Page 338 - (DK Eyewitness) Travel Guide - South Africa

336  GA UTENG , LIMPOPO AND MPUM ALANGA

5 Pilgrim’s Rest VISITORS’ CHECKLIST

Prospectors struck it rich in 1873, ending their search for Practical Information
gold in a picturesque valley of the Eastern Escarpment. Their Road map F2. 35 km (21 miles)
original village, today restored to its modest glory, is unique: N of Sabie. n Main St, Uptown;
013 768 1060. & multi-entry.
the diggers built in “tin and timber”, thinking that, once the Alanglade House: 3 km (2 miles)
gold was exhausted, they would move on. But the gold lasted NE at R533 fork. Tel 013 768 1060.
almost 100 years, and Pilgrim’s Rest, 15 km (9 miles) west of 8 11am, 2pm daily. & book in
the eastern Drakens berg escarpment, is a living part of history. advance. ∑ pilgrims-rest.co.za

Lydenburg
Caravan Park R533
Joubert
Downtown Bridge
Historic
Cemetery
Royal Pilgrim's Creek
Hotel
R533
Uptown
Diggings Site Museum, Blyde River
Graskop and Blyde River Canyon Key
0 metres 500 Main road (tarred)
0 yards 500 Place of interest Scenic view from God’s Window,
Panorama Route
Key to Town Plan distributed to interested Edwardian mansion located in
stockbrokers, prospectors and a wooded glen, well away from
1 Pilgrim’s & Sabie News Museum
2 Information Centre the Boer government. the dust and noise of the village,
3 Victorian House Museum The Victorian House Museum, and now restored and furnished
as a period museum, complete
a typical building of corrugated
4 Dredzen Shop & House Museum iron sheets on a timber frame, with enclosed verandas and a
5 Alanglade House
shows that the prospectors rose garden.
led a simple life, despite
Exploring Pilgrim’s Rest being surrounded by Environs
The entire village is a National gold. The Dredzen Shop Timber and tourism
Heritage Site. Historical displays & House is a typical are the economic
and exhibits on gold-panning 1930s–50s general store, mainstays of the
techniques can be found at with the owner’s house dramatic escarpment
the Pilgrim’s Rest Information at the back. The most formed by the eastern
Centre and Museum, and interesting tombstone Drakensberg Mountains.
several small museums are in the village cemetery is From the village, the
housed in old miners’ cottages the enigmatic R533 winds across
within walking distance. Robber’s Grave. Bonnet Pass to
At the Diggings Site Museum, Stately Alanglade, Graskop, a
on Pilgrim’s Creek, visitors a mine manager’s The famed Robber’s Grave convenient centre
can try panning for alluvial residence built for tombstone at Pilgrim’s Rest for exploring the
gold. The Pilgrim’s & Sabie Alan and escarpment, and
News Museum displays hand- Gladys Barry only 70 km (43 miles) from
printing equipment from the in 1916, is a Skukuza, the main camp in the
1900s, when news of the large Kruger National Park.
expanding goldfields was The R534, or Panorama
Route, starts 3 km (2 miles)
north of Graskop and passes
cliff-top sites and lovely
waterfalls (see p335).
The escarpment drops
almost 1,000 m (3,281 ft) to
the Lowveld. The scenery in
this area – among the most
beautiful parts of South Africa –
includes spectacular vistas
extending 100 km (60 miles)
The bar of the Royal Hotel was once a chapel east to Mozambique.
For hotels and restaurants in this region see pp390–91 and pp410–11

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