Limpopo is blessed with scenic beauty and great biodiversity.

One of its most diverse and attractive offerings is the Waterberg, a 14 500km² area of spectacular scenery and biodiversity. Old farms and ranches have been converted by local landowners and now form the Waterberg Biosphere Reserve – one of South Africa’s top conservation projects, which is teeming with game (it’s malaria-free Big Five country), birds and hundreds of plant species. It is home to the Marakele National Park and the privately owned Welgewonden Game Reserve.

Further north, the mountainous Soutpansberg area forms part of the Vhembe Biosphere Reserve. Like the Waterberg, it is an area of great biodiversity, and offers the traveller more than 550 species of trees, hundreds of species of birds, waterfalls and mountain scenery. This is a great place to unwind and immerse oneself in a serene wilderness experience.

And should you want to see some of the oldest and biggest cycads on Earth, then the 530ha Modjadji Nature Reserve north-east of Tzaneen is the place to go. When there’s no mist, you can gaze out high over the cycad forest to the Kruger National Park and the Lowveld beyond. Twelve kilometres of accessible walks take you down from the forest to the grassland below where waterbuck, blue wildebeest, impala and bushbuck roam, plus 170 bird species. The fabled Rain Queen lives next door, so keep your eyes peeled.

Polokwane is the capital of Limpopo.