Slowveld Meander

The SLOWVELD is only 4 hours of comfortable and easy travelling away from Gauteng on the N4 Highway. Relax comfortably and let us take all the travel strain.

Why not gather a group of friends or family together and embark on a SLOWVELD meander while quietly taking in all the best kept secrets that only those “who know” will take their time to share with you. Besides which, it will save you a fortune in toll fees, fuel and believe it or not – meals and accommodation as well..especially during the SLOW season !

Coach Transport

Herewith a complete “to do” list of activities from which to choose, which can be built into tailor made tours, that will enable you to cover so much more in the touring time available.

Knotty Nook Gallery of Fine Art

Arts and Crafts
There are local and world famous artists, craftsmen, potters and sculptors, displaying their wares at galleries, forges, centres, malls, restaurants, information offices, and other suitable venues in the region’s towns.

Shopping Tours.

Slowveld Shoppers

There are masses of quaint individual and boutique shops offering an amazing range of
Antiques, Collectables, Mimentos, Historical Artefacts, Liquors, Classic and Cottage furniture, Jewelry, Books (new, 2^nd hand, classical, Afrikana for collectors), Clothing, Leather Goods, Excellent Artworks, Camping Gear, Angling Gear, Curios, Chocolates.

Slowveld Cheetah Cubs

Adventure Activities – Mild.
Hot Air Balooning, Helicopter Flips, Fixed Wing Flips, Tree Canopy Tours, Night Drives in Game Reserves and Forests, Birding (for all levels), Wild Life Projects, Elephant Encounters (from close by), Gold Panning, Geological tours, 4×4 adventures, Angling (trout and bass).

Extreme Adventure

Adventure Activities – Wild.
White Water Tubing, White Water Rafting, Quad Biking, Bungi Swing, Mountain Boarding, Kloofing, Caving.

Exploration.
Palaeontological, Archaeological, Rock Art, Ancient Temples.

Botanical Gardens Slowveld

Nature Tourism.
Birding, Tree-spotting, Veld Flowers and Shrubs, Butterflies, Entomology, Bats, Spiders, Scorpions, Reptiles, Ecology, Indigenous species. Environmental, General Wildlife (KNP, Research), Botanical Gardens, and Wildlife Rehabilitation Projects. All of the tourism in the above segment is good for school, student and/or special interest groups too.

Slowveld Anglo Boer War Sites

History Tourism.
Battlefields, Cemetries, Churches, Museums, War History, Uniforms, Regiments, Whole War Culture, (There is more critical Country War History around Mpumalanga than there ever was in Kwazulu-Natal). There is interesting Gold Mining History, Old Buildings and Achitecture, and a Jock of the Bushveld tour throughout the SLOWVELD.

Timber in the Slowveld

Agri – Tourism.
Timber Industry:
Tree Improvement, Nursery culture, Tree Field Management, Sawmilling, Furniture Production, Spin-off into other Timber Products.

Citrus Slowveld

Citrus Industry:
Tree Improvement, Nursery Culture, Orchard Management, Packhouse Management, Products and uses.

Macadamia and Pecan Nut Industry:
Tree Improvement, Nursery Culture, Orchard Management, Roasting, Packhouse Management, Products and uses.

Avo Slowveld

Avocado Industry:
Tree Improvement, Nursery Culture, Orchard Management, Packhouse Management, Products and uses.

Sugar Industry:
Plant Material Improvement, Field Management, Sugar Mill Management, Products and uses.

Nursery Industry.
Azaleas, Roses, Indigenous Plants, Trees and Shrubs, Palms and other Exotica.

Heliconia

Flowers Industry.
Cut Flowers, Roses, Proteas, Tulips, Orchids, Mixed Flowers, Botanical Gardens.

Italian Slowveld

Cultural Tourism.
There are many various cultural segments in whatever region that one tours. All these cultures have a different cultural heritage. You have different Religious, Social, Historical, Cuisine, Art, and Music backgrounds. There is Indigenous, Indian, Chinese, German, English, Scots, Welsh, Italian, Portuguese, Italian, Greek, English, Dutch and Afrikaner culture to choose from. Colonialy all these cultures have a connection with almost all regions. Theme tours, musical evenings with different cuisines, poetry, raconteur, and humour are very popular with local people and tourists alike.

