Musina

Musina (previously known as Messina) is situated in the Limpopo Province of South Africa, in the land of the Baobab tree. The town is situated near the Limpopo River border with Zimbabwe, and is the most northerly town in South Africa. 

©Peter Delaney
Musina borders Zimbabwe and Botswana and is situated in the 'land of baobab trees'.

As such, the town is a major transit stop for cross-border traffic and offers all the necessary facilities to tourists and truckers alike. Thousands of years ago, copper was discovered by the Musina tribe in this region, and this led to the founding of the town of Musina. Today iron, coal, magnetite, graphite, asbestos, diamonds and copper are mined in Musina.

As a result, the people of Musina know how to treat their Baobabs, the Musina Nature Reserve was declared to protect over 100 of them. The beautiful reserve also holds one of the world’s oldest datable rocks and is a sanctuary for a number of game and bird species.

It is hot and dry in this part of the world where low shrubs and thorn trees dominate the landscape. The Limpopo River flows with water along its river banks on average only once in seven years.