canopy Tour. About five years ago I was fortunate enough to do a canopy tour in Costa Rica, where these zip-line treetop tours were first invented as a means for ornithologists to move between trees high up in the tropical forest canopy and observe the birds they were studying.
The Magoebaskloof Canopy Tour is even more spectacular than the one I experienced in Costa Rica about five years ago, as it traverses not only the treetops but also the spectacular Groot Letaba River gorge. There are 13 platforms - either in trees or built into the cliffs along the river - and cables extending between them. The longest ride between platforms is about 150m.
Each participant has a safety helmet and harness. Once the guide had strapped me in and clipped my harnesses on to the cable I was off, zipping over the canyon with some hair-raising traverses over breathtaking waterfalls.
I was impressed by the guide's attention to detail and safety procedures, and the engineering involved in erecting the platforms halfway up the red cliffs is something to behold.
The whole experience lasted about two hours, after which we were treated to lunch back up at the canopy tours headquarters overlooking the canyon.
You certainly do not need to go all the way to Costa Rica to experience a genuine canopy tour experience.
Our weekend at Magoebaskloof was a real revelation and we have already booked to go back in September for the Spring Cherry Blossom and Azalea Fair. Perhaps we'll meet you there!
If You Go...
- Take the N1 north from Joburg to Polokwane. From Polokwane take the R71 west towards Tzaneen. Haenertsburg is about 60km from Polokwane. The drive from Joburg takes just under four hours.
- Contacts: Magoebaskloof Adventures & Accommodation. Call 083 866 1546
- Websites: www.magoebaskloofadventure.co.za,
www.thabametsi.com
- Cheerio Trout Fishing Lodge. Call 015 276 1804. See www.cheerio.co.za
- Magoebaskloof Tourism. Call 015 276 4880. See www.magoebaskloof tourism.co.za