Letaba Rest Camp

Letaba is near several wilderness and 4x4 trails, the Matambeni bird hide, and the ruins of the Masorini settlement.

38 km from Letaba along the Phalaborwa road is the ruin of a BaPhalaborwa tribe village from the 1800s called Masorini. It was likely a trading hub connecting Venda farmers in the north with Portuguese, Arab, and Chinese traders along the east coast. There is a museum and picnic area on site with guided tours to the top of the hill, where reconstructed furnaces and huts can be seen.[10]

Letaba lies in Mopani veld, which has quite dense bush. As a result, the animal density is lower than can be expected further south near Skukuza and Lower Sabie. However, bushbuck, elephant, buffalo, and waterbuck are still quite common. Secretary birds, kori bustards and ground hornbills are known to inhabit the area.[11][12]

Letaba is in a transition zone between the granite and gneiss to its west and basalt to the east, providing some unique geology. To the west of camp, clusterleaf shrub is common, while the east side gets more apple-leaf. The entire area is filled with mopane trees. Tamboti, knobthorn and leadwood are also common in the area.[3]

The skull and tusks of Shawu in the Elephant Hall before its renovation

The Magnificent Seven—Dzombo, João, Kambaku, Mafunyane, Ndlulamithi, Shawu and Shingwedzi—were seven large bull elephants with enormous tusks ("tuskers"). Each elephant had at least one tusk that weighed at least 50 kg, and all of their tusks were at least 2 m long.[18] Dr. U de V Pienaar, the chief warden of Kruger National Park in the 1970s, decided to publicise these elephants as an example of Kruger's successful conservation work. As each elephant died, their skull and ivory were recovered and brought to the Elephant Hall, with the exception of João, whose tusks broke off in 1984 and were never found. A section of the elephant hall is dedicated to each of them.[19]

Kruger National Park is host to a number of current tuskers. Once identified, each tusker is officially named and their home range and features are determined.[20] The list of current tuskers is available on the South African National Parks website, alongside the list of deceased tuskers and female tuskers. The Emerging Tuskers Project relies on submitted photos to help identify new tuskers and track the movement of existing tuskers. Contact information can be found on the Emerging Tuskers Project web page.

In early 2017 the Elephant Hall was shut down for renovation. With the help of over R1.5 million in donations from Australia's University of the Sunshine Coast and the South African National Parks Honorary Rangers, it was reopened on 2017-03-20 after nine weeks of renovation. The renovated museum features a more modern design, clearer display panels and design improvements.[14] The renovation also meant the addition of the tusks of Mandleve, the largest ivory-carrying elephant ever recorded in Kruger park, who died of natural causes in 1993. The addition of the Mandleve tusk display was sponsored by Rotary International.[21] The renovation also includes a new lighting system, allowing photographs without the use of flash photography. Future plans include the development of a virtual tour of the elephant hall available on the SANParks website.[15]