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Unesco World Heritage-listed Mapungubwe is one of South Africa’s least-known but most spectacular parks. At sunset from the viewpoint that overlooks the Limpopo River, and the point where South Africa, Botswana and Zimbabwe converge, or amid the low-bouldered hills that dominate the park elsewhere, Mapungubwe is one beautiful place. Lion, leopard and elephant are routinely sighted, the birding is outstanding (watch for Pel’s fishing owl down along the riverbank) and the night drives are filled with drama and genets. But this landscape has an ancient backstory, a tale of a sophisticated 13th-century civilization whose story is told in the fine museum – the gold-plated rhino statue is a work of both subtlety and splendour. Birders come here for northern specials, such as the pennant-winged nightjar or the three-banded courser, but it was the combination of landscapes, wildlife and historical intrigue that won my heart from the moment I arrived.
