Camping at the Blyde River Nature Reserve

A perfect weekend getaway just about two hours from Nelspruit is the Forever Resorts Swadini camp.

Camping at Swadini Swadini is situated in the Blyde River Canyon Nature Reserve on the banks of the Blyde River. Whether you are a couple of friends, a big family or just a happy camper, Swadini offers more than you can imagine.

Camping at Swadini was no ordinary experience, a first timer in the area, Swadini impressed as a first class camping destination in South Africa.

Resort

The resort offers accommodation options of self catering units, caravan sites and camping sites. The camp sites are situated next to the Blyde River among trees nestled in soft green grass. One cannot help but notice how beautiful and well kept the grounds are. During school holidays you will probably be greeted by some very friendly faces offering their assistance with dish washing and tent pitching, what a great service to the camper who likes a few luxuries! The resort is spread over a large area and is the perfect playground for children.

A touchy subject for many campsites are its bathroom facilities – Not at Swadini. All of the ablution facilities were spotlessly clean 100% of the time. This is a quality the resort is very proud of! The bathrooms offer showers, baths, mirrors, hot water with great pressure and clean toilets. There are also laundry facilities and dish-washing facilities. The resort also offers a car wash from R20 per vehicle, take away meals, convenience shop and a restaurant.

Activities

Swadini offers entertainment and fun for the whole family. The resort itself has many facilities including two swimming pools, tennis courts, a small rugby field, putt putt course (mini golf) and volleyball. During school holidays be sure to pick up the holiday programme from reception and don’t miss out on the fun and games offered such as egg throwing, karaoke, hoola-hoop, free big screen movies and much more.

If that is not for you then take a walk on one of the 5 hiking trails on offer in the nature reserve. A popular hiking trail is the Waterfall Trail, a short 2.3km walk through riverine forest to a waterfall and back. Don’t forget your costume as a swim can be be very refreshing on a hot day. Also, keep an eye out for a Kudu or two.

The boat trip is a wonderful way to unwind and take in the unique scenery of the third largest canyon in the world.

Other activities on offer can be booked through the Blyde Canyon adventure centre hut located on the resort and include paintball, tubing, abseiling, quad-biking and a boat trip on the Blyde Dam. The boat trip is a wonderful way to unwind and take in the unique scenery of the third largest canyon in the world. A trip lasts for about an hour and a half and one can see hippo’s, crocodiles, bush-buck, birds including the African Fin Foot, a “Tufa” waterfall and if you are lucky you might even spot a leopard. The river boasts some beautiful scenery and one can even catch a glimpse of the Three Rondawels from the water.

Scenery

The Blyde River Canyon is a popular natural feature in South Africa and forms part of the northern Drakensburg Escarpment. In summer the canyon is covered in lush green subtropical vegetation. Blyde means “glad” or “happy” in Dutch and one is certainly filled with happy feelings when surrounded by this magnificent natural wonder of nature. The Blyde River at its deepest area can be 52m deep depending on the time of the year and the water is transparently clear and clean. The Kadishi waterfall is a “Tufa” waterfall which is formed when water running over dolomite rock absorbs calcium and deposits rock formations more rapidly than they erode the surrounding rock. If you look carefully you can see the waterfall resembles a face which is crying profusely. Kadishi is therefore also known as ‘the weeping face of nature’.