Road report - Getting to & from Mapungubwe

[iNdlovu]

Keep us updated with road conditions.

[Bushveld Jock]

There are two options to travel from Pretoria to Mapungubwe NP:

Option 1:

Pretoria to Polokwane N1- highway with 4 Toll gates around R40 each
Polokwane to Vivo R521 (distance 101 km ) - Road in general good condition. Traffic volume of truck can be high in case of closure of Verwoerd tunnels near Louis Trichardt.
Vivo to All Days (distance 45 km ) - Road in poor condition, large pot holes or areas with no tar. Sometimes its better to drive off-road.

All Days - Mapungubwe (Distance ~ 50 km) - Road in good condition with a few small potholes

Total Distance from Polokwane: 196 km

Option 2:

Pretoria to Polokwane N1- highway with 4 toll gates around R40 each
Polokwane to Musina N1 (Distance ~ 198 km) - highway and bypass at Polokwane with two toll gates. Verwoerd tunnels and pass can be a bottle neck and some times closed in case of accident or truck stuck in tunnels.
Musina to Mapungubwe R572 (Distance 63 km) - excellant road.

Total Distance from Polokwane: 261 km

Best road conditions is option 2
Most expensive route and longest distance option 2

If you do not mind bad potholes for ~ 20 km and prefer to cut cost option 1 might be the better option.

[arks]

Is the best route from Joburg (Melville) to Mapungubwe still the N1 to Polokwane and then the R521 to Alldays and then onwards to the R572? Any detours or other problems?

And is the bridge still out on the R572 between Mapungubwe and Mussina? Is the detour there well marked? I'll be travelling from Mapungubwe to Pafuri via the R572, R508 and R525. Any other problems or detours that I need to know about?

I'll be driving a normal sedan, most likely a VW Polo.

[Toko]

Is the best route from Joburg (Melville) to Mapungubwe still the N1 to Polokwane and then the R521 to Alldays and then onwards to the R572? Any detours or other problems?

Ja The roads have been in better condition than prev years (in August), less potholes than usually but still some

[arks]

Is the best route from Joburg (Melville) to Mapungubwe still the N1 to Polokwane and then the R521 to Alldays and then onwards to the R572? Any detours or other problems?

Ja The roads have been in better condition than prev years (in August), less potholes than usually but still some

Many thanks, Toko. Were you there in August? How is it without the hides? Is the river road in the western part of the park open?

[Toko]

The western river road is open, but the pan where the hide was had dried up, so not many animals around. The western section is not very exciting , I think, without hide and no water in the pan.

But I find the eastern section also more rewarding with a 4x4, you can go eastwards from the picnic spot which is a lovely drive along the river with good game viewing and also the Kannidood loop is good for animal encounters. Not much too see there either with a sedan on the dry season, I think, except stunning scenery and good birding on the boardwalk.

But I would definitely book a camp in the eastern section

[arks]

thanks for those details, Toko. I'm booked two nights (but only one day) in Limpopo Forest tented camp and then two nights in Leokwe. I really enjoyed the river road in the western part of the park and also had amazing elephant sightings -- breeding herd with cows with calves passing within 3 metres of me -- in the area quite near the tented camp. And terrific birding in both parts of the park. I'm really looking forward to this visit, even without the hides and the pan. Holding thumbs for adding some summer visitors to my bird list.

[Toko]

Birding was also good on the western river road, found a Little bee-eater and found Southern Pied babbler on the raod to the broken hide (first time I saw them in Mapungubwe )