South Africa Attractions
Kruger National Park
City/Region: Johannesburg
The Kruger National Park is South Africa’s oldest, largest and best-known wildlife conservation area, home to a huge variety of wildlife and most famous for its ‘Big Five’ viewing opportunities. Visitors have an excellent chance of seeing lion, elephant, leopard, buffalo and rhino among the enormous variety of wildlife, including over 140 species of mammals, 500 species of birds, reptiles and amphibians. Situated on South Africa’s north eastern border, Kruger is a primary destination
for international tourists, and is visited by more than half a million local and international people every year who are attracted by the different safari options as well as the park’s excellent range of visitor facilities and choice of accommodation, from luxurious game lodges to cottages and camping.
Phone Number: 013 735 4000
Website: www.sanparks.org/parks/kruger
Hours: Park gates: daily 5.30am to 6.30pm (January, February, November and December), 6am to 5.30/6pm (March to October). Camp gates open 4.30am (January), 5.30am (February, March and October to December), 6am (April to September); closing times same as park gates
Admission: R132 (foreign adult), R66 (foreign child under 12) per day; R33 per day for South African residents
Table Mountain
City/Region: Cape Town
Cape Town’s most popular tourist attraction is also its most famous physical feature, the flat-topped mountain that stands sentinel over the city. Table Mountain has been proclaimed a nature reserve, protecting its diverse floral species, some unique to its slopes. The views from the top of the mountain are quite spectacular. A Swiss-built rotating cable car carries visitors smoothly up the mountain and back. The mountain-top is equipped with a restaurant and small gift shop, as well as numerous pathways and vantage points. It is possible to climb the mountain via different routes, but inexperienced hikers should take care because Cape Town is prone to sudden weather changes. The walk up can take anything between one and four hours depending on the route and level of fitness. Route maps can be bought at the cable-car station. It is always best to check the website or call the weatherline to see if the cable car is in operation.
Address: Tafelberg Road
Phone Number: 021 424 8181 (weatherline) or 021 424 0015
Website: www.tablemountain.net
Transport: Bus to Kloof Nek from Adderley Street and a 1.5km walk up the hill; minibus taxi from the Parade; Riki taxi; or as part of the Cape Explorer Topless bus tour
Hours: Cable car operates daily (weather permitting) every 10-15 minutes from 8am to 8pm (November); 8am to 10pm (December to January); 8am to 8.30pm (February); 8am to 7.30pm (March); 8am to 6.30pm (April); 8.30am to 6pm (May to mid-September); 8.30am to 7pm (16 September to October). Closed for annual maintenance in July and August.
Admission: Cable car: R130 return, R65 one way (adults); R68 return, R36 one way (children under 18). Other concessions available. Bookings are not available due to changeable weather conditions
Castle of Good Hope
City/Region: Cape Town
South Africa’s oldest building, the Castle was completed in 1679 (replacing an earlier mud and timber fort built by the first Dutch Governor, Jan van Riebeeck). Situated adjacent to a parking lot and bus station in Buitenkant Street, its walls mark the original boundary of the seashore where the waves washed up against the fortifications. Its outside aspect is somewhat foreboding, but inside are some interesting features and collections that have been restored, offering a good insight into the early days of the Cape when it was the center of social and economic life. The castle is a pentagonal fortification with a moat and five bastions, each named for one of the titles of the Prince of Orange. The entrance is a good example of 17th century Dutch Classicism, and a bell, cast in 1679 by Claude Fremy in Amsterdam, still hangs from the original wood beams in the tower above the entrance. The castle contains a Military Museum depicting the conflicts that arose during the Cape’s early settlement, and also houses the William Fehr Collection of decorative arts, including paintings, furniture and porcelain. Of interest are the dungeons, which bear the graffiti carved by prisoners incarcerated here centuries ago.
