White River

White River has just sufficient altitude to escape the nasty old anopheles mosquitoes that plague the not-too-distant Kruger National Park and the rest of the Lowveld, so it’s quite a good place to spend the mosquito-haunted nights if you’re spending the days in Kruger.

It’s smack in the middle of fruit and nut growing country so the many lovely guest houses have lots of lovely local ingredients to play with. An interesting use of one of the more ubiquitous local crops is an orange winery, where you can taste and buy a range of different wines and liqueurs made from delicious Valencia oranges. You can also visit an orchid farm, a cheese farm and some macadamia nut farms. White River has become a bit of an artists’ retreat so there are loads of lovely studios within close driving distance where you can admire and purchase anything from paintings and sculptures to weaving and pottery. The White River Country Club, with its championship golf course, is the closest option to the town but there are a few others an easy drive away.

Motoring fundis may enjoy the White River Motor Museum in the Casterbridge Centre, which also houses a Barnyard Theatre. Barnyard Theatres are great; rock up in a group or just a couple, bring a picnic supper and park off at a comfy table while you watch some innovative theatre. Wine and other drinks are usually on offer but you can also bring your own.
White River is close enough to the towns of Sabie, Graskop, Hazyview and Nelspruit to use it as a base for most of the Mpumalanga activities.