Rixile Culture to Kruger Route

Mopane worms and marula berries:

The Mopane Worm:

The mopane worm (Imbrasia belina) is a large, edible caterpillar that forms the basis of a multi-million rand trade in the Limpopo Province and Mpumalanga in South Africa, Botswana and Zimbabwe.

The mopane worm feeds on the mopane tree, Colophospermum mopane. The adult stage is a large and attractive Emperor moth (Family Saturnidae). The worm is an important source of protein and income to many people in Africa. However, the trade is threatened by over-harvesting and mopane worms are now rare or extinct in some areas.

One of the greatest problems is the shortsighted destruction of large mopane trees as a way of harvesting worms that are too high to reach. Mopane worms are being studied to try and find out more about the extent to which this resource can be harvested on a sustainable basis.

Mopane Worm Recipe:

Caterpillars are prepared for eating by squeezing out the gut contents before they are fried in their own body fat or boiled in a little water. Most of the caterpillars are dried so that they can be stored for use throughout the year. Dried caterpillars may be eaten dry as a snack or rehydrated and cooked in a little water before they are fried in oil with onion and tomato. They may be served with pap (maize-meal porridge), onion and tomato gravy and atchar (chili sauce).

The Marula:

The Marula is a handsome, medium-sized spreading tree of wooded savannah and belongs to the mango (Anacardiaceae) family. It favours sandy soils in the warmer, eastern parts of the continent, where it may grow up to 15m in height.

Few African trees are held in such high esteem by indigenous peoples. The marula has a multitude of uses in terms of diet and culture. The abundant crop of fruit, high in vitamin C, is a source of jelly and jam as well as the basis for potent liquor. This has been commercialised in recent times as Amarula Cream - one of South Africa's most successful exports.

In addition to the flesh of the fruit - a single tree can produce over 10000 -  the oil-rich seeds or 'nuts' are also sought after by people and a variety of animals. The Zulu people crush and boil the seeds, skim off the oil and use it as a therapeutic body massage while the Venda people are said to use the oil to preserve meat. The seeds are difficult to extract from the stone-like kernel, but the Cape Parrot is able to do so with its strong beak.

Elephants are fanatical about the grey bark of Marulas and, when they occur at high densities, can eliminate entire communities of these valuable trees through destructive ring-barking.

Metalworking Sites in Phalaborwa:

The majority of the sites in Phalaborwa are associated with the syenite hills that stud the area. The settlement style of the metalworkers indicates a geographical separation of primary (ore smelting) and secondary (iron forging and copper smelting and forging) metalworking activities. The metalworkers and their families lived on terraces located on the hill slopes and level ground. Iron and copper smelting furnaces were located far from the living quarters. Iron forge furnaces, on which iron bloom was forged, were built close to where people lived. This pattern is consistent with an ideology in which smelting was practised with ritual and associated with many taboos. Smelting was done away from villages so that menopausal women could not attend or interfere with these activities. Medicinal holes in iron smelting furnaces and certain iron forge furnaces served as receptacles for 'medicine' such as human hand bones. Other possible 'medicines' included remains from aardvark, lions and neonatal sheep. Some of these medicines were used to appease the forefathers to ensure a successful smelt.

Geographical separation of smelters’ working areas from residential areas may indicate that smelters were “married” to their furnaces during smelting periods and consequently abstained from sexual intercourse with women during times of iron and coppers smelting. The metalworking process was also regarded as a metaphor for human sexual intercourse, fertility and fecundity. Metalworking eventually became entrenched in the political, social, religious and other aspects of the lives of metalworkers.

The Phalaborwa Gate and Kruger National Park:

The Phalaborwa Gate opened in June 1961 and currently receives an average of 180000 visitors (approximately 55000 vehicles) per annum. The Kruger National Park was proclaimed in 1926 to protect the wildlife of the Lowveld and now covers an area of about 20000 kilometres squared. It is unrivalled in the diversity of its life forms and a world leader in advanced environmental management techniques and policies.

The Park is home to an impressive 336 tree species, 49 fish species, 34 amphibian species, 114 reptile species, 507 bird species and 147 mammal species.

Activities such as guided bushwalks, night and day game drives, 4X4 overland trails and bush braai (barbeque) are offered. Facilities include the Skukuza 9-hole golf course, conference facilities, picnic facilities, swimming pools, restaurants and various forms of accommodation including camping, sleepover hides, cottages, huts and guest houses.

With the establishment of the Greater Limpopo Transfrontier Park, two border posts linking the Kruger National Park to Mozambique are in the process of being developed. The first is the Pafuri Border Post just south of Crooks Corner. The second is at Giriyondo in the northern section between Letaba and Mopani Camps. Culturally there is ample evidence of Middle Stone Age humans in the area. There is also evidence of Early Stone Age (some 500000 to 100000 years ago) humans in the area.

There are also about 80 rock art sites in the area (rock art is generally thought to have been made by the San people) and evidence of Iron Age people dating from recent history back to about 20000 years ago. About 300 archaeological Iron Age sites have also been discovered, dating from recent history to 450AD.

The Kruger to Canyons Biosphere Reserve:

The Kruger to Canyons Biosphere is an area designated by the United Nations Education and Scientific Organisation (Unesco) as an International Man and Biosphere Reserve (the Biosphere).

Biospheres are regions of outstanding ecological importance seeking a sustainable balance between the needs of mankind and nature. The Kruger to Canyons Biosphere faces South Africa's defining millennium issues: economic development, equitable governance, and empowerment.

The natural environment introduces conservation imperatives into the transformation of the country being undertaken by the government. A new philosophy of African Renaissance has emerged to underpin the imperatives for transformation across the continent. The empowerment of African people is creating new opportunities for cooperation and conservation in South Africa. The Biosphere is an expression of these cultural and political changes. The Transfrontier Park initiatives and recent recognition of the Greater Mapungubwe Cultural Complex will offer the chance to re-integrate cultures that have been historically disrupted and separated by European colonisation.

The Kruger to Canyons Biosphere contains three major biomes (distinctive biogeographic regions): dry savannah woodlands, Afromontane forest and Afromontane grassland.

As the altitude (and consequently rainfall) increases from east to west, a great biodiversity can be witnessed progressing from scrub and savannah upwards into South Africa’s unique fynbos floral system, rainforests, and climax grasslands on the top of the escarpment, where water is more abundant.

The reserve’s website offers a Lowveld resources section which includes a calendar of local events, books and recommended websites on the Lowveld or Kruger.

It also contains:

• A comprehensive bibliography and glossary relating to the site's materials;
• News relating to the Kruger region;
• A discussion board; and
• A Kruger Region events calendar which people can add to.