Blyde Canyon Slowveld

Dams.
In the Panorama and Eastern Highveld Regions:
Vyeboom, daGama, Wiklip, Kwena, Longmere, Klipkopje, Primkop, Njaka, are all good for Picnics, Angling, Water Sports, Walks, Nature, Birding. Blyde Dam is good for wildlife viewing and an exciting boat cruise.

Religious Tours.
Various Christian Churches:
Child Evangelisation, Mission College, Printing Press, Motivational Speakers, Various outreach clinics, Mission History of the Region.

For want of space it has been virtually impossible to expand on the activities available above. Please do not hesitate to make enquiries about the activities that may interest you and we’ll be only too pleased to let you have more details.

The point is  – take it easy, sit back, relax and enjoy your oddysey in the SLOWVELD !

www.sabie.co.za
www.graskop.co.za
www.pilgrims-rest.co.za
www.hazyviewinfo.co.za
www.conferenceconcepts.co.za

Trips ZA Logo

Contact our Dream Merchants on
013 764 1177

Email:  johnt@tripsza.com

That is what International Tourists think of these Regions. We at Trips ZA will tell you when it is the best time to visit to be able to appreciate what we have.

For International Tourists :
who are looking for “More Bang for their Buck”, the best time to be in the Panorama Region is during the winter months, between May and August, with continuous glorious open clear sunshine days, and a moderate climate with temperatures ranging between 5 and 25 degrees Celcius.The summer months between September and April although generally moderate can be very wet, with a cloud cover obscuring all the best views. This could result in a huge disappointment for patrons who are set on seeing this marvellous picture with limited time at their disposal.

The Kruger National Park is also seen at its best during the winter months when it is dry. This forces the animals to drink at either rivers or specially designated water points which in turn lure predators that find it easier to hunt the animals at these points. This can give rise to very exciting interaction and game viewing with massive herds of different species congregating near to water. The days are also quite gloriously clear with temperatures ranging from 10 to 28 degrees Celcius on average. During the winter months Kruger is also relatively safe from a malaria point of view. Birding experiences are more satisfying during the spring months.

For Domestic Tourists :
South African tourists are inclined to visit this region during school holidays, over Easter, Christmas and Long Weekends.

Unfortunately this Region is becoming very congested during these periods, and although tourists can make accommodation reservations for during School Holidays, they are encouraged to try to avoid the Easter, Christmas and Long Weekend periods. These are peak seasons with high prices, traffic congestion, people congestion, mediocre service, exhausted venue owners, as well as dangerous busy highways to and from the city areas. Kruger is so congested during those periods that a patron has to make a reservation ahead for a day trip these days. Sometimes there are major traffic jams requiring traffic inspectors to manage the traffic at spots where predators are seen.

Segments of tourist patrons :
· Retired people
· Singles
· Own business owners
· Yuppies without children
. Home school families with children
· Yuppies with children that are not school going

All of whom are able, ought to try to visit this region when it is quiet from a crowd point of view. The accommodation prices are invariably on a special, the service is more personal with attention to detail, the retaurants are more laid back, the tourist spots are clean and less congested, while the roads are also not so busy.

As with the International Tourists, just so for the Local Tourists; the climate during the autumn, winter and spring months in the Panorama and Kruger Regions is absolutely scrumptious !

Contact us for further enquiries and bookings with SUBSTANTIAL DISCOUNTS !

We also do group Panorama Tours as well as exciting Jock of the Bushveld, general history and other special interest tours through the Escarpment, Lowveld and Bushveld regions. Call us our Dream Merchants on 013 764 1177

Email us at  johnt@tripsza.com

Trips ZA is a wholly owned Tourism Reservation Information & Packaged Tours Service and Brokerage Company that specializes in Tailor Made Tours, Accommodation and Activity Reservations, as well Destination Marketing.

Tour Operators

The Company operates from two Information Offices; one office in Sabie, and one in Graskop.

