Year in the wild

Lookout decks at the confluence of the Limpopo and Shashe rivers offer some of the best views in any of the country’s national parks. To the northwest is and to the northeast is Zimbabwe, but on cer- tain evenings when the air is clear and the light is golden, it seems as if you can look all the way up Africa.

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Indiana Jones would have been envious – Mapungubwe National Park has all the ingredients of a blockbuster adventure movie: golden treasures, an ancient city, dramatic landscapes, wild animals, fascinating characters and a big dollop of mystery. By Scott Ramsay.

www.getaway.co.za 77 Year in the wild Mapungubwe National Park

ut yourself in school teacher Jerry Take us to this place, Van Graan van Graan’s shoes. It’s New Year’s urged. Mowena refused. The group Botswana P Day 1933 and you have just dis- returned a few months later, again urg- covered the richest treasure in Southern ing for directions to the secret location. Africa. Several kilograms of ancient Again, the old man refused. Instead,

Kruger golden jewellery and ornaments lie at Van Graan persuaded one of Mowena’s South National your feet. You have two choices: keep young sons to act as a guide. Africa Park it for yourself or hand it over to experts On approaching the hill, the boy for preservation. shivered with fright and wouldn’t go any Here, in a remote corner of closer, but he pointed out a narrow cleft on the border of Botswana and Zimba- on one of the cliffs, which Van Graan bwe, herds of elephant wander through and his friends climbed. Their digging at mopani woodland and between baobab this spot unearthed several shallow trees. And near the confluence of the Lim- graves, one of which contained a golden popo and Shashe rivers is Mapungubwe treasure of more than 20 000 beads, a ‘Mapungubwe Hill, the site of an ancient kingdom. sceptre, a vessel and several totems The disappearance of its people in including a rhino, a feline and a bovine, was, and still AD 1300 was shrouded in mystery. Over each about 15 centimetres long and time, fact merged with myth and no-one about five centimetres high. is, the richest was quite sure which was which. For It was high-quality gold, 92 per cent six centuries the local Venda, Tswana, pure. The group decided to collect as and largest gold Shona and Sotho people kept well away much of it as possible, split it equally collection ever from the hill. among themselves and take it home. ‘To them, it had always been taboo, However, Van Graan’s guilty conscience discovered in a place of dread,’ wrote historian Leo soon kicked in and within days he’d sent Fouché in 1934. ‘They would not so a few small pieces of gold along with Southern Africa’ much as point at it and when it was a telegram to Leo Fouché, his former discussed with them they kept their history professor at the University of Pre- backs turned carefully towards it. To toria. By doing so, he set in motion the climb it meant certain death.’ beginnings of the archaeological study of Most European settlers stayed away Mapungubwe. Fouché and Van Graan from the area because of its intense heat, persuaded the others to hand over their frequent droughts and poor soils, but a gold to university researchers and the few knew of Mapungubwe’s reputed government bought the land on which the riches, and in 1933 Van Graan and some hill was situated to ensure its protection. friends decided to explore the area. On 8 April 1933, the Illustrated Setting off one summer’s day, they London News ran a front-page article underestimated the heat and stopped to announcing ‘a remarkable discovery ask a local man at a kraal for water. The in the Transvaal, a grave of unknown man – known only as Mowena – offered origin, containing much gold work them cool water from a ceramic bowl. found on the summit of natural rock Van Graan quickly realised the bowl was stronghold in a wild region’. unlike anything he’d seen. He asked After six centuries, Mapungubwe’s Mowena where he’d found it. famous treasure had been revealed. In It had come from a place called the following decades archaeologists Mapungubwe, Mowena replied, a discovered several thousand more arte- place where kings are buried. facts across 400 sites in the region.

clockwise from Top: The ruling class of the ancient Mapungubwe empire lived on top of the hill, while commoners lived around its base; archaeologists found several hundred thousand beads during excavations at Mapungubwe, evidence of the large numbers of people that once lived here; San rock art in the Limpopo Valley near Mapungubwe dates back more than 10 000 years; a replica of the famous golden rhino – about the length of a human hand – has pride of place in the park’s excellent interpretive centre.

