The Soutpansberg and Modjadji

South Africa'S Northernmost Mountain Range, A Mist Belt Barrier Running East To West With Extraordinary Biodiversity For Its Size, And On Its Eastern Flank The Modjadji Forest The Largest Concentration Of A Single Cycad Species On Earth, Protected For Centuries By The Modjadji Dynasty Of Hereditary Rain Queens Whose Line Continues And Whose Authority Over The Forest Is Still Recognised · Louis Trichardt, Limpopo

The Soutpansberg is the northernmost mountain range in South Africa, running east to west above Louis Trichardt, and because it catches mist off the lowveld it holds a density of species out of all proportion to its size - forest, cliff and grassland biomes stacked within a few kilometres. On its eastern flank, the Modjadji forest is the largest concentration of a single cycad species anywhere on earth, thousands of them standing in cloud on a hillside, and they are there because the Modjadji dynasty has protected them for centuries. That dynasty is the line of hereditary Rain Queens whose authority Rider Haggard borrowed for She, and which continues as a living institution with real standing over this forest rather than as folklore. The range also carries hundreds of bird species, leopard, and some of the best small-reserve birding in the country. It is malaria-free on the high ground and almost nobody comes.

The northernmost mountain range in South Africa above Louis Trichardt, with the Modjadji cycad forest 80 km east, Louis Trichardt, Limpopo, South Africa

A mountain range and a forest rather than a single gated site. The Modjadji cycad reserve keeps daylight hours with a modest entry, and ACCESS IS UNDER THE AUTHORITY OF THE MODJADJI DYNASTY as well as the provincial conservation body - arrangements can change and are worth confirming locally rather than assumed. The Soutpansberg's reserves, private lodges and birding properties each keep their own hours and most want booking ahead. The range is crossed by the N1 through Louis Trichardt and by smaller passes; the forest is about eighty kilometres east on good tar and gravel. Accommodation is lodges and guesthouses on the range and around Modjadjiskloof. THE HIGH GROUND IS MALARIA-FREE and the lowveld to the north and east is not, which is a doctor's question if you continue that way. Polokwane is ninety kilometres south with the nearest airport.

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