Trips ZA provides Tourism Information to patrons and sells Accommodation and Packaged Tours to patrons who have visited their offices, or reached them through the following websites:

Tour Operations

www.sabie.co.za
www.graskop.co.za
www.pilgrims-rest.co.za
www.hazyviewinfo.co.za
www.conferenceconcepts.co.za

The Reservations Bookings are processed by three dedicated, very knowlegeable Consultants who take the time and trouble to carefully match their patron’s needs to the Product that is available for them to sell. Each Consultant has had years of intensive training and experience in serving a discerning public who have been completely satisfied with the service they have received.

Elephant in Kruger

Trips ZA does business with nearly 300 lodges, hotels and guesthouses in the region covered by the websites mentioned, as well as further afield across RSA. To date Trips ZA has handled and processed over 11,000 Confirmed Reservation Bookings to patrons who have been accommodated through approximately 100,000 bednights.

Please feel free to contact us for whatever your tourism needs may be. We would just love to hear from you !

As Tourism Brokers we can facilitate Group Tours throughout Southern Africa.

The Tours consist of :
In the Mpumalanga Region
Adventure Tours (Mild to Wild)
Night Drives (Forest or Big 5)
KNP Tours
Photographic Tours
Birding Tours
Panorama Tours
General Tours
Religious Tours
Gold Tours
Indo-Africa Tours
History Tours (Battle Fields, General History, Jock of the Bushveld, Architectural, Cultural)
Flower Tours (Bushveld, Highveld, Lowveld, Wild Flowers, Shrubs, Private Gardens, Exotica, Nursery)
Agricultural Tours
Art Gallery Tours
Geological Tours
Booze Cruises
Golfing/Shopping Tour Combos for Coupled Groups
Tailor Made Combo Mix and Match tours
Other Southern African Regions.
Birding Tours (Throughout Southern Africa)
Mozambique
Eastern Free State and Lesotho
Northern Cape
Namaqualand
Garden Route
Gariep and van der Kloof Dam Regions
Upington Winelands
Desert Tours in Namibia or Angola

Trips ZA Logo

Call us for more particulars on 013 764 1177
Email us at johnt@tripsza.com

Forest Falls

Main Office Sabie
Tel. 013 764 1177
Fax. 013 764 3399

Email addresses
Trips ZA MainOffice
adriaan@tripssa.co.za
willie@tripssa.co.za
johnt@tripsza.com
jolandie@tripssa.co.za

Contact details in Graskop
Trips ZA Office
Tel. 013 767 1886
Fax. 013 767 1888
Email address
tilla@tripssa.co.za

Joe Toff

Ever since I can remember, Old Stone Joe has been a feature on what was a narrow little dirt road, which is presently known as the N4 Highway between Machadodorp and Nelspruit. His domain is at the Patatas Nek pass on the right-hand side of the road looking down the magnificently beautiful Schoeman’s Kloof.

The pass’ name is a recollection of the wagoneers who stopped for an outspan at the top of the pass to rest, feed and water the oxen after climbing out of the Lowveld. They used to cook “patatas” for their meal while the animals were resting.

Stone Joe Daddy O !

Old Stone Joe is an enormous 2.5 meter high rock that was unearthed and loosened by road builders when they constructed the original main road in the latter part of the 1920’s. He was named Joe after the man Joe Barbas who helped unearth him and has the appearance of a sculptured man who must have been recognized and saved as such. He has an enormous paunch as he gazes down at one. He was used as a fence post at one stage.

I have been a traveler on the “N4” since 1944.

From 1944 to1947 my father used to convey us to the “farm” in the “Lowveld” every second weekend. He owned a little old 2nd hand 1938 two stroke, three cylinder wooden bodied Auto Union DKW, with a 650cc. motor. It possessed enormously huge owl-eye like headlights and a tall narrow grill. It used to carry the cook/bottle washer, my father, mother, me, my little baby sister and the dog, as well as all our luggage, and lots of “things” tied to the car roof…for the “farm”.

The little vehicle invariably suffered a lacerated tyre somewhere between Machadodorp and Nelspruit, which was blamed on the accursed “Bloody Machadodorp Shale”.

