Besides its rich wildlife heritage and scenic splendour, the Great North is also known for its wealth of historical and cultural haunts. Having settled here centuries ago, the peoples of this land form part of a colourful mosaic every tourist has to experience.

The Pedi, a great nation of African descent, formed their homeland centuries ago in the platinum-rich east. Under the reign of Chief Sekhukhune, they adapted to this harsh landscape that moulded their lifestyle and traditions. A great change was also brought about to the lifes of the indigenous tribes with the arrival of the Voortrekkers - European settlers who left the Cape to start a new life in the unknown wilderness of the hinterland.

This "invasion" of their territory by Europeans led to great conflict and resulted in many bloody battles. In the history of the Limpopo Province (previously Northern Province) one will find many incidents of settlement and conflict, of war and peace. The statue of the Long Tom cannon that can be viewed in Haenertsberg is a silent symbol to the battles fought on and for this land, in this case the Anglo-Boer War and the heroes and stories that came out of it.

Along with the Voortrekkers came the missionaries, inspired by the courage of faith, and they brought Western houses of belief and education to the indigenous peoples. Those pioneers who moved even further to the north found the highly arable soil and scorching, temperate climate suited to their agricultural, and later industrial, lifestyle. Their culture has brought a rich foreign dimension to the African plains already housing a fascinating mix of African cultures from as far afield as Central Africa.

Africa is known for her folklore and myths and the Northern Province is no exception. East of Tzaneen, in the dense subtropical and cycad forests of the Letaba district northern Escarpment, the spirit of another ancient African people lives on in the legend of Modjadji, the revered Rain Queen.   While this illustrious title is still given ritualistically in modern times, its lustre lies more in mythology

and history: a 16th Century Karanga (a modern-day tribe in Zimbabwe) princess crossed the Limpopo fleeing enemies and settled in the cycad forests to the south-east.  

She and her followers possessed a rain magic, which was powerful enough to scare off attackers during the great internecine conflicts of the 19th Century and earned the respect of leaders as great as Shaka himself.

The Limpopo Province is characterised by its contrasting landscapes - within a radius of 300km tourists will find rolling bushveld, subtropical forest, highveld grassland savannah and, further north, a landscape of rich, deep soil covered by thorn trees and a surprisingly uniform topography. 

The northern part of the Limpopo Province is the flattest, largest basin in the world. The land changes again moving to the west, where the Waterberg rises in great masses of syenite, a rock similar to granite. This area features the fertile soil of an extinct volcano, giving life to an astonishing abundance of plant and animal species. Travelling eastward, the Bushveld Igneous Complex meets the lush emerald foliage of subtropical forests and bushy plains give way to citrus plantations.

North of the forests, the terrain becomes even more beguiling, treating the visitor to a tropical parkland interspersed with mopani and baobab trees. The history of the people who have lived here is reflected in the area's geological features.

Makapansgat Caves and limeworks near Potgietersrus is an archaeological site of global importance, reflecting the lifestyle and culture of the first people to discover gold and thrive on the area's bushveld plains. During the Battle of Makapan which was fought here centuries later, soldiers found sanctuary from attackers in a place once used as the home of a Stone Age tribe.