Modjadjiskloof and the Modjadji Cycad Reserve

The Largest Concentration Of A Single Cycad Species Anywhere On Earth A Forest Of Modjadji Cycads, A Plant Lineage Older Than The Dinosaurs, Growing In Mist On A Limpopo Hillside Protected For Generations By The Balobedu Royal House Of The Modjadji Rain Queen, A Hereditary Female Rain Maker Whose Line Is The Reason The Forest Is Still Standing · Modjadjiskloof, Limpopo

Cycads are older than dinosaurs. They were the dominant plants on earth before flowering plants existed, almost all of them are now rare and many are critically endangered, and on a misty hillside in Limpopo there is a forest of them - the largest concentration of a single cycad species anywhere on earth, thousands of Modjadji cycads standing together in a landscape that looks convincingly prehistoric and essentially is. The reason it still exists is not a conservation department. It is the Balobedu royal house: the Modjadji Rain Queen, a hereditary female rain-maker whose line has protected this forest for generations and whose rain-making reputation was serious enough that Rider Haggard is generally thought to have borrowed it for She. The queens are buried in the forest. The royal house is living, not folklore, and it is not a tourist attraction - the cycads are what you have come to see.

In the Molototsi valley north-east of Modjadjiskloof, in the Limpopo escarpment foothills, Modjadjiskloof, Limpopo, South Africa

THE RESERVE KEEPS DAYLIGHT HOURS with a modest entry fee collected at a gate, and it is small, quiet and sometimes informally staffed - there is a short walking circuit, a viewpoint and very little else built. A guide from the gate is usually available and is the best few hundred rand here. THE ROYAL KRAAL AND THE QUEENS' GRAVES ARE A SEPARATE MATTER ENTIRELY: this is a living royal house with its own protocols, VISITS ARE NOT SOMETHING A VISITOR ARRANGES CASUALLY, and the respectful default is to stay in the reserve unless you have been invited. Modjadjiskloof - formerly Duiwelskloof - has fuel, shops and beds; Tzaneen and Polokwane are both about an hour. The reserve is MALARIA-FREE at this altitude, but CHECK ADVICE FOR THE VALLEY BELOW.

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