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I'm arranging a trip from south to north of knp in october 2008 and would love to visit Mapungubwe. Can you tell me what the road is like from Parfuri to Mapungubwe and is it a reasonable day's drive for two oldies. [We lived in Botswana years ago so are fairly used to the conditions.] Our last camp in knp will be 2 nights in sirheni.
Any info would be greatly appreciated.
Cheers Granjan

Hi and welcome, Granjan
We did it the opposite way, Mapungubwe, then Kruger north to south.
We left Mapungubwe main gate at about 7.30am, stopped in Musina for shopping and arrived at Pafuri gate by midday.
Sirheni is 89kms from Pafuri gate.
Have a great trip!

many thanks for the info, Freda and for the great report of your trip in 2006. I booked as soon as I finished reading it. Our first trip into the bush in Botswana more than twenty years ago was along the Tuli block in an old landy so it will be fantastic to see the river from the other side.

hi there,

I am preparing my next trip to RSA. Could you please advice how long does it take to drive from Marakele to Mapungubwe (kms and hours). What is the best itinerary?

Thanks for your help

We will be in KNP from the 31st to the 4th and fly back on the 9th evening. In KNP we will be in Bateleur, then Mopani and then in Olifants and are trying to decide whether Mapungubwe is also doable or whether we go to the Blyde River Canyon. If anyone has travelled from KNP to Manungubwe and could suggest whether its doable and worth it or whether we are better off going to Blyde? thanks a lot.

Hi sujaya! Assuming that you want to stay in Mapungubwe for one or more nights, the trip from Olifants is perfectly possible. The quickest route would be Kruger Phalaborwa Gate, Tzaneen, Louis Trichardt, Musina, Mapungubwe. Alternatively, if you leave Olifants as early as possible, you can also exit via Punda Maria Gate.

Hi overlandef! The best route to is the R510 and then the R572 passing Thabazimbi, Lephalale (Ellisras), Tom Burke and Alldays (where you should refuel). It's about 400km on good roads, which should take about 3,5 hours. Beware though, there are usually a lot of kudus and steenboks on/near the road - especially around dusk and dawn.

You can drive up in a day. The 5th I presume. The route via Punda as suggested above is the nicer (but slower one). It will give you 6, 7 and 8 for Mapungubwe if you drive down on the 9th + fly back. But driving back on the 9th might be a bit to stressed (+/-550-600 KM to OT). Depends on the time of departure of your flight. You'll also have to check availability of accommodation I guess.

Hi sujaya,

I don't know where you are from and will assume you are a foreign visitor.

My only experience of Mapungubwe is a one day bird outing but it is a great place and I am sure JoelR after spending some time there will echo this.

I might get a brick against the head for the next statement but am going to make it anyhow:
If you are indeed a foreign visitor I would suggest that as you would've seen most of the wildlife you will see in Mapungubwe (even though the habitats differ), that you take some time to view some of the other beautiful sights South Africa has to offer and the do the Blyde Canyon route or something similar.

South Africa has much more to offer than just the game reserves and then you have an excuse to come back to visit Mapungubwe in future

There you have your brick, francoisd.

Although I understand what Francois says, I must strongly disagree with the underlying sentiment that Mapungubwe is more of the same compared to Kruger. The ancient athmosphere of the sandstone ridges, the majestic riverine forest, the sense of historical significance of the many stone age and iron age sights provide a totally different experience than Kruger. Unsurpassable, in my humble but adopted-patriotic opion.

Animals you will see in Mapungubwe, but not in KNP are beautiful gemsbok and 's world biggest antelope - the eland (which occurs in Kruger but is very seldom seen).

Now after I have defended my favorite bunch of hectares in this world, I must also state that Francois is completely correct when he says that SA has lots of other beautiful sights to offer! Why don't you leave Olifants through Orpen Gate, then take in the amazing scenery of God's Window and the Three Rondawells, have pancakes at Dullstroom, find a place to overnight and THEN proceed to Mapungubwe for your last few days - an end in style.

The road back from Mapungubwe to OR Tambo takes just over 5 hours, if the traffic is normal and you adhere to the rules.

And finally, whoever you'll listen to - you're gonna have an incredible time in South Africa!

I'm wondering how long the drive is from Skukuza north to Mapungubwe is in real road time? Should we --rather than book back to back nights in the two places--try for someplace in between (Olifants, Letaba, or further north)? We are looking at the two weeks starting December 22 for our trip--as it seems is all of SA. Does the park service hold back some of the accomodations from the web--and maybe we could call direct?? Any thoughts would be appreciated. Thanks much--

Hi!

If you want to drive inside the Kruger, it is much too far! Rather book your second night at a camp higher up! In fact, even driving from Skukuza to Letaba is kind of a limit, since it is going to take you around 6 and a half hours. Remember that you are driving inside a nature reserve and will be driving slowly (maks 50 ku / but more likely around 30!), you will be stopping regularly to view animals.

If I were you I would book your first night in Skukuza / Lower Sabie, then the next in Letaba / Olifants and the last night in Punda Maria or maybe Shingwedzi, before leaving for Mapungubwe from Pafuri gate.

Driving outside the park is much faster.

If you battle getting reservations, try calling regularly. This is to pick up cancellations which often do happen. The best time is usually early mornings SA time.

Good luck!

I hope you have a wonderful visit!

Imberbe

Thanks much Imberbe,
Since I asked the question we found a single night in Letaba...so now we have Skukuza, then Letaba and on to Leokwe in Mapungubwe (I know it will be a long drive). The northern camps in Kruger have been full in the end of December for a while, unless my husband get inspired to call (he is in SA, I won't be there until December). So we'll just have to pass by some sights for our next visit. Will have to decide on the roads out side the park or inside though for the trip north.
Cheers

If your last night is in Letaba, I think that it would be best to leave the KNP at Phalaborwa gate, then head for Tzaneen, then the N1 (main freeway) up to Musina, and then on to Mapungubwe.

We are leaving early on Friday 12th December for Mapungubwe. The natural route for us ( from KZN ) would be to take the N3 through Joburg onto the N1 to Pretoria and Polokwane. My feeling is that this stretch of road will be really busy as most industry closes on this Friday. I do not want to leave at 1h00 to miss the rush, nor at 6h00 to get there after it, so we did some looking on Mapsource and have found a route through Newcastle and then Volksrust on to Ermelo,Groblersdal and then join the N1 near Mokopane ( cant remember what it was called before). Does anyone have some advice about the condition of this stretch of road. I know that a lot of coal trucks use it to come down to the terminal in Durban. We are towing a small trailer and would not like to damage anything in large potholes.The road is the N11 if that helps. Please help.