franka lodge | graskop | graskop self-catering resort

Situated in the Village of Graskop and on the Panorama route you will find our self-catering resort. The village of Graskop is perfectly placed to explore the "Panorama route" and the Blyde river canyon. The resort is a stone throw away from the canyon and views such as Gods Window, the Pot holes, Lisbon and Berlin falls to mention a few. click here for a map

The resort consists of four fully equipped cottages each with kitchen, two bedrooms, lounge, TV, undercover parking and built in braai. The units are serviced daily and for your convenience there is a laundry in town....ACCOMMODATION

Things to do

There is an abundance of activities ranging from Bungee swings, Quad trails, hiking, river rafting, archery, The big swing, bridge swings, game drives and the Kruger National Park.....................................................WHAT TO DO

self catering graskop accommodation mpumalanga

Graskop

The first records of Graskop history start in 1843, with the arrival of the Voortrekkers in the area. In 1838 Louis Trichard - in search of a port not under British rule - had reached Delagoa Bay via a particularly arduous route through the Olifants River Valley. This journey was completed at a tremendous cost in lives lost to fever, probably malaria. In 1843 Andries Potgieter - who had just founded Potchefstroom and on the advice of Trichard - took a more southerly route, which turned out to be virtually impossible - let alone arduous!! After negotiating what is known as CASPERS NEK Pass (named after Paul Kruger's father who pioneered this oldest existing road in the region still in use), the party reached the edge of the Drakensberg Escarpment down which there was no possible descent at that point, or - by line of sight - 50km in any direction. Leaving the women and children and a few men out spanned on the banks of the river just below the top of the escarpment - with strict instructions that the waiting group return to Potchefstroom if the scouting group had not returned by a date two months into the future - the men went in search of a way down to the Lowveld 1000m below. Access to the Lowveld was discovered to be via an animal track on a land under the control of a local chief named Koveni - hence the Afrikaans translation Kowyn - and onto Delagoa Bay where, for various reasons, the men were delayed.

The waiting party, after staying a fortnight longer than instructed, left the river on who's banks they have been anxiously waiting, named it "Treurrivier" (River of Sorrow). A few days later the returning men caught up with their womenfolk on the banks of another river, which was promptly named the "Blyderivier" (river of Joy). In the year 1850 the farm GRASKOP - so named because of the vast tracts of grassveld and singular lack of trees in the area - was owned by one Abel Erasmus who in later years was to become "native commissioner and magistrate" for the entire Lowveld and escarpment region. The local, indigenous people gave this redoubtable hunter the name "Dubula Duzi", in recognition of the fact that he waited till the very last moment before firing on his quarry........................................................................HISTORY

Contact us at 079 881 0379 Phone / Fax +27 13 767 1534 or send an enquiry