Blue Mountain Lodge in Hazyview, Mpumalanga. WOW!!!

Everybody needs a break from the norm. Even if it’s just relaxing at home.

A few weeks ago it was my birthday and my wife treated me to a holiday in Hazyview, Mpumalanga. It’s near the Kruger National Park for those like me who didn’t know that.

When I say treated, I mean TREATED!

This place is AMAZING!!!

Obviously, you’re getting what you paid for, and it’s not cheap, but it is a 5 star holiday “resort” and I must say, it’s one of the few places I would say that actually deserve that rating!

Brief Intro about the Lodge

So, off the top of my head, here’s what I remember about the what the Blue Mountain Lodge had to offer:

• 5 star accommodation
• Dinner and Breakfast included
• 30 minutes from the Kruger Park gates

Doesn’t really sound like much looking at it like that, but just PLEASE read on!

First Impressions of Blue Mountain Lodge

When you arrive at the entrance to Blue Mountain Lodge, you have a 2km drive up their driveway with signs indicating possible sightings of Hippos en-route. Unfortunately, we didn’t see any, but it was a great start to the feeling of being out of town.

When we arrived, we were greeted with some home-made Ice Tea. DELICIOUS!

We were then led to our room (apartment, for those not used to this kind of luxury :P) where we were given the usual guided tour of the place.

We mentioned that we wanted to go to the Kruger Park the next morning, and wanted to leave at 5:30AM so we could get there when the gates opened (which we missed due to the time of year). We asked if we could have a picnic basket that included whatever we would have had for breakfast so that we could eat it in the Kruger.

Without batting an eyelid the concierge said he would have it ready (personally) by 5:30 at our door. It was ready at 5:20!

Excellent Service from the Friendliest People

The entire time we were there (only 3 days) we were constantly amazed at how friendly everybody was.

• Our car was washed every morning. With a smile
• We met our room cleaner. Who smiled and asked how we were doing and how our stay was
• We were greeted by the gardeners. With smiles
• The waiters and waitresses gave us everything we needed. WITH SMILES!
• The manager knew the area extremely well, and helped us pick things to do. With a smile.

All in all, we felt welcome at the Lodge.

What can you do in Hazyview

If you’re thinking of going to any of the holiday accommodation/resorts in the Hazyview area, you may be worried about what to do there.

If you look at the photos below, you can see there are quite a few VERY relaxing things to do:

• Go to the Kruger Park game reserve and see all the animals you WISH you could see (that statement is for non-South Africans who may only know what animals look like from behind bars)
• Go to Pilgrim’s Rest. An old little mining town that’s now an old little tourist attraction. Yes, the photos below are of the complete town 🙂
• Go to God’s Window. Apparently the view is spectacular when there are no clouds. But the clouds kind of made it “look like heaven” to me.
• At God’s Window there’s a little trail through the “rain forest”. It’s a nice little walk to another great view.
• Drive around the area, and possibly go to the various waterfalls in the area.

Final Comments about Blue Mountain Lodge

If you go to the Blue Mountain Lodge resort, tell the manager you read about it here.

No, you won’t get anything (that I know of).

No, I won’t get anything for having sent you there.

But, I would like them to know how INCREDIBLY happy we were with their place.

When we mentioned that we were going to Timamoon (another holiday place down the road) he was amazed.

His words were:

“I know my place is good, but Timamoon is amazing! That’s where I want to have my honeymoon!”

If I can just say one thing to him, it would be, FORGET about Timamoon (though it is very nice), Blue Mountain Lodge is just a better experience all round!

Anyway, I hope you like the photos. Just click on the first one to make it larger, and then you can click on the arrows to view the rest, or use your arrow-keys on the keyboard to go forward and backwards between them.