Agreed and it will bring the much needed economy to the Province 🙏🏽

It is a spectacularly beautiful area and so deserving of its name. ⛰️😍 We covered Meiringskloof extensively in our Fouriesburg video. it sounds like you missed it somehow.

The campsite is still directly opposite the bungalows of the Glen Reenen Rest Camp and we showed it in our video. It's the area where the dinosaurs and other steel animals were displayed on the grounds. We weren't allowed to enter that section though. You must've had great times there. We definitely got a neglected vibe in the Park, which is a great shame. ⛰️😏

@@DustBugsTravel I meant to say neglected, sorry. It is a pity that the shop was not open, as there is many things to see and buy inside. I just saw the bit of the campsite, I didn't see earlier in your video. I enjoyed great times and memories there. 👍

I forgot to mention that on my last visit in 1999, the park rangers had a mascot, a female ostrich, roaming the entire campsite. She was tame, very friendly, extremely clever and she greeted me every morning, when she came around... And I remembered her name that the park rangers gave her so well (Ntswe was her name) ! 😊

There is just nothing that beats natural beauty and the Golden Gate Highlands National Park has it in abundance. We were rather overwhelmed at all the rolling hills and incredible rock formations, it was fantastic! ⛰️😍 I don't believe it's the same Van Reenen who the Van Reenen's Pass was named after. I read on Wikipedia that the 'pass is named after Frans van Reenen who owned the farm Sandspruit at foot of the pass.' He could very well have been a distant (or close) relative of the Golden Gate Van Reenens. I'm so glad you enjoyed Golden Gate with us. 🚙😁

Thanks Curtis it's much appreciated

I wasn't able to find a connection during a brief search online earlier, but I would imagine there's a real possibility that they were distant, and perhaps even close, relatives. 🙂

Fascinating stuff! I was so hoping there would be carcasses on the day of our visit. I'm sure there's a lot more activity then. It was great to see three or four all the same, although they were very far away. 🦅 Clever indeed! Their behaviour reminds me of the seagulls that threw shells down from high up to extract the juicy insides.

hi there. Stayed in Highlands mountain retreat in May 2023( you froze past turnoff) Wooden chalets at about 2300m altitude…could see Harrismith….The vulture hide is such an opportunity missed. They rarely on donated carcassses from Farmers…easily accessible and great opportunity for photographers…Sadly the less food goes out, the less vultures come…The Farmers in KZN are putting out carcasses and get hundreds of vultures

We can never be sorry about anything we choose to see on our travels. Our attitude is one of gratitude for every single moment we can be out in nature and on the road, and much more so in a National Park. We specifically mentioned in our video that we had a limited time in the Park, but didn't want to exclude it. We're so grateful that we got to experience the beauty that we did, it's a spectacular place. ⛰️😍

Yawn, you don't even know why the shop is closed but you've already jumped into conclusion, FYI Sanparks also runs the Kruger park and all the shops are operating.

who took over

@@RagedContinuum if you are South African you will know :)

Thank you for your comment and for watching our video. 🚙😁 We prefer exploring on our own, since the regular tourist attractions aren't what interest us the most. As you and every other viewer can choose exactly how they wish to travel, so we choose exactly how we wish to travel. We would never even dream of criticising others' travels and telling them what to do on their travels. That's completely beyond me. 🤷🏻‍♂️ Our goal is to see as many places in South Africa as we can safely in the limited time we have on the roads and that is exactly how we will continue. We live in the Western Cape, which is very far away from the Eastern Free State, so when we spend the time and the money and take time off work, we'd like to make sure we see as much as possible. While it may not be what you'd like to see, we're very grateful for everything we get to see. If you happen to visit any place for the first time, you would also not know all the places others who do know the area well, would know. We have long ago made peace with the fact that we will never get to see everything in every town or place and we're totally fine with that. That's not our goal. We don't have the luxury to spend a whole day or multiple days in any place while we travel so far away from home. We're happy to eat and snack while on the road. My wife, Sonia, isn't keen on being filmed and I'll respect her decision until she hopefully changes her mind one day. It is entirely her decision and I'm certainly not going to pressure her. We choose to share our travels with those folks who may enjoy them for what they are. I completely understand if you don't enjoy them, but we're having a ball of a time seeing new and familiar parts of our beloved country. 🇿🇦😍

It is indeed an incredibly beautiful part of the Free State. Our visit was on a mostly cloudy day in mid-March of this year. 🚙🏔