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Write a User ReviewAn ancient landscape offering a combination of cultural significance and rewarding game-viewing
A World Heritage Site and best known for its archaeological evidence of one of Africa’s earliest Iron Age civilisations, few people are aware of Mapungubwe’s value as a safari destination. It resembles a giant's land with huge boulders, massive baobab trees, and the impressive Mapungubwe Mountain with its impregnable cliffs. While most of the large game species are present, its proximity to Botswana and Zimbabwe means that numbers do fluctuate, but permanent pools in the Limpopo offer refuge to crocodile and hippo, there are viable populations of lion, leopard, elephant, cheetah and spotted hyena, and with more than 400 species including Pel’s fishing owl, ground hornbill and kori bustard, its regarded as a birding hotspot. As a fairly new park facilities are excellent – especially the treetop boardwalk at the confluence of the Limpopo and Shashe rivers; a peaceful vantage-point to watch elephant, impala, baboon, and plenty of bee-eaters and kingfishers.
A Cultural Treasure
Mapungubwe National Park is a designated UNESCO World Heritage Site because of the cultural significance of Mapungubwe Hill. In the 1930s, artefacts found here proved that Mapungubwe was at the centre of southern Africa’s first formal, urban society – centuries before white man’s arrival. I was lucky enough to be guided by Cedric Sethlako, previously voted SANParks Guide of the Year, and a charismatic and gifted story teller. A guided tour with Cedric is in my Top Ten Experiences in South Africa.
Mapungubwe is a little visited national park, but scenically very beautiful, on the borders of Botswana and Zimbabwe. It has stunning, rocky, open landscapes, dotted with giant baobab trees and elephants. There is an elevated canopy walk through the trees and a spectacular viewpoint at the confluence of the Limpopo and Shashe rivers. However, you are unlikely to see any predators, and visitors choose Mapungubwe because of its cultural and scenic treasures.
A viewpoint to three nations
Driving through the scorched terrain of this park, which sits on South Africa's border with Zimbabwe and Botswana, I couldn't help wondering if there was actually any life to be found. Even the trees seemed lifeless and we saw little more than the occasional bug or butterfly as we explored the hilly park. We had chosen the worst time of day – noon – at a particularly hot time of year and were going to give up and come back another day when we found the tree top elephant walk. As we wandered along the elevated platforms, looking out at the Limpopo and Shashe rivers that mark the meeting point of the three countries, we heard a rustling below. The next half-hour was spent mere metres away from an elephant foraging right beneath us. One of South Africa's less visited national parks, Mapungubwe has gems for those willing to look. The park is also an important cultural site, with a museum housing archeological finds.
Bush, Baobabs and Cultural Significance
Getting to Mapungubwe is an experience in itself: driving along the Zimbabwe border on the empty R572, you encounter shimmering mirages, troops of baboons and surreal baobab trees. The park is an extraordinary place, covering 28,000 hectares in the sweltering Limpopo River valley, with viewpoints providing panoramas of South Africa, Zimbabwe and Botswana. As well as the gnarly, rocky landscape and animals including leopards and elephants, Mapungubwe offers some fascinating cultural history.
A World Heritage Site, the park was once the heart of southern Africa’s first indigenous kingdom. More than 9,000 people lived here around AD 1300, and archaeologists discovered a hilltop graveyard, containing treasures such as a rhino figurine plated with gold foil. Tours of the award-winning Interpretive Centre and the graveyard give a sense of Mapungubwe’s historical significance.
History at the Meeting Point of Three Countries
Beyond its archaeological importance, Mapungubwe is a place of striking natural beauty. I was immediately drawn to the rugged terrain, with sandstone boulders, dramatic rock formations, and ancient baobab trees scattered across the landscape. One of the highlights is the viewpoint overlooking the confluence of the Limpopo and Shashe Rivers. Standing there, you can look out over South Africa, Botswana and Zimbabwe meeting at a single point.
Wildlife
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viewing here is not the main focus, and the park is relatively small with limited game-viewing roads. That said, there is still plenty to enjoy. Elephants are often seen moving through the riverine areas, and several antelope species occur in the park. Klipspringers are a particular delight and can frequently be spotted in pairs, perfectly balanced on rocky outcrops. Birdlife is another strong point, with Verreaux’s eagles commonly seen soaring above the cliffs and valleys.Culture, Wildlife, Scenery ...
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the emergency-sitting position. I didn’t see that much wildlife but was delighted by the unusual mix I did spot, including mongooses (the babies are soooo cute), a common duiker spying on our bungalow and lumbering eland.Lost city on the Limpopo
Inscribed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 2003, this relatively new national park is not primarily a wildlife destination, so it ranks quite poorly judged on those terms. Its centrepiece is Mapungubwe Hill, site of the medieval capital of a wealthy trade empire that supplied locally sourced gold, copper and ivory to the Swahili Coast of East Africa in the 13th-century peak, and whoch formed the precursor to the altogether more impressive stone ruins of Great Zimbabwe to the north. Guided tours of the archaeological site run every morning, but be warned that it is of greater academic interest than it is impactful to the casual visitors. The park lies on the tripartite border with Botswana and Zimbabwe, and protects a stunning landscape of baobab-studded granitic hills overlooking the sluggish Limpopo River. Aside from birds, which are plentiful, the most common wildlife is elephant, greater kudu and klipspringer, though lion and leopard are present.
South Africa’s Northern Treasure
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.