Mapungupwe National Park

Tuesday 6 April to Friday 9 April

Lockdown Day 376 to 379

And we're on the road again... It's a lovely drive between Tzaneen and Messina. Messina is a wild border town and to be avoided if possible. The R572 westwards has to be the worst road for potholes in the country. 

Mapungupwe means 'Stone Monuments', and was a kingdom settled from the 11 to 13th Century. It's a world heritage site now and the museum is worth a visit and a guided trip to the site is highly recommended. We have done this on previous visits. The park is divided into 2 sections with private land owned by De Beers in between. On past visits we have camped at Mazhou in the Western section ( there is a tented camp as well) where the birding is fabulous.

This time we opted for Leokwe, the main camp set amidst rocky outcrops on the Eastern side. Clusters of very nice chalets with gorgeous views and a lovely natural infinity pool.

There is also a bush camp, Vehmbe, and a couple of private lodges in the East.

Mapungupwe is a big 5 reserve but sightings of the big cats or rhino are rare. It is one of the most scenic national parks in South Africa though and we enjoyed seeing so many Klipspringer; even around our chalet, which you don't always see in Kruger.

There's no data or phone signal in Leokwe but every day we drove out on the 4x4 track to Khongoni to catch up on news, email and messages with a lovely view over the Limpopo River into Zimbabwe. I dyed my hair pink one afternoon just to bring some crazy spontaneity back into my life. PS I am the world's worst selfie-taker...