1 day entertainment in Gauteng
Hosting IEEE Distinguished Lecturers is best served with at least some social prgramme/entertainment. Unfortunately, those visitors usually rather busy with giving lectures, so 1-day "social" program is usually all the most they have time to do. A critical thing to consider in planning is that getting from one place to another nearly always takes at least an hour, sometimes 1.5 hrs!
Some locations by
- Planetware (my preference)
- TripAdvisor + ... - allows to buy tickets
- SafariNow
- Around entire South Africa
There are many "proven" siteseeing locations in Gaurteng (NB! where you see "near", this may refer to 30-60min drive)
a- Rhino & Lion Park near Johannesburg (takes more than half a day, we would need to leave by 11);
b- Farm Inn in Pretoria (needs just under half a day: also some animals);
c- Cradle of Humankind near Johannesburg (archeology, needs ~half a day);
d- Voortrekker monument in Pretoria- history of South Africa (needs ~ 2-3hrs);
e- House of Nelson Mandela in near Johannesburg (needs ~2-3hrs, mostly due to driving);
f- Fort Klapperkopp in Pretoria (needs ~1-2hrs, nice views of Pretoria);
g- Union Buildings in Pretoria (from where Nelson Mandela gave a famous speech; needs ~30-60min);
h- Elephant sanctiory near Pretoria (1/2 day);
i- Appertheid museum in Johannesburg - history of the peak and fall of apertheid (1/2 day);
j. Maropeng
k. Sterkfontein Caves
l. Hartbeespoort Aerial Cableway near Pretoria
Personally, the best place is probably the Rhino & Lion Park
http://www.rhinolion.co.za/
They offer possibility to ...
* see feeding of lions, wild dogs, and cheaters, plus
* a bit of hands-on playing with lion/tiger cubs (ANIMAL CRECHE), plus
* some animals with horns and birds).
They also got feeding of giraffe (at the restaurant near the entrance, called Neck & Deck)
and a cave tour (called Wondercave).
If one is very disciplined and keeps to the schedule, the visit normally takes 1/2 day to a day. The best days are Wed, Sat, Sun and public holidays because these are the only days when viewing of the feeding of predators is possible. On other days, one may be allowed to drive pass the predators (which on the other hand can be a fairly heart-pumping exerience).
Some thoughts:
- good arrival time is around 8-9AM;
- the entrance used to take credit cards but giraffes and cubs will need cash (if you take cash of around ZAR200-R400 pp, it should usually cover those small expenses;
- please do not stop for too long for taking pictures as there are usually MANY occasions;
- you can start (OR finish) with giraffes (as they are at the entrance);
- please keep track of time ... it is fun so it is easy to loose time...
- the ANIMAL CRECHE (playing with cubs) usually opens between 9 and 10.
- the feeding of predators happens at 13:00;
- the predators are kept very separately, and one will need to leave for the feeding at around 12:30 (there is a
20 min drive + finding the place ... there are 3 places... so one needs to find which one is the first one, and then one can just follow the crowd);
- from there, you will probably come back to the central area (as cubs, snake, cheater are around the same place);
- live snake show 14:30;
- Cheetah "talk" 15:00;
- It may be wise to leave the cave for the last.
The schedule is shown here:
http://www.rhinolion.co.za/visitors-guide/activity-index/
If you have a car, you can go there yourself (it is a drive-through type of thing).
Alternatively, for a packaged tour, I could suggest a provider like http://www.kwathlano.co.za/ .
By the by, if you are adventurous, you may choose to stay at the self-cateriing rooms inside the park. Apparently, you will hear animals etc. ... fairly exotic.
Another thought ... it may be good to go there with someone - this way that person can take picts of you with the cabs, snakes etc.
Overall for South Africa (based on http://www.travelstart.co.za/blog/50-top-tourist-attractions-in-south-af...)
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Cape Point |
Cape Town | |
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Boulders Beach (puinguins) |
Cape Town |
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V&A Waterfront |
Cape Town |
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Table Mountain |
Cape Town |
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Robben Island |
Cape Town |
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Cango Caves |
Garden Route | |
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The Big Tree at Tsitsikamma |
Garden Route |
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Bloukrans Bungee |
Garden Route |
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Ostrich Farm, Oudtshoorn |
Garden Route |
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The Apartheid Museum
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Johannesburg | |
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Gold Reef City |
Johannesburg |
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Satyagraha House (Mahatma Gandhi) |
Johannesburg |
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Bush Babies and Monkey Sanctuary |
Pretoria (1h) | |
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Nelson Mandela Square |
Johannesburg |
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Rhino and lion park |
Johannesburg (1h) |
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Voortrekker Monument |
Pretoria | |
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The Union Buildings |
Pretoria |
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Maropeng |
Johannesburg (1h) |
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Sterkfontein Caves |
Johannesburg (1h) |
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Hartbeespoort Aerial Cableway |
Pretoria (1h) |
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Bill Harrop’s Original Balloon Safaris |
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The Palace of the Lost City (needs more than 1 day!) |
Pretoria (1.5h) |
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Blyde River Canyon (drive ~1 day from Gauteng, one way) |
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uShaka Marine World |
Durban | |
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The Drakensberg |
~4h drive from Pretoria | |
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Howick Falls |
few hrs from Durban |
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Gateway Theatre of Shopping (said to be the biggest mall in Southern hemisphere) |
Durban | |
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Fort Klapperkop Heritage Site |
Pretoria |
views of Pretoria http://www.tshwane.gov.za/sites/tourism/Arts-Culture-and-Heritage/Pages/... |