Slinky Joe

Both the dog and I used to suffer from serious motion sickness, with inevitable after effects. I won’t even discuss the type of journey we used to endure through rain, mud, heat and then of course the powder fine dust that crept in everywhere amidst on going curses; especially when another vehicle passed us going in the opposite direction. If it rained the windshield wiper was a little toy like gadget that smeared instead of wiping !

However, once we reached Old Joe, who sagely observed all passers-by while his stoic presence offered comfort like a lighthouse to stricken ships, (vehicles), we reckoned that we were in the “Lowveld” proper, and that our destination was reasonably close. We could then begin to contemplate the end of the journey. I used to ask my father when we would reach the “farm”, only to be told that it was not far, but “just around the corner”. They were the longest corners that I ever endured.

The story goes that one had to open and close “concertina” wire farm gates all the way from Nelspruit to Middelberg before the public road was proclamated.

Colgate Joe

The road was eventually upgraded to a comfortable new tarmac highway during the 1950’s by the P.C.Zaanen Company, who constructed the road all the way from Middelburg to Nelspruit. The new highway still went over Patatas Nek and followed more or less the original route. Old Stone Joe was retained as a mile-stone as he kept a dutiful eye over all travelers.

Joe Vuvuzela

After some years of just being a silhouetted fence post, Joe eventually took on a personality through the ingenuity of the late Major Claude Graham from White River, who kindly and enthusiastically used to guide groups of bored teenagers on expeditions and picnics during school holidays to decorate him. He has taken on many colourful personalities over the decades being decorated as a chef, toff, pirate, or waiter, etc. Now that the highway has been upgraded into a “super” highway, the services of Joe have been retained and he still does his duty as a sentinel landmark along the N4.

These days he has been placed on his own pedestal/cairn where tourists can stop for a picnic, or to have pictures taken. He has been adopted by various organizations who regularly commission Ghost the Cartoonist from Nelspruit to decorate him.Tourists can safely stop next to him.

To get to Sabie from the N4, turn left on to the R539 at Barclayvale. Follow the route past Sudwala to the R37. Turn left towards Lydenburg/Mashishing/Sabie and follow the sign-boards. Sabie is approximately 50km. from the N4.

By the way mind you…observe Joe carefully. He may just wink at friendly kids .

Trips ZA Logo

Call our Dream Merchants at TRIPS ZA for exciting History, Wildlife, Scenic, or General Interest tours in the Panorama, Kruger, Lowveld regions or beyond. Call us on
013 764 1177.

Email us at johnt@tripsza.com

Baboon

Blue Duiker

Perceptions and so called facts about the alien forests around Sabie are not always correct, and can be somewhat misleading.

Apart from the gulleys, kloofs and vales that contain numbers of indigenous tree species, the remaining landscape originally consisted largely of grasslands.

Spotted Genet

African Wild Cat

According to one of the avid dedicated forester-birders of Sabie there was’nt much of anything left except grass by the time the gold miners began to destroy the landscape during the eighteen eighties and nineties with their picks and shovels. Wildlife had been hunted to near extinction by the middle part of the nineteenth century, for meat by biltong hunters and trophy hunters alike, apart from what the indigenous population trapped for their needs.

Red Duiker

Bush Baby

Apparently fires were the great destroyers of anything in their path, being driven by August winds at the beginning of spring. The indigenous forests in the gulleys and kloofs escaped these ravages, as fires could not be sustained in the kloofs without sufficient oxygen. Because of the fire hazard indigenous trees could not grow on the plains or mountain-sides. “Trek Boere” used to graze their sheep on these grass-plains during the winter months before the fires burnt off the rank excess growth of the previous summer.

Fires were started by lightning strikes during the early spring storms, or by farmers and indigenous people trying to stimulate fresh grazing. Indigenous people who smoked out bees while searching  for honey were also responsible.

