This morning we got up early to explore Blyde River Canyon and the Graskop Gorge near Kruger. Our host grew up in this area, so he was excited to share it with us. We stopped for breakfast on our way to the gorge. I ate waffles smothered in chocolate syrup with a side of ice cream. That’s the kind of stuff that happens when it’s just the fellas.

Our frist stop, after driving through mango and banana orchards, was hiking through a rain forest at the base of a massive waterfall. We rode an elevator to the bottom of the canyon where a trail and several suspension bridges zig zagged the river. It was a lot of fun. From there, we drove to the rim of the gorge to a lookout called God’s Window. The clouds rolled in and because of the mist we were unable to see the canyon below. Then we drove over to Beuk Pot Holes and hiked a rock trail along the Graskop River. The boiling hot river was so powerful that it has eroded holes through the sandstone. This would be a great place for rafting!

We then went to the Echo Caves, a secret cave that an African tribe lived in 200 years ago! It had three chambers. The first chamber is called the Elephant Chamber because of a rock formation that looks like an elephant’s head. The second chamber is called the Crocodile Chamber because the stalactites look like crocodile teeth and there is a rock formation that looks like a lizard or a reptile. The third chamber is called the Sampson chamber because of two large stalactite columns that have been broken by an earthquake. The broken columns look the temple that Sampson destroyed. This chamber was the bedroom of the 200+ person tribe.

The caves are called the echo chambers because the African’s would knock on the stalactites with a wood stick to sound an alarm when their enemies were near. The reverberations would echo through the chambers and the tribe would know to hide in the caves. This was my favorite stop of the day. We then began the long drive back to the house. On the way back, we stopped for dinner. We ordered pizza, but after about 15 or 20 minutes the waiter came out and told us that they were out of toppings. We said, “Okay,” and I ordered a hot dog and Dad ordered Curry. After about another 15 minutes the waiter came out and told us that they didn’t have any hot dogs or curry. We ended up getting a grilled cheese sandwich. It was hilarious. I had the giggles for a full hour, at least.

I heard a dird, or was it a bird, or a baboon? Tell me what I heard, pleaseeeee?