Blyde River Canyon: Swadini Viewpoint to close for international TV filming - What travellers should know! [update]

last update 15 January 2026

The MTPA has confirmed that there will be no restrictions on Forever Resort access or accommodation betweem 01 - 07 February 2026. The same applies to the Swadini boat area and the visitor area.  

Travellers planning a visit to the stunning Blyde River Canyon and the iconic Swadini viewpoint in Mpumalanga should note upcoming filming activities. The Mpumalanga Tourism and Parks Agency (MTPA) has extended its Media Production Facilities Agreement with Triosphere and the Blyde 4 CPAs, originally signed in 2014, for five consecutive years - effective 01 January 2024 through 31 December 2029.
As part of this arrangement, Triosphere conducts annual filming at Swadini viewpoint. For early 2026, the filming schedule is as follows:

• Monday, 19 January 2026: Advance crew arrives – no impact on visitors; full boat access remains available.
• Sunday, 01 February 2026: The Waterfall and Path will be temporarily closed to the public, while the visitor centre and boat access remain fully open.
• Saturday, 07 February 2026: The Waterfall and Path reopen for public access.
• Friday, 13 February 2026: Final crew departure.

For tourists, six days will see partial access restrictions at the waterfall. All other areas of the Swadini viewpoint and Swadini Dam will remain fully accessible for exploration, photography, and boating.

The MTPA will provide updates throughout 2026 to ensure visitors can plan their trip without missing any of the breathtaking scenery of the Blyde River Canyon.

 

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Mpumalanga Tourism and Parks Agency (MTPA) announces revised 2025/26 tariffs for provincial nature reserves!

The Mpumalanga Tourism and Parks Agency (MTPA) has confirmed that revised tariffs for the 2025/26 financial year will come into effect on 12 December 2025 across all provincial nature reserves in Mpumalanga. The updated pricing includes a 7% increase for South African citizens and Southern African Development Community (SADC) nationals, while foreign visitors will see a 15% increase.

According to the MTPA, tariffs have traditionally been set lower than comparable destinations, and the adjustments are intended to better align with operational costs, conservation priorities and ongoing infrastructure upgrades.

Key adjustments for 2025/26

• Blyde River Canyon
• All Access Tickets (one day, one entry to all MTPA viewpoints on the Panorama Route)
• R161.00 pp – South African citizens
• R203.00 pp – SADC nationals
• R385.00 pp – Foreign visitors
• Wild camping sites:
• Remain R2,500.00 in standard season
• Increase slightly to R2,600.00 during high season
• Filming rates remain unchanged.    

Expanding Visitor Experiences 
The MTPA will continue rolling out new tourism activities across selected reserves to strengthen its product offering. These additions are aimed at attracting more domestic travellers while giving all visitors expanded options to enhance their experience in Mpumalanga's natural spaces.

About Mpumalanga Tourism and Parks Agency (MTPA)
The MTPA manages 15 protected areas across Mpumalanga's three district municipalities. Its mandate includes promoting responsible tourism, safeguarding biodiversity and ensuring the sustainable use of natural resources for the benefit of local communities and visitors alike.

MTPA Protected Areas

• Ehlanzeni District
• Andover Nature Reserve
• Barberton Nature Reserve
• Blyde River Canyon
• Mahushe Shongwe Nature Reserve
• Manyeleti Nature Reserve
• Mthethomusha Nature Reserve
• Gert Sibande District
• Nooitgedacht Dam Nature Reserve
• Songimvelo Nature Reserve
• Nkangala District
• Loskop Dam Nature Reserve
• Mabusa Nature Reserve
• Mkhombo Nature Reserve
• Ohrigstad Dam Nature Reserve
• S.S. Skosana Nature Reserve

 

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Study: Victoria Falls named third best natural wonder in the world!

UK travel site Titan Travel recently conducted a study to find out which natural wonders are guaranteed to take your breath away, and which are severely overrated. To set up the two rankings, the company gathered data from Instagram, TikTok, Google search volumes and Tripadvisor reviews. According to the findings of the study, the Victoria Falls in Zambia/Zimbabwe are the third best natural wonder in the world with an overall "Wonder score" of 8.14, while Table Mountain in Cape Town, South Africa, is the fifth best natural wonder with a "Wonder score" of 7,67. Unfortunately, the Blyde River Canyon in Mpumalanga was named eighth (wonder score: 3.29) in the list of the world's most overrated natural wonders. 