78 Getaway april 2013 What does ‘Mapungubwe’ mean? The name was first mentioned by Mowena, the local man whose son showed Van Graan the loca- tion of the hill. No-one knows for sure the meaning, explained archaeologist Sian Tiley-Nel. ‘Because there are no written historical records from that era, we don’t know what language the people spoke, although it was probably an ancient form of Shona, Sotho or Venda. Today, there’s no exact equivalent term in any of those languages.’ There are three possible meanings: ‘place of jackals’ from pungubye (Sotho) and pungwhe (TshiVenda); ‘place of venerated stone’ from the Shona suffix -bwe, which means venerated stone; or ‘place where molten rock flowed’ in the Lemba language, referring to iron and gold smelting.

www.getaway.co.za 79 left: Visitors head to the top of Mapungubwe Hill via the same cleft in the rock the ancient ruling class would have used. RIGHT: A herd of elephant wanders from the Botswana side of the transfrontier conservation area into Zimbabwe. There are few fences remaining and animals and people move across the borders, as they would have before colonial boundaries were established. BOTTOM RIGHT: Guide Cedric Sethlako on top of Mapungubwe Hill, explaining mancala, a game played by the people of the ancient kingdom and still played today.

Fast forward seven centuries cattle kraal at Leokwe, which is now Present-day visitors to what is now the site of the park’s beautiful rest Mapungubwe National Park can stand camp north of the main gate). on top of the hill, and admire the same Then, abruptly, everyone disappeared. views as Van Graan and his friends. After just 70 years, Mapungubwe dis- ‘Three of these were royal graves,’ solved in AD 1290 and thousands of ranger Cedric Sethlako explained after people migrated northwards across we’d climbed the 30-metre hill at the the Limpopo River to places such as same cleft in the rock. Around us were Great Zimbabwe near Masvingo, or 27 graves (near the original sites Van eastwards to Thulamela in present- Graan discovered) where the skeletal day northern Kruger National Park. remains had been re-buried after several ‘[The cause of the migration] was years of being studied in university labo- most probably a combination of a shift ratories. ‘These contained all the gold, in political power and drought,’ Cedric nine kilograms of it. One of [the graves] said. ‘Rainfall dropped considerably, was a man’s, and two were [of] women. the crops died and the cattle couldn’t They wore the gold as symbols of power survive. This area has always had a and most probably believed it had magi- variable climate, situated between cal properties.’ the arid Kalahari and moist eastern ‘They wore the The ruling elite would have lived on Lowveld of South Africa.’ gold as symbols top of the hill, while about 4 000 people lived around the base. Meaning of Mapungubwe of power and Cedric explained that Mapungubwe’s This lost kingdom remained hidden for empire began in AD 1200 and was the hundreds of years until archaeologists most probably last of a series of regional empires, from University of Pretoria started exca- which had their origins around AD 900. vating after Van Graan’s discovery in believed it These communities grew increasingly 1933. The national park was declared in wealthy by trading gold and elephant 1998, and Mapungubwe was proclaimed had magical ivory for glass beads, Chinese porcelain, as a cultural World Heritage Site in 2003. cowrie shells and other exotic products. ‘As South Africans, we ought to be properties’ ‘Local traders followed the Limpopo very proud of Mapungubwe,’ said River to the coast at Sofala in Mozam- archaeological chief curator Sian Tiley- bique, where they met up with Swahili Nel of the University of Pretoria, which and Arab traders who sailed their dhows still manages the extensive collection on the monsoon winds.’ on behalf of the country. Having bartered their goods, the ‘Mapungubwe was the first formal, Mapungubweans would make the 500- wealthy, hierarchical Iron Age society in kilometre return journey to their home the region. It was, and still is, the richest farmlands at the confluence of the rivers. and largest gold collection ever discov- Nowadays, the Limpopo River flows ered in Southern Africa. Mapungubwe is strongly only in summer, but climatolo- equivalent in global significance to the gists believe the rainfall in AD 1200 was Great Wall of China or the Mona Lisa higher and there was enough water all painting by Leonardo da Vinci.’ year round. The Mapungubweans Now, the sacred site is at the centre of planted sorghum and millet in the allu- the Greater Mapungubwe Transfrontier vial soils, while their cattle grazed Conservation Area, a 5 000-square-kilo- among the wildlife (archaeologists have metre cross-border initiative that aims discovered extensive evidence of a big to protect this landscape and its cultural

