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About two million years ago, a massive meteorite, about 10 kilometres across, smacked into the earth about an hour's drive south of Johannesburg. About 70 cubic kilometres of rock would have been vaporised in the impact – along with Johannesburg had it existed at the time, as the crater was probably up to 300 kilometres in diameter. Today it's called the Vredefort Dome, one of South Africa's newest World Heritage Sites. The Vredefort Hills are what's left of the dome created as the rock rebounded after the extreme impact, and the sickle-shaped area is one of the biggest and oldest clearly visible impact structures on Earth. The best place to view the Dome, unfortunately, is from space. However, slightly more accessible is a helicopter ride over the Dome in an old Huey, that once saw service in Vietnam. You'll find it at Sunwa River Lodge outside Parys, where you can also do some river-rafting, abseiling and other adventure activities.
TO GET THERE: Off the N1 south of Johannesburg, take the R59 to Parys.
TO BOOK: Sunwa River Lodge 056 817 7107, 082 651 1960, www.sunwa.co.za |
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If you hit Gaborone, you've gone too far: Madikwe Game Reserve is tucked into the furthest corner of North-West Province, sandwiched between Botswana on one side and Limpopo on the other. Very remote, yet only about three hours from Johannesburg.
It's not often you hear about a conservation story with a happy ending, but Madikwe is one of them. Fifteen years ago it was barren, grazed to the ground cattle country. Now the Big Five roam here again, thanks to the suitably named Operation Phoenix, in which over 8 000 wild animals were relocated to return the land to its original wild state, one of the largest game translocation exercises in the world. There are several lodges to choose from here, and the bonus is they're all malaria-free!
TO GET THERE: Take the R49 north from Zeerust.
MADIKWE: 018 3672 ask 2411 |
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Okay, so Table Mountain isn't exactly hard to reach, but spending the night up there – in luxury accommodation – has been impossible until now. December saw the opening of the Hoerikwaggo Trail, a three-day hiking trail through the Table Mountain National Park, that gives visitors (and locals) the chance to tick off some of the city's highlights in a seriously novel way.
Hoerikwaggo is a Khoi-San word for ‘Mountain of the sea', so the trail starts at the Waterfront with a boat tour round the harbour, followed by a city tour (peppered with fascinating info, like why the Mount Nelson is painted pink, and how Loader Street got its name), which takes you up to the slopes of the mountain to overnight in the old (but beautifully revamped) wash houses. Day Two gets you up the mountain in the cable car, with a hike to the mountain's highest point before a luxurious night in a stone cottage on the mountain. On the last day you hike into Kirstenbosch National Botanical Gardens. Your calves will definitely remember that descent for a day or two, but you'll remember the stars on the mountain for life.
TO BOOK: 021 426 4260, 021 465 8515, www.hoerikwaggotrails.co.za |
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If you've never been to Noetzie, you may wonder whether it's worth winding over the hilltops on a gravel road to nowhere. And the reward at the end of it is just a tarred parking lot, without so much as a glimpse of the beach. But that's what helps make Noetzie one of the South Coast's most secluded areas. Follow the concrete road at the end of the parking lot (on foot) down to a gorgeous beach, with a little lagoon nestling between tree-covered hills (rather swim in the lagoon, it's safer than the beach).
And then there are the castles – why build a holiday home when you can have a medieval castle? There are several hugging the hillside, complete with elaborate parapets and stone battlements.
There's also a mysterious tale linked to Noetzie. In 1881, after a vicious storm, woodcutters found a schooner washed up on the rocks. There was no sign of the crew, and the last note in the captain's log had been made five years before.
TO GET THERE: Turn towards the coast from the N2 about 3km from Knysna on the way to Plettenberg Bay.
Knysna Tourism: 044 382 5510 |
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With Hermanus the whale capital of the Southern Cape coast, and Gansbaai, the shark-diving hot spot of the world, most people overlook the tiny village of Die Kelders in between. It's named after a little-known series of underground pools and caverns beneath the cliffs – complete with stalagmites and stalactites. One cave that's open to the public is Klipgat, an open cave complex that faces Walker Bay. Judging by shell middens and other archaeological finds, people have been visiting and living in the cave for 70 000 years!
TO GET THERE: Turn off the R43 between Stanford and Gansbaai. Take De Villiers Street and pay R12 at the gate.
Gansbaai Tourism: 028 384 1439 |
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If you thought Namaqualand was a bit hard to reach, think what a journey it was back in the days when the Cape was still a brand-new Dutch colony. When early explorers were conducting forays into the far north (searching for copper on the instructions of enterprising Cape governor Simon van der Stel), the best ‘hotel' for miles was a cave appropriately called the ‘Gentleman's Lodging', or Heerenlogement – and many a famous head grabbed a good night's sleep there, van der Stel included, in 1685. How do we know this? Because many of them scribbled or carved their names on the rock walls (those were also the days before that was called vandalism). The Heerenlogement pops up in journals of several early travellers, including one by Commander KJ Slosbo in 1712, who mentions a tree growing from a cleft in the rock roof. If you visit the cave today, look up. Almost 300 years later it's still growing strong.
TO GET THERE: From the N7, take the R364 Lambert's Bay road and turn right at Grafwater. Follow signs, then take a short path up to the cave. |
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As Ceres fades away in your rear-view mirror and the road climbs towards the Gydo Pass, you enter a weird world of wild rock formations, forged by ancient cataclysmic events that rocked the earth about 250 million years ago. The Swartruggens Mountains rise serenely on one side, facing the shattered, tortured rocks of the Witsenberg and Skurweberg (‘Scaly Mountains') on the other. A turn to the left takes you into the tiny hamlet of Op die Berg, a cluster of houses where Bushmen once roamed. There are three rock art sites that can be visited here on a two- to three-hour tour. First stop is an open living area, then a birthing site, and last, but best, is a 10-metre high tunnel that leads to a shaman site.
TO GET THERE: Head north from Ceres on the R303.
TO BOOK: Wethu Experiences, 023 317 0625 |
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After you've travelled the odd network of gravel roads that take you to Elim, you have to ask yourself why the good Moravian missionaries of 1824 picked this remote spot – but they turned it into delightful little village so quaint it's been declared a national monument in its entirety. The Moravian Church still owns the entire village and only church members are allowed to live there. But you're welcome to pop in for tea and a stroll around.
Time has really stood still here but the clock hasn't. Elim's church boasts the oldest working clock in South Africa (it was built in Germany in 1764 and it's still ticking), and it's unusual in that it has faces on both ends of the church – a long axle runs the length of the building, connecting the clocks on each gable. Be sure to visit the old water mill, the gate to which requires you to bend double, but you'll be comforted by the Biblical quote inscribed upon it: “Blessed are the lowly…'85”. Elim's other claim to fame is that it has one of South Africa's only monuments to the end of slavery. Although slavery was abolished in 1834, it's dated 1838, as slaves were forced to work an extra four years to ‘earn' their freedom.
TO GET THERE: Turn north off the R43 between Gansbaai and Struisbaai.
Elim Tourism Bureau 028 482 1806 |
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