Hendrina, Cosmos Country

Lying virtually halfway along the N11 between Middelburg and Ermelo, Hendrina is situated in the heart of Cosmos country in Mpumalanga. This part of the world is a haven of grasslands, wild flowers (in spring this part of the country is a carpet of cosmos flowers, hence the name) and the space to get away from it all over weekends - ideal for Gautengers or those en route to the Kruger National Park. It is also conveniently placed to both Waterval Boven and Nelspruit.

Hendrina is a typical farmer's town, where husband and wife teams run the local restaurant and pub in town, and visitors are treated like long-lost friends to local specialities, just like the Simply Delicious Restaurant on Church Street. The town is surrounded by maize crops in an area dominated by agriculture and sheep farming, lying as it does close to the other farming towns of Carolina, Bethal and Ermelo. Fields of sunflowers and peanuts are also in evidence.

Interestingly the initial shopkeepers in Hendrina were Lebanese traders whilst the town square was a gathering place every quarter for the Afrikaans farming community who gathered here for Nagmal during the early 1900s. Rather unromantically this region boasts a number of huge power plants and is home to a gargantuan underground coal-mining complex, regarded as the largest in the world.

Nearby Belfast offers the opportunity for trout fishing, hiking trails and birding, whilst Waterval Boven is the best area for rock climbing, abseiling, hiking trails and scenic waterfalls. Other towns in the Cosmos region of Mpumalanga include Bethal, Morgenzon, Secunda and Standerton.