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Northern Province - Tzaneen |
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In Limpopo Province, to the east of Pietersburg, on the N1 national highway. A quiet, lushly garlanded and treed town, which started life as a research station (this was in the vanguard of the anti-malaria campaign of the 1930s) and named after the local Tzaneng people. Today it is the centre of the hugely productive, beautiful Great Letaba farming area: the well-watered, green and pleasant river valley supports vast tea plantations, citrus, coffee, cotton, winter vegetables, pecan and macadamia nuts and fine crops of such subtropical and tropical fruits as pawpaws, bananas and litchis. One visits Tzaneen mainly for the many and various attractions of the surrounding countryside. Tzaneen Museum Small but well worth an hour of your time; exhibits include traditional pottery, weaponry, musical instruments and local history. Tzaneen Dam A fine stretch of water, part of a nature reserve also comprising grassland and, a little farther out, by deep-green pine forest. Excellent for fishing (black bass, yellow fish, tilapia), rambling, bird-watching (150 species recorded within the reserve), relaxing. Magoebaskloof The magical, misty hills to the west are covered in thick forest, much of it plantation but there are also some large and lovely natural patches. The odd name of these uplands derives from Makgoba, a 19thcentury chieftain who defied the authorities and led his people into hiding in the dense upland reaches of the kloof. He was eventually flush out and executed by a government- recruited force of Swazi soldiers. To the north of the 1,370-metre summit is the exquisite Woodbush, a place of ironwoods and cabbage trees and red stinkwoods which the writer John Buchan, author of The Thirty Nine Steps and latterly governor-general of Canada, treasured in memory. 'Two pictures I have always carried to cheer me in dismal places', he wrote. 'One is of a baking noon on the highveld. The other is the Woodbush… You climb to it through bare foothills, and then suddenly you cross a ridge and enter a garden. The Woodbush itself is the extreme of richness and beauty. The winds blow as clear as in mid-ocean …'. Debegeni Waterfall A lovely cascade in forest surrounds that invites picnickers and strollers. Ebenezer Dam In the Letaba River Valley, and popular among angling, boating and watersports enthusiasts. George's Valley The George in question was an early road builder with an eye for beauty and, apparently, an unlimited budget: he made gratuitous detours to bring the best of views to travellers. The valley is still well worth driving through. New Agatha Forest Equally enchanting. The Rooikat trail will take you along the banks of a pretty stream. The forest also embraces one of South Africa's finest country hotels, the Coach House Inn (in the later 1800s it served as a staging post for the Zeederberg coach company). Sapekoe Tea Estate On offer are plantation and factory tours; the countryside is enchanting and, naturally, there's a tea garden. Wolkberg Wilderness Area Among the country's most splendid wildernesses, the Wolkberg's rugged, lonely hills and valleys, pristine grasslands, forest patches, waterfalls and tumbling streams are for the real lover of untouched Africa. Game isn't too plentiful - cannabis-growing renegades shot it out in the early days - but you can occasionally spot the rock-loving, sure-footed klipspringer and other antelope. Leopard and hyena are also in residence. Bird life is prolific, the raptors magnificent. The Wolkberg can be explored on foot (no cars allowed). Duiwelskloof A charming village just to the north of Tzaneen, and a convenient stop for refreshment on the road to the Modjadji Reserve (see below). Realm of the Rain Queen Otherwise known as the Modjadji, a figure of considerable mystery and romance, enjoying immortality and mystical powers over man and the elements. The English novelist Rider Haggard based his best-selling novel 'She' on the Rain Queen, a mysterious personage who was (it is thought) a princess of the Karangan empire to the north, in present-day Zimbabwe, and who fled south to found the Lobedu clan. There is a Rain Queen still - the title is passed down through the generations - and she is still asked to intercede in times of drought. Part of the Rain Queen's domain comprises a forest reserve of giant cycad trees, the largest concentration of this particular species (Encephalartos transvenosus, also known as the Modjadji palm) in the world. These plants are of enormously ancient origin: they dominated the earth's flora before the advent of flowering plants. For visitors, there are fine views, one or two vaguely marked walking trails, a souvenir shop and information office. Pietersburg/Polekwane lies due west, Louis Trichardt is located to the north. |
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TZANEEN Western Cape
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