Page 341 - (DK Eyewitness) Travel Guide - South Africa

LIMPOPO , MPUM ALANGA AND KRUGER  339

Scenic view of the Tzaneen in Limpopo
9 Tzaneen Rain Queen. The thousand- Botswana and Zimbabwe,
year-old Sunland Baobab, Mapungubwe Hill was the
Road map E1. * 25,000. n R71.
Tel 015 307 3582. ∑ tzaneeninfo. 5 km (3 miles) northwest of capital of an indigenous
co.za town, is reputedly the world’s trade empire that supplied
tubbiest specimen of this copious amounts of gold,
Tzaneen is a small and pleasant magnificent species, with copper and ivory to the
mid-altitude town set within an a circumference of 47 m Swahili Coast of East Africa
agricultural region associated (155 ft) and a bar set within in its medieval prime. The
with tea, tomato, mango and its central cavity. city of 5,000 was abandoned
avocado production. It stands in the 13th century, when
alongside the pretty Tzaneen E Tzaneen Museum its inhabitants migrated
Dam and is surrounded by lush Agatha Rd. Tel 083 280 4966. 300 km (180 miles) north
forests. Open 9am–4pm Mon–Fri, 9am– to establish the stone city
The small Tzaneen Museum noon Sat. of Great Zimbabwe, but the
houses an interesting collection O Modjadji Cycad Reserve hilltop citadel can still be
of ethnographic items from all Off the Mohlakamosoma Rd. visited on daily guided tours,
around Africa, these include Open 7am–4:30pm daily. following a rickety flight of
a 19th-century drum and Sunland Baobab 147 wooden steps, through
other items associated with Leeudraai Rd. Tel 082 413 2228. a breach used by its
the Modjadji Rain Queen – a ∑ bigbaobab.co.za former inhabitants.
revered local monarch whose Inscribed as a UNESCO
matrilineal line reputedly dates World Heritage Site in 2003,
back to the 16th century but Mapungubwe today is the
ended in 2005 with the centrepiece of South Africa’s
untimely death of Makobo most northerly national
Constance Modjadji VI. park, a 280-sq-km (108-sq-
mile) boulderscape of wild
Environs baobab-studded granitic
Some 30 km (19 miles) north of The golden rhinoceros hills inhabited by elephant,
Tzaneen, tiny Modjadjiskloof – of Mapungubwe greater kudu, klipspringer
also sometimes referred to by and small populations of
its former Afrikaans name 0 Mapungubwe lion, leopard and cheetah.
Duiwelskloof (“Devil’s Gorge”) – National Park A highlight of the park is
has two main claims to fame. the Mapungubwe Inter-
The misty forests of Modjadji Road map E1. Tel 015 534 2014. pretation Centre, which
Cycad Reserve, 17 km Open Apr–Aug: 6:30am–6pm; provides an overview
(11 miles) to the east, support Sep–Mar: 6am–6:30pm. of its history, alongside
∑ sanparks.org
one of two extant populations artifacts such as an iconic
of the eponymous cycad, a 12cm-long gold-plated rhino
peculiar prehistoric palm-like Overlooking Rudyard Kipling’s sculpture unearthed there
tree that grows up to 12 m “great grey-green, greasy in 1933. The park houses
(39 ft) tall and was protected Limpopo” as it flows past the more than 100 prehistoric
for generations by the Modjadji three-way border with rock art sites.

338-339_EW_South_Africa.indd 339 25/05/17 12:00 pm