Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
ing trips, village walks and visits to the park can be arranged. Breakfast costs US$5 extra
and local-style lunch and dinner are available. Advance bookings are recommended.
Getting There & Away
The main park entrance on the Mozambique side is
Massingir Gate
( 6am-6pm)
,
about 5km from Massingir town (which has an ATM). It's reached via a signposted turn-
off from the N1 at Macia junction that continues through Chokwé town (where there's
also an ATM) on to Massingir. While daily
chapas
go between Maputo's Junta and
Massingir (Mtc180), there is currently no possibility for onward transport within the park,
so Limpopo remains primarily a self-drive destination.
To enter Limpopo from South Africa's Kruger park, you'll also need to pay Kruger
park entry fees, and Kruger's gate quota system applies (see
www.sanparks.org
for in-
formation).
If you transit between the Pafuri border crossing, at Limpopo's northern tip, and Vil-
ankulo, it's worth detouring about 30km before reaching Mapinhane to visit the over-
grown ruins of
Manyikeni
(signposted to the north of the Mapinhane road). Manyikeni
was once the seat of a major trading centre and chieftaincy which was occupied between
the 13th and 17th centuries, and which had links to Great Zimbabwe. At the moment the
site is neglected, although it has been proposed for inclusion as a Unesco World Heritage
site.
The closest tanking up stations on the Mozambique side are in Xai-Xai, Chókwè and
Massingir. Travelling via Mapai, there is no fuel until Mapinhane.
THE GAZA KINGDOM
Gaza province is now famous for its beaches and coastal lakes, but as recently as the mid-19th century it was
renowned as the seat of the kingdom of Gaza, one of the most influential in Mozambican history. At the height of
its power around the 1850s, it stretched from south of the Limpopo River northward to the Zambezi and westward
into present-day Zimbabwe, Swaziland and South Africa.
One of Gaza's most famous chiefs was Soshangane, who ruled most of southern Mozambique from his base at
Chaimite. Soshangane died in 1858 and was succeeded by his son, Umzila, who in turn was succeeded by his son,
Ngungunhane. Ngungunhane's first priority was to defend the Gaza kingdom from ever-increasing European en-
croachment. While outwardly acknowledging Portuguese sovereignty, he allowed raiding parties to attack Por-
