Mapungubwe is a unique travel experience. It is one of the eight UNESCO World Heritage sites in South Africa, as well as being one of the Peace Park Foundation’s Transfrontier Conservation Area joining together once more these wild spaces of Botswana, Zimbabwe and South Africa. At the confluence of the Limpopo and Shashe rivers lies a series of walkways to lookout points over these mighty rivers where a vast stillness prevails. But hundreds of years ago, its geographic position made it a prime site for trade with India, China and Egypt. It is thought that the first Southern African class structure was to be found on Mapungubwe hill where the king and the ruling class surveyed their domain from on high. Up to 5000 commoners were believed to be scattered on the plains below. The secrets of these years between 800 and 1300 AD are hidden in the soil of Mapungubwe; hard beaten floors of huts, charcoal deposits from cooking fires, cattle bones and millet seeds are caught in the layers of earth and history. But on the hill itself were even greater treasures from the past. Buried with the royals were thousands of gold and glass beads as well as ceramics, pots and glassware showing a thriving trade with far-flung kingdoms via the Limpopo River. The best-known artefact and one synonymous with Mapungubwe Hill is the golden rhino buried along with a gold sceptre in the grave on an ancient king. Take a tour up Mapungubwe Hill with an experienced cultural guide; visit the award-winning Interpretation Centre; have sundowners at the meeting point of three countries or walk the wooden walkways through an Anna Tree Forest.
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