Chrissiesmeer
South Africa'S Lake District Some Two Hundred Pans And Shallow Lakes Scattered Across High Grassland Around The Largest Natural Freshwater Lake In The Country With Flamingo And Crane On The Water, And The Frog Safaris The Village Calls Itself Matotoland For, The Place Of Frogs. THE PANS DEPEND ENTIRELY ON RAIN And In A Dry Year A Good Many Of Them Are Grass · Chrissiesmeer, Mpumalanga
The village calls its district Matotoland, the place of frogs, and runs guided frog safaris after summer rain, which tells you both what is here and how seriously it is taken rather locally. Scattered across this stretch of high Mpumalanga grassland are something like two hundred pans and shallow lakes, among them the largest natural freshwater lake in all of South Africa - a landscape with no real equivalent anywhere else in the whole country, holding flamingo, crane, enormous numbers of waterbirds and a frog chorus in a wet January that has to be heard rather than described. It is also entirely at the mercy of rainfall. In a good season the pans are full and the whole plateau glitters; in a dry year a great many of them are simply grassland with a damp patch in the middle, and the row says so because it is a three-hour drive from Johannesburg to find out, and a telephone call settles it.
On the Mpumalanga highveld between Ermelo and Carolina, in the lake district, Chrissiesmeer, Mpumalanga, South Africa
A farming village on the highveld, open at any hour. THE PANS ARE MOSTLY ON PRIVATE FARMLAND and are seen from public roads or by arrangement - the village tourism association and the guesthouses are the way to organise access, and several farms welcome visitors in season. THE FROG SAFARIS RUN AFTER SUMMER RAIN, BY ARRANGEMENT RATHER THAN ON A TIMETABLE, and need a wet January or February to work at all. Crane and waterbird viewing is best in the cooler months. WHETHER THE PANS HOLD WATER DEPENDS ENTIRELY ON THE SEASON - telephone and ask before committing the drive. There are a few guesthouses, a pub and very little else; Ermelo and Carolina have fuel and shops. MALARIA-FREE, and bitterly cold in winter.