Aptly named God's Window, this destination in South Africa offers some of the greatest views in the world. Deep in the eastern depths of Mpumalanga, getting to God's Window is not as simple as taking a flight and calling an Uber. Prospective visitors have to know a few things first.
The Drakensberg is an expansive mountain range in Southern Africa that spans three countries. On the South African side, there are some amazing sights to see. One of them, a part of the Blyde River Canyon Nature Reserve, is God's Window. The scenic journey to this divine spectacle is a big part of the experience. The trip involves other wonders such as the Bourke's Luck Potholes, Three Rondavels, and Berlin falls.
The first thing prospective visitors need to do is have a car. This is the only reliable way to get there. The majority of people live in big cities like Johannesburg and Cape Town. These cities also have major airports where most tourists land. Johannesburg is the closest metropolis to God's Window and is about a five-hour drive away. Due to the distance, visiting God's Window cannot be done on a day trip, so visitors should plan for a multi-day journey.
God's Window can be found along the appropriately named Panorama Route, one of the most scenic driving routes in the world. The Panorama Route crosses beautiful and cozy small towns that are frozen in time, remnants of the world before modernization. Ideally, road-trippers will want to spend at least three nights on this route. Graskop is the closest town to God's Window, and there are a lot of charming hotels and restaurants in this dorpie (Afrikaans for "small town"). However, staying somewhere more out of the way is also worth it, as most small towns can be seen in a single afternoon.
The Terebinte Goose Farm Guest House is a stellar example of the kind of accommodation tourists can expect to find in the area. Guests can stay in a treehouse cabin with multiple beds and a working bathroom and shower. Early in the morning, the geese migrate across the farm for the sunrise, providing a natural alarm clock service. There is a modest breakfast bar below the treehouse with a table, cutlery, and a kettle, so guests can prepare their own food and coffee before setting out for the day.
To enter the farm, travelers will have to drive a few miles off-road through a tranquil pine forest. In general, when driving in South Africa, it's worth having a car that can handle dirt roads, as the best places in the country have not been paved.
• Guesthouse: Terebinte Goose and Berry Farm
• Address: R533 Bushbuckridge Road, Graskop, South Africa, 1270
• Price: $ (The owners determine the nightly cost of accommodation on a case-by-case basis)
• Amenities: Treehouse accommodation, goose farm, berry picking, remote location, off-grid living
God's Window is at an altitude, overlooking the lowlands, so getting there involves driving up some winding mountain roads. The views on the drive up are spectacular, and the sides of the road are often populated with little markets. Local women make an income by selling homemade jewelry and other curios. Visitors are highly encouraged to stop and patronize these markets because the products are incredibly unique and none of the materials rely on supply chains, so everything is locally sourced. Marula bark, for example, which comes from the indigenous Marula tree, is said to have spiritual properties, and necklaces are creatively fashioned with Marula bark and various seeds in place of synthetic beads.
• God's Window Address: R543, Mpumalanga, Ehlanzeni, South Africa
Once at God's Window, visitors will have to hike for about half an hour from the parking lot to get to the viewing points, from which the expansive Lowveld is revealed. God's Window is at such a towering vantage point that on clear days onlookers can see the next country, Lesotho, in the distance.
It's worth paying attention to the flora on the hike up, which is difficult to ignore as the air is saturated with the scent of thousands of blooming flowers. Naturally, the best time to go is in the spring, as the summer can get hot and the winter is sterile. Keep in mind that since this is the southern hemisphere, spring in South Africa is in late September, and the summer begins in December.
After God's Window, a trip to either Berlin or Lisbon falls is merited. Both these waterfalls are close by and offer the most dramatic views of the sunset. Quite unconventionally, visitors get to see the waterfall from the top, meaning that the view is not of the waterfall itself, but from the cliff where the river falls. The water is cold and pure, and as the sun sets below the horizon, the entire milky way makes an appearance in the sky, unhindered by light pollution.
Further along the Panorama Route, the former gold rush settlement, Pilgrims Rest, is a must-see. Like history preserved in amber, Pilgrims Rest contains the stones and stories of a reality long gone. At the cemetery, most of the graves date back to the 1700 and 1800s, and they all face the sunrise. However, one grave doesn't have a name and faces south. This is Robber's Grave, and many legends surround it, the most popular of which reads like a Shakespearean play involving wrongful accusations, murder, and repentant suicide.
Pilgrim's Rest also has a lot of stores that sell homemade jams and locally harvested honey.
At this point, if time permits, travelers can continue on the Panorama Route toward Kruger National Park, and even further toward the Echo Caves in the next state of Limpopo. It goes to show that visiting God's Window is as much about the journey as it is about the view itself.