Mapungubwe

After Willem started his day with a game walk in the Marakele national park (I opted to stay in bed instead of getting up at 5 am, but given that Willem saw some hyena’s that we did not see anymore during the rest of the trip, I’m not sure that this was the best decision) and after fighting the monkeys for breakfast, we left Marakele for the long drive to Mapungubwe. We were a bit disappointed having to leave the beautiful accommodation in Marakele behind after only one night, but upon arriving in Mapungubwe this disappointment disappeared straight away as this place was beautiful as well. The landscape had completely changed. It was like a combination of the desert in South West of the USA and the Grand Canyon and we stayed in beautiful, traditional, African huts that had out-door showers.

In Mapungubwe we also had to prepare our own dinner. Like in Marakele, dinner was served in the hut of the crew and since this park was not surrounded by fences, we had to walk around the site in groups of two or more, to avoid wild-life attacks. Also similar to Marakele, Willem and I mainly contributed to the dinner preparations by providing beer for the real cooks and looking pretty. This day dinner included barbecued meat and we experienced firsthand what it means to be in a camp that is not surrounded by fences, because while the meat was on the porch ready to be barbecued a genet (cat-like creature) jumped on the porch and stole a piece of our meat. From that point onward we were more cautious of our surroundings and protective of our meat, which was a good thing, because later a civet (bigger cat) also joined and showed great interest in our food.

The next day we started with a game drive in the Mapungubwe National Park. We went to a walkway that overlooked a loop in the Limpopo river, but except for some domesticated cows, a sleeping crocodile, and monkeys in the distance we did not see much wild-life. To my surprise a few of the domesticated cows were wearing bells around their necks. I figured that would be a big ‘dinner signal’ for the lions, but no predators were to be seen and apparently this was the best way to keep the herd together and by putting the bell around the neck of the cow that would come home at the end of the day their owners were assured of all cows returning.

When we later drove to a lookout point on top of one of the rock formations, we had one of the best views the surrounding landscape and we did see a herd of elephants passing through the plains below – the first good look at elephants of our trip, which was breath taking. After a visit to the local museum in Mapungubwe where we learned about the different civilizations that had live in the area of Mapungubwe park, we continued our trip to Tshipise.