Bos Vark/Bush Pig

Caracal

Gold miners who had been forced into deep level mining as the alluvial gold petered out, needed timber to support the addit rooves from collapsing. It was they who depleted the kloofs and gulleys of available indigenous timber. When this source eventually dried up, they started experimenting with alien hardwood species from Australia. Eventually various species of Eucalyptus Blue-Gum and Wattle grew prolifically with the high rainfall, and were found to be most suitable for “mine-props”, while Conifers from Mexico and other Central American sources were planted for other timber needs. It is said that about 60% of the grasslands and mountain-sides were planted to alien forests. Wetlands and river banks however have been largely cleared of alien species.

Pangolin

Serval

Adequate fire control measures were applied and the usual annual fire destruction was brought to a minimum through sustainable forestry practices. The indigenous tree species have since recovered substantially in the gulleys and kloofs.

There were a few bird species to speak of in the grasslands, but it was only after the alien forests were planted that wild life and many other forest bird species like Raptors, Nerina Trogon and Knysna Loerie, especially, started to proliferate. Today the wildlife around Sabie abounds in the forest areas, whereas birding has become a vital attraction with at least 270 species having been seen. It is speculated that there could be at least another 130 species to be found.

Leopard

Badger

One of the most exciting drives to take is a forest drive after dark. A surprising variety of game can be encountered on these drives from Caracal, Spotted Gennet, Serval, Blue and Red Duiker, Bush Pigs, Pangolin, Badger, Baboons, Vervet Monkeys, Bush-babies, to Bush Buck, and of course Leopard if one is fortunate enough. Only roads proclamated as Public Roads may be used.

These drives can be facilitated by our company TRIPS ZA. Email :  johnt@tripsza.com or call us at 013 764 1177 for a quotation.

Trips ZA Logo

Call us for exciting History, Wildlife, Scenic, or General Interest tours in the Panorama, Kruger or regions beyond, call our Dream Merchants at TRIPS ZA on
013 764 1177

Email us at johnt@tripsza.com

1. No matter how much you enjoy doing the research, what you can learn on the internet pales in comparison to the knowledge that an Agent already possesses.  Learning about the ins and outs of different destinations is your agent’s job, and the more they know, the happier their clients are and the more they come back to them. Tourism Agents spend all their working time learning about the best times to go, the best deals available and the best places to stay at all of the top destinations. Their expertise is as wide-ranging as their client base, so they have something to offer everybody, no matter the type of trip or budget.



2. Tourism Agents have access to special pricing and perks that are not available to individual travelers.  Because tour operators and cruise lines want Tourism Agents to direct their clients to their venues, they offer them special discounts, shipboard credits and other perks like bottles of champagne. These deals aren’t available through websites or direct bookings.
3. Using a Tourism Agent is the easiest way to book a trip; you still have the fun of choosing between different venues that the Agent may recommend, but leaving the nitty-gritty details to an expert leaves you free to pursue other interests, and assures that everything will be taken care of professionally. Your Tourism Agent has complete knowledge regarding paperwork, immunizations and other documentation that may be required, and will put everything together for you in a simple package with step-by-step instructions. Plus, working with a Tourism Agent means you only have one bill to pay.
4. In addition to being aware of the different deals and destinations, most Tourism Agents have first-hand knowledge and experience of more places than even the most seasoned traveler. Touris Agents have been guests of many places around the world, and there is no replacement for that kind of first-hand knowledge of the best tours and tour operators, the best restaurants, and the places to stay away from.



5. Finally, many people say that you don’t know the true value of your Tourism Agent until something goes wrong. Get sick right before the trip? Your Tourism Agent knows what to do. Arrive at the hotel and find that it’s under construction? Your Tourism Agent can arrange for you to transfer to a different venue. Lose your paperwork? All you need is your Tourism Agent’s phone number and you don’t have to worry about a thing.

Travel is one of life’s great joys, but it’s also an investment, and you want to be certain that when you’re planning a special trip, you are getting the most out of it.  Using a Tourism Agent takes all the guesswork and worry out of the process. So give them a call, give them the basic outline of what you have in mind, and sit back and let them plan a fabulous trip for you!

Trips ZA Logo

Call our Dream Merchants for exciting Scenic, Nature, Adventure, Shopping or special interest tours throughout Southern Africa or beyond on
013 764 1177

Email us at johnt@tripsza.com