Venda Cultural Tours

On these Venda Cultural Tours you will experience a really beautiful part of South Africa.

When you get into Venda its feels like you are in Africa.

Its very scenic,rich in agriculture,has some old ancient forests,its people are known for their contribution to music/Arts/Crafts ie potters,drum makers,wood carvers,local markets,and the red sand/soil adds a magical feel to the area.

When you stand at Mapungubwe a United Nations World Heritage Site where the local Africans traded with the Chinese between 900 and 1300AD you know you are in a ancient land.

Venda pottery

Venda Cultural Tour details:

South Africa Location:Venda South Africa,above Kruger Park and to the East.

Best time to visit:April to November,this area received summer rain and its very hot December to April.

Approximate trip cost:Depends on what you add in.

Trip activities:Art&Crafts/Culture/History/Scenery/People/local churches/good birding/markets

Can this trip be modified:Yes

Our Venda Cultural Tours offer easy Proximity for a Kruger National Park Safari.and onwards to Swaziland/Kwa Zulu etc.

As well they offer easy proximity to the Tuli Block of Botswana for a Botswana Safari.

Cultural and photographic Venda tour

A guided meander through Venda that includes villages, culture,scenery,and a local church visit.

Venda and Kruger National Park

This combination of Venda and a Kruger National Park safari flow very well as they adjoin one another.

Venda Mission Church Interest Tour

Its possible on this Venda Mission/Church interest Tour to experience a local rural spiritual Church where dancing, drumming and singing continue on for hours.

Venda Ancient and Surviving Kingdom.

A privately guided tour through venda staying at a wold Heritage site,visiting woodcarvers,villages,etc.

Contact us: Africa Safari and South Africa Tour Contact form
Email: stephen@go2southafrica.com

We design your Africa experience as you want it.

Venda Tour options:

• • Historical, cultural,art ( pottery, drum making) rural village walks,village home visits,and possibly a visit to a local African church service,with drumming and singing( special permission is to be obtained for this
  • Lodging in homestays(western style) rural Bed and Breakfasts,Guest Houses,small hotels with charm, local ambiance.Upgraded lodging available in certain locations.
  • Traditional church service with drumming,dancing,singing,eating a traditional meal,and talking through a translator to the head lady who is a real humble soul.
  •  Visit an authentic traditional feast,eg inauguration of a local chief,only available on Saturday.

• A “cultural village”,a unique tourism project run by a traditional community,cultural activities incl. traditional dances, songs and drumming. Bookings incl. dinner.
• Visit the royal court of Mukumbani, residence of King M.P.K. Tshivhase.The link between the “Great ruins of Zimbabwe” and other archeological sites will be visible in the massive stonewalls. Interpretation and walk through this living heritage site; interviews with members of the royal family and the King himself can be arranged on special request.
•  Visit a remote school and/ or lunch at the house of one of the teacher’s families.Tasting of traditional food and beer. Discussions on the challenges rural schools are facing in the new South Africa.
•  The” Holy Forest” and “Sacred Lake Fundudzi”, the only natural inland lake in the whole of South Africa.
• Renowned artists in their homesteads and workshops (incl. woodcarvers, potters and drum makers)
• Visit legendary Tshatshingo Potholes were in olden times witches used to be drowned
• Take hikes through the indigenous forests and pass traditional villages or water falls (half or full day excursions)
• Visit one of our African independent churches  a unique African experience.
• Venda has outstanding birding,and your guide for Venda is nationally recognized birding guide.

About the Venda

The Venda (also VaVenda) population of about 600,000 people coalesced into an identifiable social unit in the area of the northern Transvaal and in Zimbabwe over several centuries. The Venda language, tshiVenda or luVenda, emerged as a distinct tongue in the sixteenth century, according to scholars.

Venda culture is similarly eclectic; it appears to have incorporated a variety of East African, Central African, Nguni, and Sotho characteristics. For example, the Venda forbid the consumption of pork, a prohibition that is common along the East African coast. They practice male circumcision, which is common among many Sotho, but not among most Nguni peoples.

The Venda are generally regarded as one of the last black groups to have entered the area south of the Limpopo River.In Venda tradition, succession to the throne is a complex matter and their history has been characterised by many disputes over occupancy of the throne. Today there are 26 captains’ houses that trace their origins to the great man while a few others trace their ancestry to tribes that were later incorporated with the Venda.

One of the most sacred sites of the Venda is Lake Fundudzi. ( which we visit) Suspicion surrounds the lake, which is fed by the Mutale River yet does not appear to have an outlet. It is also said that you can sometimes hear the Tshikona song although no one appears to be there.

The Venda people have a very special relationship with Crocodiles. The area where they live is filled with these dangerous reptiles. The Venda believe that the brain of the Crocodile is very poisonous, therefore they are given right of way by the Venda who do not even hunt them for food.

The homeland of Venda became nominally independent in 1979 but was not recognized by any country except South Africa.Facing economic collapse, Venda authorities applied for readmission into South Africa in 1991. Their petition was essentially overtaken by the political negotiations and constitutional reforms of the early 1990s, which led to the dissolution of the homelands in 1994. it is know part of South Africa, in the Limpopo Province.