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Boundless Southern Africa Expedition 15

Boundless Southern Africa Expedition 15

Author: Kingsley Holgate
Date: 2018-02-16

GREATER MAPUNGUBWE

In Zimbabwe, at Sentinel Ranch west of Beitbridge and close to the banks of the Limpopo and Shashe rivers, we meet Vanessa and Digby Bristow, a true salt-of-the-earth couple with a great love for this continent. They share their world of dinosaur bones, baobabs, ancient cultures and wildlife with us. Leaving the others to go back into South Africa by road, Johann Louw, Digby and I park Digby's battered old Series 3 Landy on the banks of the flooded Shashe and somewhat illegally, wade through the river with the historic calabash to the South African side.

I discover that Digby too, is a great practical joker. The Shashe becomes deeper and deeper with some unnerving waist-deep holes. Half way across, Digby dives under the water and pulls at my leg in a mock croc attack. I shit myself! We arrive giggling on the opposite bank, only to find the press and their cameras recording the prank - they thought it was part of the important TFCA renaming ceremony.

We have a bit of a scrub, put on long pants and smarten up to meet the environmental ministers of Zimbabwe, Botswana and South Africa. They've come to meet the expedition team and sign a three-country accord to rename this TFCA. From now on, it is to be called the Greater Mapungubwe TFCA, in recognition of the ancient, highly sophisticated civilisation of Mapungubwe, which became the largest in the subcontinent, and traded with Arabia, Egypt, India and China.

Mapungubwe is also known as the place of the famous 'Golden Rhino' - a handcrafted artefact that symbolised the power of the King of Mapungubwe whose people inhabited this Limpopo River valley around a millennium ago. The Golden Rhino lay in a grave from the time when Mapungubwe was abandoned (probably due to climatic changes around 1300AD) until it was found again in 1932 by an archaeology team from Pretoria University.

This is the fourth TFCA of our Boundless Expedition and links Mapungubwe in South Africa with Botswana's Tuli Block and the Tuli Safari Area of Zimbabwe. The Limpopo River cascades over the bonnets of the Landies as we cross over into Botswana. There's 'Boundless' energy around this expedition and within half an hour, we're in an open vehicle with researcher Craig Jackson for some of the finest sightings of the critically endangered African Wild Dog we've ever had.