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Full-Day Tours Further away
It takes a little longer to get to these places, but if they are of interest to you, it will be well worth it.
AS PER TOURISM PROTOCOLS, ALL TOURS ARE CONDUCTED AS PRIVATE FOR GROUPS THAT ARE ALREADY CONNECTED TO EACH OTHER. YOU SUPPLY YOUR OWN MASK - WE SUPPLY THE SANITISER AND OFF WE GO - EXPLORING!
Pilanesberg Game Reserve
Big Five Safari
The accessibility of the Pilanesburg is ideal for a day safari. It is the closest national park to Johannesburg and thus a day safari, although a long day is possible.
The park is located less than a three-hour drive from Johannesburg and Pretoria and you have two options available:
Option 1: Private Safari in a Closed Vehicle — The Game Park has approximately 200 km of well-maintained roads. Your driver/guide will position the vehicle in good proximity to the wildlife while acknowledging the animal’s personal space and conservation rules. We stop at Pilanesberg centre for a light lunch (for your own account). Sometimes you are lucky and can spot animals drinking water from the nearby watering hole while you are enjoying your lunch.
Option 2: Open Vehicle Game Drive with Others or in a Private Vehicle — The customised open vehicles allow for excellent photographic opportunities, but will depart regardless of the weather conditions. (Warm clothing, jackets, gloves, scarves and beanies recommended for winter.) The guides are in radio contact with each other and they will try their best to show you as much as possible while you are with them. Scheduled daily game drives depart in the early morning into the Pilanesburg National Park and the vehicle could be a 25-seater. Photographers can arrange for private game drives on request and timing can be slightly more flexible (it is generally a 7-seater open vehicle). Group size and vehicle availability dependant.
Cradle of Humankind Tour
Sterkfontein Caves & Maropeng - Roots and Culture
Our ancestors have lived in this area for more than 4 million years, by coming here, you are coming to the birthplace of humanity – Welcome home!
The Cradle of Humankind focuses on the development of humans and our ancestors over the past few million years.
Sterkfontein Caves – The tour starts above the ground exploring the Museum of life-like models of hominids; sabre tooth cat; a construction of a mined cave; early life forms; and more. From here, your well-trained guide will take you to descend 60 meters (196 feet) below the ground, beneath the dust of millions of years where your adventure starts.
You will be shown where two of the most famous fossils “Mrs Ples”, a 2.1-million-year-old Australopithecus skull and “Little Foot”, an almost complete Australopithecus skeleton that is more than 3 million years old were found. View a perfectly calm underground lake at a depth of 40 metres (131 feet) and hear stories about divers who tried to swim in this lake.
Maropeng – which translates to ‘returning to the place of origin’ is a UNESCO World Heritage Site. The centre is set in a unique architectural structure – the Tumulus. Within this grass-covered, tiered mound, visitors begin their experience to understand man’s origins with an underground boat ride through the element forces - water, air, fire, and earth, dipping through waterfalls and icebergs into the eye of a storm, past erupting volcanoes and through the depths of earth to the beginning of the world, before emerging into the exhibition halls with an extensive display, which encourages visitors in touching, hearing, feeling, seeing, and experiencing the unique history of humankind.
Cullinan Diamond Mine
Star of Africa
Cullinan earned its place in history with the discovery of the Cullinan diamond in 1905, the largest rough gem diamond ever found, at 3 106 carats, which was cut to form the two most important diamonds in the British Crown Jewels.
“Star of Africa I” or “Cullinan I” is the largest stone to come of the original Cullinan diamond. Estimated at 530 carats, the diamond is the largest cut colorless diamond in the world.
Additionally, it was the largest polished diamond of any color until the Golden Jubilee Diamond was discovered in 1985 in the Premier Mine, the same location in which the Cullinan diamond was found. Today, the diamond is located in the Tower of London in the British Sovereign’s Royal Scepter. The diamond is not alone there, as the Cullinan II, along with some of the other smaller cuts of the original Cullinan diamond, is also located in the Tower of London as part of the Crown Jewels.
Recently, a number of record braking blue diamonds have been found, including a 122.52 carat diamond, which was valued at US$27.6 million in 2014.
On the guided tour you will get insight into diamond mining, from present day to the past of the third biggest operational diamond mine on planet Earth.
