Some words, some names form pleasantly in the mouth and are nice to say. One such name being "Limpopo". It is South Africa's most northerly region and also the name of the thousand mile river that skirts that region in a great arc before heading sluggishly through Mozambique to the Indian Ocean.
To reach Zimbabwe from South Africa you must first cross The Limpopo. It also demarks a long stretch of South Africa's north western border with Botswana.
The Limpopo is a lazy, languid river that is unsuitable for major shipping. In its upper reaches it dries out every year while in its lower reaches it is prone to flooding - the waters spreading out like a vast puddle - bringing sustenance to the land and the creatures that dwell thereupon.
Draining the Limpopo River basin, there are twenty significant tributary rivers that all feed in to the main Limpopo River. They include the Umzingwani River and the Mogalakwena River. Two more names that sound nice upon the tongue.
In the picture above, you can see a zebra group drinking from the Limpopo in their bar code pyjamas. Other creatures that the river supports include elephants, giraffes, hippopotamuses, rhinos and crocodiles. It should also be pointed out that around fourteen million people live in the Limpopo river basin and their lives are also directly connected to the river.
Over the last 150 years there has been a great deal of mining activity in the Limpopo region and that continues to this day - sometimes clashing with the concerns of conservationists and naturalists.
Possibly, like me, you knew almost nothing about The Limpopo this morning when you sprang out of bed singing "Oh What A Beautiful Mornin'" from the 1950s musical - "Oklahoma". But now you know a little something. By the way, I struggled to find a simple map of the river's location in southern Africa so I used the one I found in an academic paper that focused on the survival of baobab trees in a lesser known national park called Skelmwater.
And now to finish this short blogpost about The Limpopo, here's an amateur African YouTuber covering her first visit to the river....
from Yorkshire Pudding https://ift.tt/ScOy2ZI