Albasini Dam

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Albasini Dam was built in 1952 and was raised (by means of spillway gates) in 1970/71. This dam was built primarily to supply the Levubu Irrigation Scheme. It is situated off the R578 from Makhado (Louis Trichardt).

Albasini Dam is only the 10th largest body of water in the Limpopo area with a full storage capacity of 28.2 million cubic meters and it supports an extensive array of birdlife, including Osprey, African Finfoot and White-backed Night Heron.

The dam was named after the famed Portuguese hunter and trader, João Albasini, who was buried here together with his family. Highly regarded as a hunter, Albasini would employ up to 500 men on his safaris to carry ivory to Lourenço Marques (Maputo). He opened trading routes from Mozambique into the interior and established trading posts in the Lowveld in the 1840s. In 1847, Albasini moved to Ohrigstad, and when that settlement was abandoned in 1850 he moved to Lydenburg. Still later, he lived at Schoemansdal, and in 1858 was appointed Portuguese vice-consul to the Zuid-Afrikaansche Republiek (ZAR).