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Limpopo province is South Africa's no-man's-land: a hot, thornbush-covered area caught between the dynamic heartland of Gauteng and, to the north, the Limpopo River, which acts as South Africa's border with Zimbabwe and, further west, Botswana. Running through the centre of this no-man's-land is the busy N1 highway, here often called the Great North Road. The N1 links a series of towns established by the Voortrekker settlers; most of these are little more than service centres for the surrounding farmland, and few have any real attraction beyond what they offer on a practical level - somewhere to sleep or eat while en route to somewhere else. All have significant black populations, though the prevailing flavour of the towns is strongly Afrikaner, with little in the landscape to lighten the sometimes uncomfortable tone this sets. The N1 is also South Africa's umbilical cord to the rest of Africa, and the importance of the N1 overshadows the rest of the province.
The eastern side of the province is game-rich lowveld, dominated by the seventy-kilometre-wide strip of Kruger National Park abutting the Mozambique border. This part of Limpopo is covered along with Kruger itself in the preceding chapter. The principal attractions of the rest of the province lie in its three wild and distinctive mountain escarpments. The most significant of these is the first rise of the Drakensberg Escarpment, on its long and often spectacular sweep through South Africa from north to south, marking the descent from highveld to lowveld. There's a lot to see in the mountains themselves, especially in the haunting, forested slopes of the Letaba area immediately to the east of Polokwane, the provincial capital. This region of lakes and waterfalls also provides some excellent walking and comfortable country guesthouses.
Name changes in Limpopo
The Northern Province was renamed Limpopo in 2002 and the capital, Pietersburg, was subsequently renamed Polokwane. A number of other towns with "colonial" names have also undergone official name changes, with more likely to follow suit in the future, though the old names won't fall out of use all that quickly, especially as the amending of signage is proving a slow process.

On the tranquil and remote western side of the N1 lies the sedate Waterberg massif. Once a domain of cattle farming and hunting, in the last two decades the area has transformed into a region dedicated to wildlife conservation, becoming a UNESCO Biosphere and offering malaria-free Big Five game viewing. In the north, lying parallel to the Limpopo River and bisected by the N1, are the subtropical Soutpansberg Mountains, and the intriguing and still very independently minded Venda region, a homeland during the apartheid era, to the east. North of the Soutpansberg are wide plains dominated by surreal baobab trees, much in evidence along the N1 as it leads to the only (very busy) border post between South Africa and Zimbabwe, at Beitbridge. The only viable alternative if you want to get to Zimbabwe from South Africa is the Groblersbrug/Martin's Drift border crossing (daily 8am-4pm) on the N11, although this means detouring through Botswana.

For all its grand title, the N1 has only recently seen a major upgrading, but by South African standards it is now fast and easy, if often busy. It becomes a toll road from just before Modimolle to Polokwane, and then again from Polokwane to Makhado south of the Soutpansberg Mountains. Though it's possible to use alternative roads, the charges aren't crippling for a one-off journey, and don't merit skimping on. As regards public transport, Greyhound, Intercape and Translux buses ply the N1 between Johannesburg and Beitbridge, stopping at Bela-Bela, Polokwane, Makhado and Musina; most services carry on to either Bulawayo and Victoria Falls or Harare in Zimbabwe. Northlink Tours runs buses between Tzaneen and Johannesburg via Polokwane. These and other routes are also covered by minibus taxis from any moderately sized town; the best way to find out where they're going and when they depart is to enquire at the taxi rank.

Parts of Limpopo are malarial; you will need to take prophylactics, and exercise caution against mosquitoes if you are travelling in the lowveld, including Kruger National Park, or north of the Soutpansberg Mountains. The Waterberg and Letaba areas were not affected at the time of writing, though it's worth double-checking the current situation before you go.

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