About the Tuli Block

General Information

The Tuli Block is quite different to anywhere else in Botswana. It is generally referred to as the Hardveld because of the rocky outcrops and the abundance of rocks, stones and pebbles of all shapes and sizes. There is also a network of dry riverbeds and the larger rivers sport gigantic trees along their edges. The Tuli Block is occupied by private game farms, private game reserves and lodges, including Redshield. One of the main attractions is that it is only 5 1/2 hours from Johannesburg and the game is plentiful ...an ideal weekend getaway.

Tuli Block is about 350 km long, stretching from the corner where the Shashe and the Limpopo Rivers meet in the east, right down to the Notwane River north of Olifants Drift in the South West. The Tuli Block consists mainly of privately owned farms, but the eastern section up and including Redshield has been declared a game reserve, known as the Norther Tuli Game Reserve. Redshield is the westernmost farm included in this reserve. The entire conservancy area, including the adjacent safari area bordering the Tuli Circle, comprises about 80 000 hectares.

Much of the area is underlayed by Karoo sediments and younger Stromberg lavas. Characteristic of the Tuli landscape is the abundance of inslebergs (or outcrops) formed from a large variety of rock types - truly a geologist's paradise! But what geological events resulted in such an exciting landscape? If one can imagine all the rocks scraped off the crust of the earth, the underlying Basement Complex would consist of a number of stable shields, known as cratons, surrounded by less stable mobile belts. It can be best explained by the image of a tortoise shell, the joints being the "mobile belts". The Tuli Block is situated on such a mobile belt, namely the Limpopo Mobile belt, which separates the Rhodesian craton in the north from the Kaapvaal craton in the south. The Limpopo Mobile Belt is the oldest known mobile belt in the world, with rocks varying in age from 2 700 million to 3 700 million years. The cratons themselves are composed of large stable masses of crystalline rocks, mainly granites and gneisses. The mobile belts, on the other hand, are highly unstable and have suffered major deformation associated with igneous activity and metamorphosis. These metamorphic, strongly folded rocks form the base material and are overlayed by younger sedimentary (sandstone) and igneous rocks (granites and dolerites) - hence the variety. In places the metamorphic rocks (mainly gneisses) are also exposed and this potpourri of rock types makes for incredible scenery.

The vegetation in the Tuli Block, particularly during the rains, is simply spectacular. The trees along the Limpopo River are gigantic, especially the Nyala trees, a species that only occurs in this part of Botswana. The local name for this tree is the Mashatu tree. The Fever trees with their yellow-green branches adorn the river banks, creating a very special atmosphere. These trees were once wrongly believed to be the cause of malaria because of their proximity to water. The Wild Sesame is also abundant, lending a specific beauty to the landscape with its ghost-like "arms" reaching out to the sky. On the rocky outcrops there are two species of Euphorbia, namely E. ingens and E. cooperi. They look similar but E. ingens has a longer, bare main stem. They both have a very poisonous latex which is used as fish poison and is said to cause blindness.

History and People

The origin of the Tuli Block is fascinating. The story starts in 1885 when the British Government declared a protectorate over Botswana, the Bechuanaland. Cecil John Rhodes and his British South Africa Company (BSAC) wished to colonise Botswana. Although Rhodes suspected the mineral wealth of Botswana, especially because of the discovery of gold in the Tati district north east of Francistown, his main reason for wanting to annex Botswana in 1891 was to build a railway line from the Cape Colony to Rhodesia via the Tati Gold Fields. In 1894 the British Government was more or less ready to hand over the Protectorate to the BSAC, but two event changed the course of history. The three Tswana kings, Bathoen, Khama and Sechele, went to London to plead their case. Interestingly, one of the main arguments put forward for wanting to keep the BSAC out of their country was to prevent the legalisation of liquor. The second event was the Jameson Raid, which was initiated by Rhodes and was launched from Bechuanaland territory to attack the Boer government in the Transvaal. Unfortunately for Rhodes, this was unsuccessful and it ruined all chances for the BSAC to annex the Protectorate because the use of Protectorate soil to attack a neighbouring country elicited world-wide opposition. Rhodes still needed a piece of land to build a railway line and the Tuli Block was the area given to the BSAC by king Khama in 1895. It was later decided that it was unviable because too many small rivers would have to be crossed. The railway was built further to the west (where it still exists), but the area remained the property of the BSAC. That explains its awkwardly long and narrow shape. To the south-west of the Shashe River, near the eastern extreme of Botswana, the borderline forms a semi-circle known as the Tuli Circle. It has a radius of about 16 km. It came about because of a severe lung disease which struck the Bangwato herds in 1891. The BSAC were concerned about their cattle at Fort Tuli on the Shashe River on the Zimbabwean side and King Khama III granted a 12-mile radius of land on the Botswana side of the Shashe River to prevent the disease from spreading.

After the Tuli Strip was granted to the BSAC the Babinwa tribe remained, refusing to leave the land that had always been theirs, even after it was decided to divide the area up in farms instead of building the railway line. They had the option to stay and work for the farmer, but this they did not wish to do. King Khama decided to remove them forcibly and their chief, Kgosi Malema, fled to South Africa from where he took legal action against King Khama. The remaining Babirwa tribe were forced to live in Bobonong under Ngwato rule. King Khama admitted that his treatment was too harsh, but only when Kgosi Malema was very old was he permitted to come back to Botswana, where he settled at Molalatau. His descendants are still living there today. The settlement at Lentswe le Moriti consists of a ZCC (Zionist Christian Church) community. Because of their proximity to a wildlife area, these people practice an indigenous method of protecting their small stock against predators. They breed "Goat dogs". When a puppy is small they put it with a lactating goat from which the puppy suckles as if it was his own mother. The puppy then identifies with the goat, thinking it is a goat itself. When these puppies get bigger they accompany the herds when they go out for the day to graze. The dogs will put their lives in danger to protect their flock and every night they dutifully guide them home. Although a dog is no match for a large predator, the surprise factor is usually enough to scare off an attacker. The villagers are well aware of how unique this phenomenon is and if one wants to see the dogs nowadays, the owner demands a fee.