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Northern Province - Polekwane |
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In Limpopo province, on the N1 national highway leading north from Johannesburg-Pretoria to the Zimbabwe border. This largish, pleasant town serves as capital of the Northern Province, a bustling and forward-thinking centre which derives much of its income from its growing industrial base, it's provincial administrative services, and its strategic position astride one of the country's busiest tourist and trade routes. It provides a convenient and attractive stopover for road travellers on their way to and from South Africa's northern neighbours (Botswana and Zimbabwe), and for those heading for the northern parts of the Kruger National Park, which lies to the east. Its Gateway International Airport handles mainly domestic and regional traffic, which is expanding. Pietersburg (Polekwane) began life, in a sense, as the troubled little Voortrekker settlement of Schoemansdal in the 1840s, a rather rugged, frontier-type camp for hunters and ivory traders that was attacked and destroyed by the Venda forces of the region. Its residents - there were about 1,800 of them - were then moved 100 kilometres south, and the new town was renamed, in 1886, in honour of Transvaal republican leader Commandant Piet Joubert. The city (it achieved the status in 1992) has all the visitor amenities: good hotels, guest-houses, restaurants and shopping centres. Pietersburg Museum Some excellent displays, housed in a building ranked as a national monument, provide an insight into the pre-colonial (including Stone Age) era and the story of the city itself and its environment. There's also an intriguing collection of photographs, taken by pioneer photographer Hugh Exton in the charmingly restored and converted Dutch Reformed Church. Art On Show Venues include the collection at the city offices; the open-air display at the northern end of town; and the Pietersburg Art Museum, which contains the country's most extensive collection outside the main metropolitan centres; sculptures adorn the gardens in the civic square and elsewhere. Gemco Arts and Crafts A splendid collection of semi-precious stones, jewellery and curios, located off the N1 about a kilometre to the south. Pietersburg Game Reserve Close to town, and one of the country's larger city sanctuaries, the reserve is a haven for white rhino, giraffe, zebra, eland, red hartebeest and other antelope, together with a healthy 280 species of bird. Game-viewing trails wind through pleasant countryside. Bird Sanctuaries Among these are the Moletze, noted for its work with the endangered Cape vulture; the Pietersburg Bird Sanctuary, one of South Africa's biggest; and the Pietersburg Bird and Reptile Park (snake demonstrations are a regular feature). Sotho Open-air Museum This exhibition, whose full title is the Bakoni Malapa Northern Sotho Open-air Museum, is located 9 kilometres from town on the Chuniespoort road (take the R37 south). Traditional skills are on display; also rock paintings and Iron Age artifacts. The Soutpansberg This lovely range of hills, ideal for the hiker, rambler, bird-watcher and lover of quiet forest country, lies to the north and is easily accessible from Pietersburg/Polekwane. See Louis Trichardt. Nearest towns Potgietersrus/Mokopane and Warmbaths lie on the N1 highway to the south-west; Louis Trichardt on the N1 to the north. |
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POLEKWANE Western Cape
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