Address: Buitenkant Street, opposite the Grand Parade
Phone Number: 021 787 1249
Website: www.castleofgoodhope.co.za
Hours: Daily 9am to 4pm, with tours at 11am, 12pm and 2pm from Monday to Saturday. Self guided tours are possible with the aid of a map, provided by the Castle
Admission: R20 (adults), R10 (children); half-price on Sundays. Concessions available
Houses of Parliament
City/Region: Cape Town
East of the tree-lined pedestrian Government Avenue, which runs through the Company Gardens at the top of Adderley Street, lies the complex of Parliamentary buildings, containing numerous chambers, offices and corridors. It was here that the racial segregation policy of Apartheid rose and fell along with the ascendancy of the National Party which made South Africa the political pariah of the world. Visitors can now book a tour of the legislative complex, the original section of which dates back to 1885, a magnificent Victorian Neoclassical building. Worth exploring, too, are the neighboring Company Gardens that house a range of plants and trees from around the world.
Address: 90 Plein Street, city center (Visitor’s entrance)
Phone Number: 021 403 2201 or 021 403 2266 (tours), 021 403 2460 (debates)
Email Address: info@parliament.gov.za
Website: www.parliament.gov.za
Hours: Tours Monday to Friday 9am to 12pm
Admission: Tours are free, but advance booking is essential. Day tickets can also be bought to watch a parliamentary debating session
South African Museum and Planetarium
City/Region: Cape Town
The imposing South African Museum, dedicated to natural history and the human sciences, contains a huge variety of fascinating exhibits from entire chunks of caves bearing rock art, to traditional arts and crafts from several African tribes. The natural history galleries are full of mounted mammals, dioramas of prehistoric reptiles and a collection of whale skeletons, which can be viewed with the eerie sound of whale song echoing in the background. Alongside the museum is the Planetarium, which has a changing program of thematic shows involving the southern constellations.
Address: 25 Queen Victoria Street, Gardens
Phone Number: 021 481 3800 (museum), 021 481 3900 (planetarium)
Email Address: info@iziko.org.za
Website: www.iziko.org.za
Hours: Daily 10am to 5pm. Planetarium shows Monday to Friday at 2pm and Tuesday evening show at 8pm; Saturday and Sunday 12pm, 1pm and 2.30pm
Admission: Museum: R10 (adults), R5 (children), free on Saturdays; Planetarium: R20 (adults), R6 (children)
Greenmarket Square
City/Region: Cape Town
Situated in the Central Business District, near the main station, is Greenmarket Square, the perfect spot to observe South Africa’s ‘rainbow nation’ in all its hues. Once the scene of slave markets, this is the site of one of the city’s most vibrant flea markets, where clothing, jewelry, knick-knacks and souvenirs are on sale every day, and tourists and business people rub shoulders in the many sidewalk cafes that surround this busy cobbled square. Be prepared to haggle at the market to get the best prices and be warned, touts are prevalent. On the west side of the square is the Old Town House, dating from the mid-18th century, which is a wonderful example of Cape Dutch architecture and houses the Michaelis collection of Dutch and Flemish landscape paintings.
Hours: Greenmarket Square open daily till 3pm, closed Sundays. Old Town House open Monday to Saturday from 10am to 5pm
St George’s Cathedral
City/Region: Cape Town
Cape Town’s Victorian Gothic style Anglican Cathedral, founded in 1901, is situated in Wale Street and is historically significant for it is where the enthronement of South Africa’s first black archbishop, Nobel Peace Prize winner Desmond Tutu, took place. The Cathedral is unique in that it became a political powerhouse in the struggle against Apartheid, known as ‘the people’s cathedral’, stating openly from the 1950s onwards that it was open to all people of all races at all times. This was a brave stand in the racially segregated society of the time. In subsequent years the cathedral became the venue for many protest gatherings and vigils and on occasions the building was surrounded by police, water cannons and barbed wire. Victims of forced removals were even accommodated in the cathedral at times. As far as architectural merit goes, the cathedral does feature some fine Gabriel Loire windows, including a magnificent Rose Window above the south transept.
Address: Wale Street
Phone Number: 021 424 7360 (Cathedral office)
Email Address: info@sgcathedral.co.za
Website: www.stgeorgescathedral.com
Read More: iExplore
Fullham Lodge
