The Limpopo River springs up somewhere in your Gauteng backyard, where the furthest tendrils of the Crocodile River collect their water. Near Rooibokkraal, north of Thabazimbi, the Marico River joins forces with the Crocodile, and thus the Limpopo is born.
These are the facts, but the Limpopo is much more enigmatic than the familiar name in your map book suggests. It disappears and reappears as the seasons change. It floods and dries up again. If your first encounter with the Limpopo is from a bridge as you drive between South Africa and Botswana, you might be disappointed: a couple of sandbanks, a muddy pool. Is this really the “mighty” Limpopo?
There’s nothing flashy about it. – it doesn’t make the cover of coffee table books. It seems to be kept wilfully out of sight and reach, barred off by game fences, obscured by riverine thickets.
A direct approach to exploring the Limpopo is futile. There’s no single viewpoint where you can tick it off as an attraction. It’s an accumulation of experiences rather than a been there-done-that postcard. You need to come here looking for other things: trees, birds, buck; or simply peace and quiet offered by the odd campsite and lodge. Then, slowly, somewhere in your peripheral vision, the Limpopo will take its full, mysterious shape.
Follow the trees
Farmer Willem Frost loves trees. From the moment I meet him near his farm along the Matlabas River, a tributary of the Limpopo, he bemoans the fact that the day just won’t be long enough to get to all the special trees he wants to show me.
It is early in November 2020 and the rain has already begun to fall in this part of the Bushveld, in what will become a bumper rainy season.
この記事は go! - South Africa の April/May 2021 版に掲載されています。
7 日間の Magzter GOLD 無料トライアルを開始して、何千もの厳選されたプレミアム ストーリー、8,500 以上の雑誌や新聞にアクセスしてください。
すでに購読者です ? サインイン
この記事は go! - South Africa の April/May 2021 版に掲載されています。
7 日間の Magzter GOLD 無料トライアルを開始して、何千もの厳選されたプレミアム ストーリー、8,500 以上の雑誌や新聞にアクセスしてください。
すでに購読者です? サインイン
The wilder shore
The final leg of a 30-day trek across East Africa sees lan Tyrer and the Africa - Wild & Untamed crew explore both shores of Lake Malawi. Get ready for an overloaded ferry, a croc attack and being surrounded by elephants...
A river runs through it
Sabie is onthe Drakensberg escaromentialongMpumalanga’s famous Panorama Route. Want a weekend away surrounded by forests and waterfalls? Here's wnat you need to know.
TAKE A HIKE
Harkerville's mini Otter
Sweet & juicy!
This issue's recipes all include lush seasonal fruit like nectarines, plums and apricots. Enjoy!
Big mountain magic
On a clear day, as you approach the Cathedral Peak Hotel, it happens involuntarily: You start to grin. You'll be standing up there soon, gazing over this valley, and the scuttling of ground-level life will seem irrelevant. Join us on a five-day adventure into the heart of the high Drakensberg
Your next weekend away
A self-catering house in the Tankwa, a campsite next to the Orange River, a guest farm near the Drakensberg... Toast Coetzer travelled a lot last year: Here are six of his favourite places to stay if you're planning a road trip or weekend escape.
A life through binoculars
If the name Hugh Chittenden sounds familiar, it's probably because you see it every time you use your Roberts Bird Guide he's one of the co-authors. He lives in Mtunzini on the KZN coast and birding is as much part of his day as a cup of coffee.
Wanderlust in the park
All great cities have great parks, writes Dara Kell: spaces where you can exhale and slough off the stress and grime of urban life.
The Kalahari remembers
The Kalahari is a place of magic and heartache, where drought is an ever-present threat. Drive a loop from Upington to the Kuruman River and discover soulful landscapes, brilliant skies and resilient people who never give up.
Take a Hike
Hug a baobab in the Bushveld