Blyde River Canyon is one of the largest canyons on Earth. It may be the largest ‘green canyon’ due to its lush subtropical foliage. The canyon has some of the deepest precipitous cliffs of any canyon on the planet. It is the second largest canyon in Africa, after the Fish River Canyon. We also know the Blyde River Canyon as one of the great wonders of nature on the continent.
Possibly the best view in the whole of the Blyde River Canyon is of the “Three Rondavels”. Visitors thought these huge, round rocks to be reminiscent of the houses or huts of the indigenous people. The voortrekkers also knew these huts as rondavels. The canyon is part of the Panorama Route. This route starts at the town Graskop and includes God’s Window, the Pinnacle and Bourke’s Luck Potholes.
Blyde means “glad” or “happy”[1] in old Dutch. From a voortrekkers’ expedition the derived this name. The ‘happy river’ was thus named in 1844, when Hendrik Potgieter and others returned safely from Delagoa Bay. They were on route to the rest of their party of voortrekkers who considered them dead. While still under this misapprehension they named the nearby river where they encamped, Treurrivier, or ‘mourning river’.
The Blyde River Canyon supports large diversity of life. This includes numerous fish and antelope species as well as hippos and crocodiles. Also every primate species that you may see in South Africa (including both greater and lesser bush babies, vervet monkeys and Samango monkeys). The diversity of bird life is similarly high. From the beautiful and much sought after Narina trogon as well as species such as the Cape vulture, black eagle, and crowned eagle.
Further more African fish eagle, gymnogene, jackal buzzard, white-rumped vulture, bald ibis, African finfoot, Knysna lourie and purple-crested lourie are still abundant. You can also see the Gurney’s sugarbird, malachite sunbird, cinnamon dove, African emerald cuckoo, red-backed mannikin, golden-tailed woodpecker, olive bush shrike, and green twinspot.
Although you may very rarely see the Taita falcons, a breeding pair lives in the nearby Abel Erasmus Pass). You can also find Cape eagle owl, white-faced owl, wood owl, peregrine falcon, black-breasted snake eagle, Wahlberg’s eagle, long-crested eagle, lanner falcon, red-breasted sparrowhawk, and rock kestrel in this habitat.