Results 11 to 20 of 31
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05-05-2017, 11:45 #11
- Join Date
- Dec 2010
- Location
- Boland
- Posts
- 8,005
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05-05-2017, 12:32 #12
- Join Date
- Jul 2013
- Age
- 49
- Posts
- 2,040
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05-05-2017, 13:59 #13
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05-05-2017, 14:16 #14
- Join Date
- Mar 2011
- Location
- West Rand, Gauteng
- Age
- 75
- Posts
- 2,648
Re: Mapungubwe national park, anyone been there?
I haven't been there recently but was there with SADF in the 80s. A little known fact is that the base (maybe dismantled by now) was the SADF drug rehab centre in the 70s -named Greeswald! Historically Jan Smuts used to frequent the point where he camped when he needed to think. Pres PW Botha also has/had a cottage there.
Was in the area recently going across to Moshatu in Bots at PontDrift in the cable car. Fun!
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05-05-2017, 15:17 #15
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05-05-2017, 18:03 #16
- Join Date
- Aug 2009
- Location
- Centurion
- Posts
- 129
Re: Mapungubwe national park, anyone been there?
Yep, spent a couple of weeks in the army camp in the early 70s. The admin staff in the camp could walk around the reserve freely on the weekends. I found it to be a great place to wander around and view the game that was plentiful at the time.
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07-05-2017, 15:10 #17
- Join Date
- Jul 2013
- Age
- 49
- Posts
- 2,040
Re: Mapungubwe national park, anyone been there?
The famous golden rhino that was discovered at Mapungubwe in 1934 is today on display at the British museum!
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07-05-2017, 18:16 #18
- Join Date
- Jun 2015
- Location
- Cape Town
- Posts
- 286
Re: Mapungubwe national park, anyone been there?
It's on loan in the UK as part of an African art exhibition, it's the first time it has left the country. It and the other artefacts from the site have been stored at Tuks since they were excavated.
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07-05-2017, 18:19 #19
- Join Date
- Feb 2015
- Age
- 66
- Posts
- 246
Re: Mapungubwe national park, anyone been there?
The camp in the 70s was called Greefswald or "the vault" set up for so called rehab of drug addicts and gays, The belief by some "Shrinks" from 1 Mill hospital was that if you fucked these guys up they would return to "normal". The official unit name at the time was ECoy 4 SAI.
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09-05-2017, 09:31 #20
- Join Date
- Oct 2013
- Location
- Rustenburg
- Age
- 53
- Posts
- 1,248
Re: Mapungubwe national park, anyone been there?
I have a farm up there near Alldays (inherited from my dad recently) so love that area and its special habitat. We go to the park on Sundays whenever we take a breather from hunting. If it is scenery you want to see this is one of the best places in SA. There are 2 parks, divided by a section of private land. You access at the main gate. I can recommend a braai/picnic at one of the sites allowed - so plan your day. The viewing points at the confluence of the Limpopo and Shashe is almost worth a full day. It would be ideal to view a sunset there in winter - with a northerly sun. But gate times would not allow. The tree top walk is another must do, excellent must spend an hour at least! We had the fortunate experience of arriving there with a herd of elephants right below us. MAGIC!
The 2nd part of the park has some of the most spectacular Fever tree and African Leadwood (Hardekool - Combretum Imberbe) forests you will see in SA. Some of the trees are massive and certainly in the class of 400+ years. You drive through the forest in awe.
Just to put some context to the animal population. Alldays and the surrounding bushveld is not high capacity farming area - low around 15 /ha live stock unit (groot vee eenheid). So game density is much lower than KNP's south. Yes there is the Riverine forest, but it is a very small band of habitat. Trust me when the drought was full blown and day time temps are in excess of 40C very few animals survive. But to drive through those very typical koppies down to the river and you see the abundant klipspringer - you forget about herds of Wildebeest and Impala ;) Sometime lucky to see a leopard or just pick up his night time tracks.
I have not been to the Visitor centre yet. One thing I do like about the Park it is not crowded.
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