80 Getaway april 2013 Year in the wild MapungubweFeature strap National location Park

significance from destructive develop- side, cattle compete with wildlife for ment. It includes the 300-square-kilo- grazing and people sometimes cross metre national park in South Africa the dry riverbed into the national park and Botswana’s Tuli Block. in search of a better life. Wild animals can move freely from one Mapungubwe is still visited by treas- country to another, as they did for thou- ure seekers, but they bring earth mov- sands of years, and although the plateau ers instead of spades. Coal and dia- above the Limpopo River comprises dry mond mines operate within close prox- mopani woodland, the broad river beds imity of the wildlife, baobab trees and are lined with riverine forest, lush and heritage sites. full of life; it’s a good birding area and Despite several years of opposition reputed for sightings of Pel’s Fishing owl. from conservationists, farmers and Impressive tree species such as fever archaeologists, the opencast Vele Coal (Acacia xanthophloea), ana (Faidherbia Mine has carved out mopani woodland albida), cluster fig (Ficus sycomorus) and near the park’s eastern border. nyala ( zambesiaca) grow ‘The long-term effects of mining near on the alluvial soils – one of the largest the World Heritage Site are certainly not nyala trees in the country grows be- only detrimental to the environment, but tween tents five and six at the park’s also puts the cultural heritage at great Limpopo Forest Tented Camp near the risk,’ explained Tiley-Nel. river – but today this forest is no longer The opencast Venetia Diamond Mine in a pristine state. The extraction of to the south is one of the country’s rich- water upstream and downstream from est. Its storage dam lies in the national the Limpopo River by farms and mines park, drawing water from the Limpopo, has reduced winter flows to a trickle and and piping it underground to the mine. elephant herds have damaged trees by (It’s important to note that the owners uprooting or ring-barking them. of this mine, De Beers, founded the Interspersed within the transfrontier 36 000-hectare Venetia Limpopo Nature conservation area along the river are sev- Reserve, which is part of the transfron- eral irrigated farms. On the Zimbabwean tier conservation area.)

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Year in the wild Mapungubwe National Park

The magic of Mapungubwe clockwise from TOP: The platforms of the Limpopo Forest boardwalk make for great bird and wildlife viewing; Despite these challenges, Mapungubwe an elephant easily crosses an electrical cable erected to keep them out of the riverine forest, which has reduced in size and density because of the increasing pachyderm populations; the baobabs of Mapungubwe are some of the is unique and offers a sense of place that biggest in the region; rangers inspect a dead eland, snared by poachers. The dropping of fences encourages the is not easily matched elsewhere. Perhaps free movement of animals and people across the international borders, making law enforcement a challenge. it’s the sacred spirits of an ancient civili- sation or the thousands of Khoisan rock paintings, some dating back 15 000 years to a time when early humans made their for the proclamation of Dongola Wildlife home here, long before people from cen- Sanctuary (the precursor to Mapungubwe tral Africa arrived in AD 200. National Park), he met severe opposition Wherever it comes from, this ethereal from farmers who wanted more land to atmosphere is best experienced at the graze their cattle. He spoke eloquently of Mapungubwe four viewing decks above the Limpopo the greater perspective. offers a sense Valley. Here, visitors are treated to some ‘I look forward to the time when the of the finest views in the country, look- rage of destruction will have disap- of place that ing out over the confluence of the rivers peared, when the senseless slaughter and into Botswana and Zimbabwe. of the wild fauna will be as criminal and is not easily At sunset one day, as a thunderstorm contrary to public opinion as cruelty to rumbled across the horizon, I was alone humans, and when those who love the matched at the lookout decks, taking photographs. wilds, their shy denizens and intimate A silence descended just as the sun said ways will come from all parts of the elsewhere goodbye and the earth turned to face the Earth to find peace and refreshment dusk. A breeding herd of 100 elephants in Africa,’ Smuts said. crossed the dry riverbed like ants on ‘Africa, in spite of all chance, will still Africa’s massive tapestry. I quickly took remain Africa, and its most distinctive a few photographs, then gazed at the features among the continents will con- phantasmagorical panorama. tinue to be its untamed wilderness, its I wasn’t the first person to be captivated aloofness and solitude and its mysterious, by scenes like these. Back in the 1930s, eerie brooding spirit. Why destroy this?’ when statesman Jan Smuts was pressing Travel planner overleaf

