By Air

The city has two airports, Kruger Mpumalanga International Airport to the north east, and the general aviation Nelspruit Airport to the south west.Kruger Mpumalanga is used for scheduled flights to Johannesburg and, less frequently, to Cape Town and other cities.It is also home to the Government Research Institute for Citrus and Subtropical Fruits, and the Lowveld Botanical Gardens.The Nelspruit airport to the South West on the Kaapschehoop road is mainly used by private planes and charter companies.It has its own tower but is controlled from the KMI Airport.

By Train

Spoornet operates regular trains west to Johannesburg via Middelburg, Witbank and Pretoria, and east to Komatipoort on the border with Mozambique.From Komatipoort you can take a Mozambiquan train east to Maputo.The train station is at the corner of Andrew and Henshall streets.

By Car

Take the N4 highway from Pretoria.Have cash at hand for the toll gates.

Kruger National Park, Lowveld Botanical Garden, Sudwala Caves, Three Rondavels, Dinosaur Park, Mbombela Stadium

Kruger National Park

Is one of the largest game reserves in Africa.It covers 19,485 square kilometres and extends 360 kilometres (220 mi) from north to south and 65 kilometres (40 mi) from east to west.The park has 9 main gates that allow entrance to the different camps.The park is the site of the popular eyewitness viral video Battle at Kruger.the west and south of the Kruger National Park are the two South African provinces of Limpopo and Mpumalanga.In the north is Zimbabwe, and to the east is Mozambique.It is now part of the Great Limpopo Transfrontier Park, a peace park that links Kruger National Park with the Gonarezhou National Park in Zimbabwe, and with the Limpopo National Park in Mozambique.

Lowveld Botanical Garden

It has a splendid tropical atmosphere.It's on the road to White River before you get to the casino.One of the main reasons to visit Nelspruit, the Lowveld National Botanical Garden lies just outside of town, a beautiful 159 hectare space dominated by rugged, rocky river scenery, and home to over 600 naturally occurring plant species, and a further 2000 that have been introduced to the garden.The Lowveld Botanical Garden is all about the two rivers that run through it; that fashion the garden with a unique quality of its own.The Crocodile River enters the garden with a tremendous rush, gushing through a narrow, pot-holed solid rock gorge, whilst its counterpart, the Nels River, cascades down a waterfall from the west - the two content to merge in a somewhat more gentle pool.The river banks are dominated by evergreen forest belts, and the eastern bank of the Crocodile River is a tropical African rainforest, representative of the rapidly diminishing rain forests in central and west Africa, and a world first for the Lowveld Garden.

Sudwala Caves

Imagine a system of caves over 30 kilometres in length, of which only 600 metres is accessible, that date back 3 000 million years to a time when incredible stresses cracked the dolomite of the Mankelekele Mountains (also spelt Makelexele) - part of the Drakensberg escarpment that separates the highveld from the lowveld of Mpumalanga - allowing water to slowly trickle, forming a series of passages through the rocks.The result: an incredible array of mighty chambers studded with giant examples of stalactites, stalagmites and flowstone formations - The Sudwala Caves.Not only are the Sudwala caves regarded as the oldest known caves in the world but the caves rest in Pre-cambrian dolomite rocks that are also amongst the second oldest known sedimentary rocks on Earth. At the base of a gigantic cliff face close to the caves, is the Sudwala rainforest, the recipient of gentle trickles of water over the cliff face.

Three Rondavels

Along with Bourke's Luck Potholes, the Three Rondavels are one of the major icons of Mpumalanga. Both geological wonders are on the Panorama Route, a highly popular tourist drive to follow when exploring the province, and, depending on which way you choose to drive along the 16 kilometres of the Blyde River Canyon, the Three Rondavels either starts or ends your journey.Exactly as they sound, the Three Rondavels are three round mountain tops with slightly pointed tops, very similar to the traditional round or oval African homesteads made with local materials called rondavels. They are sometimes also called the Three Sisters (although this confuses them with a similar threesome visible from the N1 in the Free State lower down in the country). They were once known as The chief and his three wives – the flat-topped peak represented Mapjaneng, famous for opposing invading Swazis in a memorable battle is on the right, whilst the rondavels are three of his more troublesome wives – Magabolle, Mogoladikwe and Maseroto.

Dinosaur Park

Situated in a lush real life sub-tropical garden with giant cabbage trees and cycads growing wild as part of the splendid forest, living monkeys play amongst the lifeless ancestors. Wander amongst open jawed statues of long named carnivores in toothy tackles while sub-tropical birds tweet overhead, happy as a species that survived evolution.The local Cape Lion and Cape Quagga, extinct for almost a century, are hosted as models amongst samples of extinct mammals, a 3m long Nile Crocodile and pre-historic man. 2.2 billion year old Collenia, ancient plant colonies, fossils prove plant life thrived in an atmosphere of only carbon dioxide and nitrogen. An educational and fascinating experience for visitors of all ages.Artistic displays portray scientifically accurate representations of the development of life through the different ages. History is resuscitated through the skeletons of amphibians and homo sapians and the 'footprints' of dinosaurs. "Austrolopithicus africanus" is represented by forms of Mr. & Mrs. Pless, million year old southern apes who spark intense debates of mankind's origin.Opening hours: Monday to Sunday from 08h00 to 17h30.

Mbombela Stadium

Is a stadium located just 7km outside of Nelspruit in Mpumalanga has been designed to ensure it enjoys a life beyond the 2010 World Cup tournament as an adaptable sports, entertainment and exhibition venue.Mbombela Stadium will host first round matches with a seating capacity of just over 40,000.

January - April
September - December

Information not available

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