A few kilometres from Halcyon is the National Park of Mapungupwe which stretches along the southern banks of the Limpopo river at it’s confluence with the Shashe river and where Botswana, Zimbabwe and South Africa meet .  This is not a large park in comparison to the Kruger but it does have animals and birds and you are able to self drive around the park.  What is very special about Mapungupwe is that in 1932 excavators found 23 burial sites on one of the hills and three of these belong to members of an ancient royal family.  Their remains were found bedecked in gold and other artefacts including the golden rhino which is the best known piece of ancient African art discovered to-date. This African Kingdom was established between 1220 and 1290AD and there is evidence showing that they traded in ivory and gold with other cultures including Asia.   There is an interpretive centre at the entrance to the park which is a great place to learn about this civilisation.

We had a leisurely afternoon drive around the park and even had a nice walk on the boardwalk that has been erected along the banks of the river and from where you get great views of any animals drinking at the river.  While we did not see a great deal of game on our drive, some elephants walked in front of the vehicle and we did see a small herd of Oryx, we had a beautiful drive.  We stoped many times to admire and photograph the baobab trees that are a feature of the landscape here and it is thought that some of the baobabs are between 300 and 500 years old.  They are most impressive. 

Tonight is the last night is Southern Africa for some of the guests who fly back to Australia tomorrow but for others there is still Cape Town and Victoria Falls.