Mapungubwe – the lost kingdom

If you have seen all the sites of interest in you immediate area, you may consider a visit to one of South Africa’s eight UNESCO World Heritage Sites at Mapungubwe. Marie Hurter tells Northern News readers why they should take the time to visit this marvelous area sooner rather than later as it is at risk of losing its world heritage status.
About 60km north of Alldays, snug against Limpopo’s northern border, is Mapungubwe National Park, where the great Shashe- and Limpopo Rivers flow together to form the natural borders between South Africa, Botswana and Zimbabwe. The sight must be the collective vision of explorers through the ages – Africa’s vast open spaces stretching to the horizon as one stands on South African soil overlooking Zimbabwe to the Northeast and Botswana to the Northwest.
At this time of year, the Shashe River is dry, except for a few scattered water pools in the distance.  Opportunistic crocodiles in the ever-flowing Limpopo swim lazily towards Botswana cattle grazing on the opposite bank.  The only sounds are cicadas, kingfishers, hornbills, fish eagles and the rhythmic chime of cattle bells.
Except for rhinos, the park boasts the rest of the big five and a great diversity of fauna, flora and bird life.
Comfortable accommodation is available in Leokwe, the main camp, while Tshugulu Lodge is a small luxury camp. The park also has a wilderness camp, a camping site and a tented camp in the forest close to the Limpopo River, where most of the parks’ animals are concentrated.
The tented camp is quite an extraordinary experience - built on wooden decks around massive Nyala trees.  A cacophonous wake-up call before first light from a zillion birds and the Piet-my-vrou shouting as if perched on your pillow, is a shocker at first, but the closest to nature you’ll ever get. A ceiling fan and open tent flaps create a surprisingly cool and natural airflow through the tent, even at this hot time of year.
Mapungubwe was possibly the largest iron-age kingdom in the sub-continent around one thousand years ago. Apart from subsistence farming, the inhabitants made objects of iron, gold and copper and traded locally and abroad as far away as China, India, Egypt and Persia. The Mapungubwe Kingdom was abandoned in the 14th century, then forgotten for more than seven centuries before it was discovered again in the early 1930’s.
In 2011 the South African government gave the go-ahead to the Australian mining company, Coal of Africa Ltd, to start mining operations at Vele, a mere seven kilometers from Mapungubwe. Depending on the outcome of a monitoring mission report submitted by the World Heritage Centre and the International Council of Monuments and Sites, Mapungubwe may be at risk of losing its listing as a World Heritage Site when the Heritage Committee meets again in June 2012.