Mapungubwe National Park
On the border with Botswana and Zimbabwe, history and nature come together. Here you look out over the place where the Sashe and Limpopo meet, while elephants move through the same landscape.
Discover everything about this location.
Where landscape and history come together.
Mapungubwe National Park tells a story that goes back centuries. Between 1000 and 1300 the city of Mapungubwe stood here, the centre of a pre-Shona kingdom. Its people lived from agriculture and cattle farming.
After 1300 the city fell into decline and disappeared from view. In 1932 a local resident reported the existence of the ancient city. Since then excavations have taken place that keep revealing more about the lives of the people who once lived here.
But Mapungubwe is not only about history. The park lies against Botswana and Zimbabwe. The Sashe and Limpopo also meet here. A landscape in which archaeology, rivers and wildlife come surprisingly close together.
From ancient city to elephant track.
Nature gives Mapungubwe a second story. Elephants are regularly seen here and a few rhinos also live in the park. Lions and leopards occur as well.
On a game drive you set the pace yourself. After that the day can end more simply. The sun goes down, the braai is lit and from the campsite you look back on a place where much more comes together than wildlife alone.
Mazhou Campsite lies in Mapungubwe National Park on the Limpopo River.
Plenty of reasons to keep looking a little longer.
- Take in the history of the ancient city of Mapungubwe.
- Between 1000 and 1300 the city was the centre of a pre-Shona kingdom.
- See the landscape around the confluence of the Sashe and Limpopo.
- Head out on your own game drive through the park.
- Look out for elephants and the rhinos that occur here.
- Lions and leopards also live in the area.
- End the day with sunset and a braai at the campsite.
Self-drive trips in the region
South Africa, eSwatini and Mozambique Beach & Safari
West Cape and Namaqualand hiking & 4x4