Photo by Datingjungle on Unsplash

Victoria Falls - Wonder score: 8.4

• Google serches: 2.6m
• TikTok views: 63.9m
• Instagram posts: 318.5K
• Percentage of excellent reviews: 86.57%
• Percentage of terrible reviews: 0.22%

Table Mountain - Wonder score: 7.67

• Google serches: 1.4m
• TikTok views: 44.5m
• Instagram posts: 1.3m
• Percentage of excellent reviews: 81.83%
• Percentage of terrible reviews: 0.26%

Blyde River Canyon - Wonder score: 3.29

• Google serches: 5.4k
• TikTok views: 4.1m
• Instagram posts: 55.4K
• Percentage of excellent reviews: 71.77%
• Percentage of terrible reviews: 0.33% 

However, the Arches National Park in the US is the overall winner of the ranking, followed by the Iguazu Falls in Argentina/Brazil. Lake Nakuru in Kenya was named world's most overrated natural wonder, followed by Cascate del Mulino in Italy and Tsingy de Bemaraha on Madagascar.

Methology:

Titan Travel gave each of the selected natural wonder a normalised score out of ten for each of the factors, before taking an average across each of these scores to reach the final overall score (Wonder score) out of ten.

• Instagram posts: The total number of Instagram posts using the hashtag #[natural wonder].
• TikTok views: The total number of views for TikTok posts using the hashtag #[natural wonder].
• Google searches: The total global number of Google searches for each natural wonder from May 2022 to April 2023.
• Proportion of “excellent” Tripadvisor reviews: The total number of reviews for each natural wonder divided by the number of reviews with an “excellent” rating.
• Proportion of “terrible” Tripadvisor reviews: The total number of reviews for each natural wonder divided by the number of reviews with a “terrible” rating.

Data was collected on 19 May 2023.

Blyde River Canyon (Mpumalanga): Entry gates to the Swadini section will be closed on selected dates between October 2019 - February 2020!

The Mpumalanga Tourism and Parks Agency (MTPA), the governmental organisation responsible for maintaining wilderness areas and public nature reserves in Mpumalanga, has announced that the entry gates to the Swadini section of the Blyde River Canyon Nature Reserve will be closed on selected dates between October 2019 and February 2020 due to "filming that will be taking place".

The gates to the Swadini section will be closed on the following dates:

• 21 October 2019 – 03 December 2019:
• site establishment (no impact on visitor's access)
• 04 December 2019 - 26 December 2019
• unrestricted access
• 27 December 2019 – 14 February 2020
• full exclusivity

Other tourist attractions on the Panorama Route like God's Window, Bourke's Luck Potholes, Three Rondavels, Pinnacle, will not be affected by this closure

The Mpumalanga Tourism and Parks Agency (MTPA) will close the entry gates to Swadini at Blyde River Canyon Nature Reserve due to filming that will be taking place.

Click on the link to see the schedule: https://t.co/dYn2tkMdgh#DiscoverMpumalanga pic.twitter.com/dYjG53tmwa

— Mpumalanga Tourism (@Mtpatourism) October 9, 2019

The Blyde River Canyon Nature Reserve is situated in the Drakensberg escarpment region of eastern Mpumalanga. It protects the second largest canyon in Africa after the Fish River Canyon in Namibia,the Blyde River Canyon, and includes natural wonders such as the Bourke's Luck Potholes, the Three Rondavels, Pinnacle Rock and God's Window.

Video: A road trip through South Africa!

Cornelius Bierer, a German videographer and photographer, recently did a 18 day road trip through South Africa. He travelled about 4000km from Johannesburg to Cape Town, filmed his trip and thankfully made it available online. From Johannesburg and Pretoria Cornelius travelled to the Blyde River Canyon and the Kruger National Park before crossing the border to Swaziland to visit the Mkhaya Game Reserve. The next stops along his way to Cape Town included St Lucia, Durban, Coffee Bay, Port Elizabeth, Knysna, Hermanus and Franschhoek. Enjoy the video! Kudos Cornelius!

South Africa Roadtrip - experiencing a world in one country from Cornelius Bierer on Vimeo.

South African Tourism: New promotional video about Mpumalanga

South Africa's tourism body, South African Tourism, has released a new promotional video about Mpumalanga on youtube.com. The video covers the province's most popular tourist destinations, including the famous Kruger National Park, Blyde River Canyon, God's Window and Bourke's Luck Potholes. Enjoy!