And yet few people, including South Africans, know of this spectacular region, high in the mountains above the Mpumalanga town of Mashishing (Lydenberg).

South Africa’s first private water catchment area, it’s the wellspring of the province’s water supply: its high altitude bogs become fast-flowing streams that feed many rivers – the water so pure here you can drink it from your cupped hand.

Mount Anderson Reserve is an area not only steeped in wild beauty, but also in history.

Boer battled Brit around here in the South African wars of the late 19^th and early 20^thcenturies, and these mountains were the site of a gold rush in the 1870s, which faded for a while when the days of the small digger were numbered, but came back with a bang in the 1920s when Wilfred de Lorme dug out 200 ounces of gold and got things going again. He apparently enjoyed a "glorious bust" before going back to the hand-hewn mines.

I’m standing before the diggings on top of one of Mpumalanga’s highest points, 2 285m above sea level. The workings cling to the sheer cliffs of Kranskloof overlooking the Ohrigstad valley and dam, with amazing views that seem to stretch forever. The wind whistles round the towering cliffs that change colour as the day progresses, from pink, rose and pale yellow, to ochre, rust, crimson and gold. Old mining implements are scattered around the diggings – a spade handle, a straight-handle pick, a rusty stirrup – legacy of the hard, tough men who broke away from the crowded camps of nearby Pilgrim's Rest to try their luck high in these beautiful, challenging mountains.

I walk with Trent, the resident ranger, into a 50m tunnel hacked out of the solid rock by those old miners. Inside the tunnel, marks on the walls where picks once rang and tracks where coco pans once trundled are still visible through the soft moss now growing here.

A Cape vulture takes off from its colony on the rockface as we approach.

Horseshoe bats slumber on as we walk deeper in the tunnel.

I’m staying at Mount Anderson, sister lodge of Mpumalanga’s famous Mala Mala lodge, just 30 minutes away by helicopter and a perfect retreat to enjoy after the adrenalin of Big Five sightings.

Although there are wild leopards, brown hyena, serval and caracul here (Trent captures images of them on his trail camera), it’s mountain and plains game that dominate. Expect to see grey rhebuck, mountain reedbuck (that will sneeze to warn each other when you approach), eland, zebra, blesbuck and black wildebeest.

The scenery is breathtaking and incredibly diverse, with dramatic contrasts between mountaintops on the one hand, and grasslands, deep valleys with rivers and trout dams on the other. One moment you are level with vultures riding the thermals, the next in a green valley with pockets of indigenous forest. On the high slopes and grassy plains, orange-throated longclaws abound, sentinel rock thrushes sit erect on big boulders, grassbirds flit and LBJs (birders’ "little brown jobs") scurry. In the forest a Narina trogon calls and robins sing.

The area is also a botanist’s paradise, with plants and trees of all descriptions. Buddleia, St John’s Wort, cabbage trees, wild gardenias and rare species of lichen rub shoulders with two species of protea, the Cape sugarbush and Transvaal silver leaf.

And just a few months ago a new, unique botanical species was discovered, now named Callepsis Normae, after Mrs Norma Rattray, with husband Mike, owner of Mount Anderson Reserve.

The homestead is a delight. Charming, welcoming and supremely comfortable, it sleeps 10. Trent’s wife, Monica, and her team cook super delicious unpretentious meals, and at night in winter, or when the wind blows a chill, a crackling wood fire lights up the cosy lounge.

Choose to hike, go on a game drive, go mountain biking, birding, fishing, or just laze on the huge paved patios.

My last night I lie on my king-sized bed and through the floor-to-ceiling windows I watch a fiery orange sunset. Venus and Jupiter blaze in the sky above a silver sliver of a new moon. Trees on the mountains are silhouetted against the skyline as the river gleams below.

Mount Anderson is still undiscovered by most travellers, so make sure you get there soon, before the word spreads ...

From: www.southafrica.net

By: Kate Turkington