Everything You Need to Know About the Three Rondavels

The three rondavels are major icons of the famous blyde river canyon. Here We'll explain how they came to be and their significance in south african culture.

Key Information Regarding the Three Rondavels

• The Blyde River Canyon and the Three Rondavels as they stand is 300 million years old.
• The Three Rondavels were formed by erosion from the Blyde, Treur and Ohrigstad River.
• The mountain range the Klein Drakensig belongs to extends all the way to the Western Cape where Table Mountain sits in the foot folds of the Great Escarpment.
• The Three Rondavels are named after the wives of Chief Maripe: Maseroto, Mogoladikwe, and Magabolle
• Chief Maripe gained his fame for the battle of Moholoholo against the Swazi raiders under King Mswati II.
• The battle took place against the slopes of Mariepskop Mountain, the highest point of the Klein Drakensig, which is named after Chief Maripe

The origin of the three rondavels

The Three Rondavels sit in the heart of Blyde River Canyon. The rock formations, in the forms we see today, we first shaped around 300 million years ago although estimate do vary. The story starts many more hundreds of millions of years prior on the supercontinent of Gondwana which is represented today by South America, Africa, Antarctica, Australia, Zealandia, Arabia, and the Indian Subcontinent. During a truly terrifying period of tectonic upheaval this landmass splintered and at it's southernmost point steadily developed the Great Escarpment. The northernmost aspect of this landscape is the Drakensburg.

A Little Background for the history buffs

Blyde River Canyon has always held a strong spiritual significance for the tribes of South Africa. Today the area is renowned as a seating place for the hereditary Rain Queen of the Balobedu people, not a ruler but a powerful healer and rain-maker according to custom.

In the early 1800s a time called the Mfecane, translating to "forced dispersal", arose as a result of the AmaZulu from the north as well as the Boers and the British from the south steadily displacing the tribes that had settled a few hundred years earlier and causing extreme in-fighting and migrations for resource purposes.

In 1845 King Mswati II rose to power over the Swazis and ran a military campaign that was very successful over the next 20 years when he dies in 1865, (much of the nations he carved out which stretched north to modern day Zimbabwe, east to Delagoa Bay in Mozambique and of course Swaziland was lost by his successors due to precious mineral claims by the Boers, the 1870's and 80's being the largest diamond and gold rushes in South African history.)

The Story of the Mountain

It was around this time when the Mapulana people led by Chief Maripe Mashile made a home for themselves in Blyde River Canyon. They hid themselves well from the Swazis for years but eventually in 1864 a massive Swazi raiding party was sent to exterminate the mountain's inhabitants. When scouts brought news of the huge raiding party Chief Maripe instructed his people to retreat to the top of a nearby mountain and to place as many large boulders on the edge as possible.

The Swazi understood the peril of battling straight up the mountain and waited for cover to come, camping at a nearby reinforced position along the Blyde River. The location at which they camped now has a holiday resort named Swadini after the name 'Swatini' which means 'the place of the Swazis'. Over a few nights a thick mist came in and under the cover of darkness the Swazi raiding party snuck up the side of the mountain.

The Mapulana people were vigilant and stood guard against the Swazis with rigid persistence and it was only by this determination that they sighted the raiding party almost atop them. At a quickly passed order the Mapulana people engaged their defenses and send boulder after boulder flying down the mountain side and crushed the Swazi forces, decimating them without injury to themselves. Legend holds that deep between the rocks the bones of the fallen lay, unretrievable and a silent testament to their comrades.

The remainder of the defeated Swazi raiding party retreated and instead of returning to their King for fear of his wrath they retired to the surrounding areas as farmers and their descendants can still be found in the area to this day.

The mountain upon which the battle took place was named Mariepskop after the brave Chief Maripe Mashile that stood firm the face of annihilation. The Three Rondavels, also known as the Three Sisters, are named after the legendary wives of Chief Maripe. Maseroto, Mogoladikwe, and Magabolle were apparently fierce women and although the Chief could handle wars, politics and leading a tribe, his wives were evidently the true power of the household.

The Battle of Moholoholo, which translates to 'the great battle', is a legendary event that captures a moment of this lands history in a remarkable fashion.

If you'd like to learn more about Blyde River Canyon and way to explore it be sure to click here.

An excellent way to view a huge portion of Blyde River Canyon is along the Panorama Route. If you'd like to learn more about it see our tours below