Hello fellow hikers - we have booked to hike the Blyde River Canyon three day hike in December. But can find no info about the route. Terrain? Difficulty? Swimming/ water availability spots? Has anyone done it recently?
Pls let us know how it goes etc…Very keen to do a hike there but like you’ve seen, not alot of info.
Forced into marriage at 16… By the army…
Blyde river canyon…
Oh hell, did me and my “wife” “hike” that… Many times…
Day time / night time / searing heat / come rain or sun… 
Clothed In military issue Nutria browns, with seams that had to remain so sharp you could cut para-chord, mielie-crusher boots, whose copious internal cavity’s were filled with as many pairs of socks I could lay my blooming hands on, full pattern 70 tactical battle webbing <with grootsak & patrollie sak & my trenching pick…
Pic: - pattern 70 "hiking- backpack"
Yip, I got the pick, other’s got a spade that ties in on the “grootsak” which is clipped shoulder brace of the skeleton webbing…
PIC: - “the pick”------- (See footnote) 
Oh and don’t forget the toggle rope… Which was never ever used…
Together with my R1 Rifle, (my afore mentioned wife)… Nogal with 8 fully loaded magazines to keep her business end busy…, and steel helmet… which, was both toilet bowl and cooking pot…
PIC: - Army helmet - Like a multi tool… (Supposed to) stop your kindly bungalow mates accidently putting bullet’s through your head, Cooking pot & poo-pot all in one…
Having set the senario, back to Blyde River…
Blyde River canyon… Oh blooming hell…
Here’s how that 12 month Sunday outing panned out for me…
see, I served my national service at 7SAI Burks Luck… Which was directly opposite the pot-holes. (The camp backed on the Blyde river there), before it became the “doggies” …
Where, when grace was said, went like this: - “Before it got to the pots, may we be truly grateful”… And Immodium was one hell of a tradeable commodity… 
Couple that with a whole bunch of individuals that suffered from a diminutive personality syndrome… 
… Who just happened to make Blyde river canyon their own personal killing ground… My life was … Well, let’s say, definitely not quite what I had in mind…
Now me, back then, was quite justifiably nicknamed Spagettie by my kindly bungalow friends… which was soon changed to “Springkaan”.
Not only because of my voracious appetite, (I suffered from a never-treated over-active thyroid which, greatly exacerbated my Immodium woes) but because, in order to cope with a pair of bicycle spokes for legs, a body mass of 60 something Kg, and a military issue battle pack that even when empty, outweighed me by a good margin of safety… As well as a constant case of the squirts… I somehow developed a “hiking” gait that closely mimicked a spastic locust on the hop.
PIC: - A Sprinkaan
With the pressure of: -
Never, ever, ever be the last one back… Sorry to say, I honestly don’t recall much of that wonderful and very beautiful place…
Have to say… I did eventually grow to love my wife… Especially on the border during the bush war…
PIC: - My gourgous wife…
But that’s another hiking tale…
FOOTNOTE: -
I harp on about “the pick”… Blooming useless thing THAT was…Trust me, when the smelly brown stuff is headed back from the fan in your direction, ther’s no digging a blooming hidey-hole with a pick… A dixi 'll do just fine and just as quick…!
EDIT: -
For them what wants to see, the old 7SAI camp’s co ordinates are 24 40 52,38E 30 48 38,34 E. I’m told that it has gone back to being a clinic, but last pictures I saw on FB, it was indeed pretty much run to ruin…
As the crow flies, Our particular bit of the Blyde river canyon was about 10 clicks away as the crow flies, so we had to route march (Hike)??? there, sleep over, and “hike” back again… fun…
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Hi!
It has been a while, but I am still wondering if anyone has done the full 5 day Blyde? Or why it is 3 days now? Is it safe to hike? Anyone?
Hi Gerda, we did the three day hike in Dec 2019. You cannot do the last two days due to the bridge over the canyon being destroyed by flood water some time ago. When we did it, the trail was poorly marked and maintained so we were lost a few times. Other than that we had no safety issues at all and had a great time.
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