Magoebaskloof and Tzaneen

A Forested Mountain Pass Dropping Off The Limpopo Escarpment Into The Lowveld Through Indigenous Forest And Plantation, With The Debengeni Waterfall, Tea Estates On The Slopes, Some Of The Tallest Planted Trees In The Southern Hemisphere, And A Sudden Change From Highveld Grassland To Subtropical Valley Over About Twenty Kilometres Of Road · Tzaneen, Limpopo

Between Polokwane on the highveld and Tzaneen in the lowveld the road drops off the Limpopo escarpment through about twenty kilometres of forest, and the change over that distance is abrupt enough to feel like crossing a border. Highveld grassland at the top, then indigenous Afromontane forest and plantation on the slopes, then subtropical valley at the bottom with macadamia, avocado, mango and tea growing in it. The Debengeni falls come down a granite slide in the middle of it, and some of the tallest planted trees in the southern hemisphere stand near the pass. Tzaneen below is a farming town, and the Magoebaskloof itself is a weekend destination for Polokwane and Johannesburg - cottages in the mist, forest walks, waterfalls and a canopy tour. It is named for Makgoba, a Tlou chief killed resisting annexation here in 1895. It is malaria-free on the pass and not in the valley, which is a doctor's question if you are going down.

On the escarpment between Polokwane and Tzaneen, with the Debengeni falls and the tea estates in the pass, Tzaneen, Limpopo, South Africa

A mountain pass on a tarred public road, so it has no gate and no hours - the R71 runs over it between Polokwane and Tzaneen. THE DEBENGENI FALLS are in a forestry reserve with daylight access and a small fee, and PEOPLE HAVE DROWNED THERE because the granite above the pool is lethally slippery and the current is stronger than it looks. Forest walks, the canopy tour and the tea estates each keep their own hours and the canopy tour books ahead. Accommodation is cottages and lodges on the pass and in Tzaneen, busiest at weekends and in South African school holidays. THE PASS IS MALARIA-FREE AND THE LOWVELD VALLEY BELOW IT IS A MALARIA AREA, which is a doctor's question if you are going down to Tzaneen or on to Kruger. Mist closes visibility on the pass often. Polokwane is seventy kilometres west with the nearest airport.

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