位于南非最北端的马蓬古布韦国家公园(Mapungubwe National Park)是那种第一眼就能让人感受到荒凉美感的地方。这里不仅是地理意义上南非、博茨瓦纳与津巴布韦三国的交界地,更是南部非洲文明的摇篮。早在公元900年左右,这里就诞生了一个极其繁荣的贸易帝国。2003年,联合国教科文组织正式将这一区域列入世界遗产名录,承认了其在非洲历史中不可替代的地位。这片占地约28000公顷的荒原如今归属南非国家公园管理,是历史发烧友和摄影爱好者躲避大众游客的理想之地。
说到马蓬古布韦,绕不开那座具有神秘色彩的砂岩台地。马蓬古布韦山(Mapungubwe Hill)是当年国王与皇室成员居住的圣地,普通平民则散落在山脚下的平原上。考古学家在这里挖掘出了大量精美的金器,其中最著名的莫过于那只纯金打造的小犀牛。这件国宝级文物现在虽然陈列在大学博物馆里,但当你站在那座险峻的山头上俯瞰四方,依然能感受到当年那个掌握了黄金、象牙贸易的强大王国的气场。虽然现在登顶需要预约导览,但这种穿越千年的沉浸感绝对值得那点儿体力和门票支出。
距离公园入口不远的解说中心(Interpretation Centre)也是一处必看点。这个建筑本身就非常惊人,它由大约20万块用当地土壤压制的环保土砖砌成,还拿下了2009年的世界建筑奖。中心内部通过大量交互展示还原了金犀牛王国的兴衰,建议大家在进入游猎区之前先在这里花上一小时。你会发现这不只是一个自然景点,更是一部刻在红色砂岩上的编年史。值得注意的是,博物馆通常在下午四点左右就停止入场,想要仔细看的游客一定要掐好时间。
钱的问题咱得算清楚,对于国际游客,马蓬古布韦的成人每日保护费目前大约是284兰特,建议出发前查看官网获取最新报价。交完费后的第一个目的地通常是汇流点观景台(Confluence Viewpoint)。站在这里的木栈道上,左手边是津巴布韦,右手边是博茨瓦纳,脚下则是南非。林波波河(Limpopo River)与沙谢河(Shashe River)在这里交汇,尽管在旱季河水可能只剩下干涸的河床,但那种一望无际、三境同框的空间感在整个南非都很难找到第二个。
除了看河,一定要去树顶步道(Treetop Boardwalk)走一遭。这条长约100米的木制步道悬挂在林波波河畔的高大树木之间,让你能以一种俯瞰的视角观察河岸生态。运气好的话,象群就从你脚下的灌木丛中慢悠悠地经过。这里的猴面包树也特别出名,有些树龄超过一千年,树干粗壮到需要十几个人合抱。清晨六点半出发时冷到需要抱着热水杯,但当阳光洒在这些饱经沧桑的大树上,那种原始的生命力确实能让人暂时忘掉长途跋涉的疲惫。
别以为这是个普通的动物园,马蓬古布韦的路况比著名的克鲁格国家公园要野得多。虽然主干道还算好走,但如果你想去一些深度观景点,一辆高底盘的4x4越野车几乎是刚需。尤其是在雨季,普通的小型轿车很容易在泥泞的沙石路上打滑。租车时多花点钱换个大车,到了园子里你会感谢这个决定的。另外,这里属于低度疟疾区,虽然不是重灾区,但随身带点驱蚊喷雾总没坏处,特别是傍晚在营地喝酒聊天的时候。
关于季节选择,五月到九月的旱季是公认的最佳游览期。这时候天气虽然干冷,但草木稀疏,找大象和长颈鹿变得容易许多,也不会被夏季那种近40摄氏度的高温烤得头晕眼花。说真的,这里的野生动物密度虽然比不上克鲁格,但胜在宁静。你完全可以独自守着一个水塘,等上一两个小时看角马喝水,这种不被打扰的旷野体验才是马蓬古布韦最迷人的地方。出发前记得带个高质量的望远镜,毕竟这里的视野极其开阔,远处的动物往往就在你一眨眼间隐没在红色的岩石后。
虽然通往主要观景台和营地的道路经过硬化处理,普通家用车在旱季勉强能行,但园内大部分支路和深度探索区域都是沙石路或崎岖地形。强烈建议租赁底盘较高的越野车或SUV,以确保能够进入所有开放的游猎区域并应对突发降雨带来的路况恶化。
目前在公园内的解说中心陈列的是金犀牛的复刻品及相关历史介绍,真正的金犀牛原件及其他重要的黄金陪葬品现藏于比勒陀利亚大学(University of Pretoria)的博物馆中。不过解说中心的建筑设计和文物复刻水平极高,依然是了解马蓬古布韦文明最直观的窗口。
马蓬古布韦拥有狮子、豹子和大象,但水牛和犀牛在这里非常罕见或基本没有分布,因此并不以凑齐非洲五霸为主要卖点。这里的核心体验在于独特的红色砂岩地貌、千年猴面包树以及具有深厚底蕴的历史遗迹,野生动物观赏更多是作为景观的补充。
出于对历史遗迹的保护,马蓬古布韦山是不允许游客私自攀爬的,必须由专业的持证导游带领。导览通常每天定时出发且有名额限制,每人费用大约在200至300兰特左右,建议至少提前一天在接待中心或通过电话预约以确保位置。
南非国家公园管理局(SANParks)在园内运营着 Leokwe 等几处高水平的营地,提供带有厨房和独立卫浴的丛林小屋,还有适合露营的场地。这些营地通常非常抢手,尤其是在南非学校放假期间,建议提前三到六个月通过官网完成预订。
nathi mnengela We spent 3 nights at Tshugulu Lodge. We enjoyed every minute of our stay. Tshugulu is 20 km away from the reception, it is very quiet, we didn't see animals at the lodge except the baboons. The eastern section of the park has a lot to see. We went there and saw a herd of elephants, the zebras, Mpalas, wildebeests and the birds. We also went to the view deck where we saw confluence point where South Africa Botswana and Zimbabwe meets. We will definitely come back to Mapungubwe
