Discover Capricorn

The Tropic of Capricorn runs directly through Capricorn District Municipality. The area also features museums and cultural history in Polokwane, rock art at Makgabeng Mountain, and nature areas of varying sizes. Capricorn can therefore be explored through specific geographical, cultural and landscape themes.

The Tropic of Capricorn and road connections

In the Molemole area, you can stop at and touch the Tropic of Capricorn monument. This gives the Tropic of Capricorn a tangible stop to include in your travel plans. The roads also help with orientation: the N1 national highway runs through Molemole Municipality and connects it with Zimbabwe to the north. The P94/1 provincial road, also known as the R521, also runs through the municipality and connects it with Botswana to the west.

Museums, village history and rock art

The Hugh Exton Photographic Museum is housed in a 19th-century Dutch Reformed church. It holds a cultural and historical collection about Polokwane and its people, comprising 23,000 photographs. The Polokwane Cultural History Museum is also known as the Irish House Museum.

The Bakone Malapa Northern Sotho Museum is an open-air museum that visitors can explore. There, visitors can explore a traditional Sotho village as it is thought to have existed 250 years ago.

Makgabeng Mountain has around 400 rocky sites featuring rock paintings. In Blouberg Municipality, the 1903 Prison Camp at Beauley is one of the tourist attractions. In the wider destination of Northern Province, the Mapungubwe Cultural Landscape shows the rise and fall of southern Africa’s first indigenous kingdom between 900 and 1300 AD. Mapungubwe Hill served as a royal residence and burial site for members of the Mapungubwe Kingdom’s elite. The caves in Makapans Valley continue to provide clues about how early humans lived in Africa. Rock paintings are the main attraction at Makgabeng Mountain; the Mapungubwe Cultural Landscape in Northern Province reveals the history of a kingdom between 900 and 1300 AD.

Nature areas and experiences in Polokwane

Blouberg Nature Reserve covers 9,348 hectares and is home to a breeding colony of more than 1,000 pairs. Visitors can book a guided tour for the Vulture Trail. The trail leads to a plateau above the breeding colony and offers the chance to see vultures in flight. Check the trail’s current booking details before planning your visit.

At 9,348 hectares, Blouberg Nature Reserve is almost three times the size of Polokwane Game Reserve, which covers 3,250 hectares. Polokwane is a stopover on the way to Kruger National Park. Polokwane Golf Course was founded in 1863; Meropa Casino is home to the Wild Thingz bird and snake sanctuary.

Discover more destinations

Discover more destinations: Tolwe, Amatava, Polokwane Local Municipality, Groothoek, Southern, Vhembe, Greater Sekhukhune, Waterberg.

Back to the main travel overview: Limpopo.