www.getaway.co.za 83 Year in the wild Mapungubwe National Park

Mapungubwe Interpretive Centre

Getting there sleeps 12 in six bedrooms, Mapungubwe lies in the far with en-suite bathrooms, and north of South Africa at the has a swimming pool. From confluence of the Limpopo and R2 735 a night for four people Shashe rivers at the border (R546 an additional adult, between South Africa, Zim- maximum 12 people). babwe and Botswana. From Vhembe Wilderness Camp Johannesburg, travel about 500 in the east of the reserve is just kilometres north on the N1 to a few minutes’ drive from the Musina, then turn left on the Limpopo River, and is spectacu- R572 and continue for about larly located on a ridge over- 68 kilometres to the main gate. looking a small valley. From R1 145 a night (for four people). An exhibit at the centre Gate times Additional adults pay R314 The main gate is open from and kids R157. 06h00 to 18h00 (April to August) and 06h00 to 18h30 What to do (September to March). Two-hour guided walks of Mapungubwe Hill leave every Where to stay morning at 07h00 and 10h00 Leokwe Camp offers several and cost R160 a person. Three- two- and four-bed self-catering hour morning drives leave at chalets, each with a fully 06h00 and cost R290 a person, equipped kitchen, bathroom while sunset and night drives and outside shower, a large cost R190 a person. The stoep and a braai area. From recently opened interpretive R940 a unit a night. centre near the main gate pro- Limpopo Forest Tented vides an excellent overview of Leokwe Camp Camp comprises eight self- Mapungubwe. Here visitors catering safari tents in the deep can see the iconic gold rhino, Photojournalist Scott Ramsay shade of nyala trees. Each is as well as thousands of glass recently completed Year in the fully equipped with a kitchen, beads, ceramic pots and other Wild, a journey to 31 of South outside braai area and bath- artefacts. Guided tours are Africa’s most special nature room and costs from R885 conducted every morning. The reserves, including all the national parks. Year in a two-sleeper tent a night. centre is open between 08h00 the Wild is sponsored by Total, Ford, Goodyear, Mazhou Campsite has 10 and 16h00 and entry costs R40 Frontrunner, Evosat, Conqueror Trailers, Vodacom, sites, communal ablutions and for adults and R20 for children. Digicape, Lacie, Garmin, National Luna, Safari a kitchen. From R185 a site for Centre Cape Town, Escape Gear and EeziAwn. two people (R65 an additional Useful contacts Follow Scott’s continuing adventures by going to www. adult, maximum six people). Tel 012-428-9111 (central reser- yearinthewild.com and www.facebook.com/yearinthewild. Book out the luxurious, self- vations), email reservations@san- You can also follow his journey on blog.getaway.co.za. catering Tshugulu Lodge which parks.org, www.sanparks.org.

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