The Hill of Jackals
Depending on your particular interest and the level of demand, your Origin Safari could include a visit to the Mapungubwe National Park in the far north of South Africa. This will require overland travel (of around 6 – 7 hours).
Mapungubwe was designated a World Heritage Site in 2003 and is one of South Africa’s ‘Big Five’ national game reserves.
Archaeology and History
Mapungubwe is the most important pre-colonial agrarian site in South Africa. Located on South Africa’s border with Botswana and Zimbabwe, the Kingdom flourished between 1000 – 1300AD.
It is the earliest known society in southern Africa characterized by class distinction and sacred leadership. Leaders were spatially separated from their followers and lived on the Mapungubwe mountain, accessible only by a select few.
The royal graves excavated on the mountain contained a variety of locally crafted gold and copper items, exotic glass beads, and other prestigious objects – evidence of its status as a source of gold and ivory in the Indian Ocean trading network.
Most spectacular among these finds is a gold foil rhinoceros – the famous ‘Mapungubwe Rhino’ – moulded over a soft core of sculpted wood. The original of the Mapungubwe Rhino can be seen, along with the other gold and beaded artefacts that were found, in the Javett Museum of the University of Pretoria.
The abandonment of Mapungubwe led to the rise of Great Zimbabwe to the north-east and, later, to Thulamela in the Kruger Park.
Accommodation
You will be accommodated either in self-catered chalets within the park or in the luxury Mapesu Lodge in a neighbouring private game reserve, 15 minutes’ drive away.
Activities
The centre piece of your visit is a guided walk to the top of Mapungubwe Hill where the kingdom’s rulers lived. Mapungubwe is the earliest known site in southern Africa characterized by class distinction and sacred leadership. From the site of the royal graves you will enjoy commanding views of the surrounding park and the Limpopo floodplain.
The Mapungubwe Museum is an award-winning architectural masterpiece which beautifully echoes the rugged nature of the surrounding geology and draws on vernacular building styles and themes in its design and construction.
Mapungubwe is a beautifully scenic travel destination in the middle of a Big Five game reserve. It offers game drives through varied terrain, including the Limpopo and Shashe River flood plains. Stretch your legs at numerous look-out points, enjoy the Tree Top Walk through a fever tree forest and a bush braai at one of the camps or picnic spots in the reserve.
Biodiversity
Mapungubwe is renowned for its dramatic landscape. Unique sandstone formations, woodlands, riverine forest and baobab trees combine to give it a unique character, quite distinct from South Africa’s other national parks.
It is a sanctuary for some of Africa’s the most threatened large mammals, such as the black rhinoceros, wild dog, cheetah, brown hyena and elephant. It also is one of the last protected areas of the Limpopo riverine forest.
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