Geoff Maud A great stay in the campsite and very interesting tour with the Parks tour guide of the Mapumgubwe mountains. Was amazed at the history of the area. Could not sleep at night owing to the lions roaring all night.
Christo Vosloo I have visited this park many times and plan to do so again. The greatest thing to me is that it has a 'wild' atmosphere. Also the landscape is amazing! Update after April 2024 visit. Sadly the facilities in the park are in dire need of maintainance and upkeep, particularly but not exclusively those on the western side .
Ivan Putter Incredible national park, with breath-taking views of many very diverse habitats. A must visit for birding enthusiasts! Accommodation at Leokwe camp was lovely. The chalet was well equipped, clean and very spacious. The outside shower was a cool experience.
Liezel Cromhout We visited Mapungubwe during early January 2024. We stayed over in different camps. We spent 3 nights in Leokwa Self Catering Chalets. The chalets are very comfortable and spacious. The self catering kitchens inside the chalets are very well equipped and had most items we needed. General maintenance are needed for the chalets such as painting, checking that all electrical equipment are in working order such as ceiling fans, toasters, kettles, lights, geysers, etc. We enjoyed the swimming pool with a water hole at the Leokwa Camp from where you can see animals and if you are lucky elephants and other game come to drink from the water hole. There are no shops so you need to bring everything from food, braai accessories, drinks, ice, etc. The chalets does have a fridge/freezer but the nearest towns are Alldays and Musina which is 60 plus km from Mapungubwe with very bad maintained roads full of potholes which forced us to drive next to the tar road on the gravel most of the way at very low speed and still ended up with a cut in one of our tires. We were lucky enough to reach Alldays to have the tyre fixed. It is also advisable to drive slow and to try and avoid the potholes where possible although it makes the trip to town 3 times slower. Also keep the doors and windows of the chalets closed and check your chalet regularly for unwelcome "guests" as we found a puff adder snake right next to my bed at about 03h30 in the morning on the day we checked out. All things considered we enjoy staying at Mapungubwe and we will visit again soon.