"One's destination is never a place, but a new way of seeing things"
Henry Miller
Our tour guides will unlock the treasures of the Forgotten Highway Route!
Contact them directly ...
Heroes of the open road ...
Join our first multi-town tour! Offered by Zatrax ...
Contact:
Gerrit van der Merwe
Overland Specialist
+27(0) 82 655 8133
Visit Zatrax Travel for more details of the Forgotten Highway Adventure!
20-30 September 2024
Or click here for a detailed itinerary ...
Sutherland on Foot
Explore Sutherland's heritage with tour guide Amanda du Preez - the local history, architecture, graves and stories ... A wonderful local walkabout with a very knowledgeable guide.
Cell 064 657 0693
Email: reservations@visitsutherland.co.za and Facebook
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Sterland Star-gazing
Sterland offers fantastic star-gazing, as well as fossils and a botanical route - as well as accommodation! A destination in its own right! Jurg Wagenaar is the stellar explorer, while Jaco Groenewald is in charge of the remarkable fossil collection.
Visit their Sutherlandinfo website, or email, or contact cell +27 (0)82 556 9589.
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Willem Prins and the Sutherland Planetarium
The only private planetarium in South Africa - with indoor shows in the daytime, and outdoor star-gazing events at night, offered by Willem Prins. Open 7 days a week!
Email: info@sutherlandplanetarium.co.za
Phone/Whatsapp: +27 78 603 0058
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Sutherland
The Southern African Large Telescope (SALT): Africa's Giant Eye on the Sky
Situated on a steep hillside east of Sutherland, this sophisticated astronomy centre conducts cutting-edge research. Public tours are available at various times of the day.
Contact Quicket to book tours.
Guided daytime tours: People per tour: 30
Monday to Saturday: 10:30 and 14:30
Fee: R120,00 per person
Children 6 – 11: R60
Children under 6: Free
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Marinda Oberholzer takes you 250 million years back in time ... to an afternoon at a swamp. Numerous animals, snails and worms were gathered there, including the formidable bradysaurus. Remarkably, the fossilised stone preserved all the animals' footprints.
The site is on a private farm, 4km from Fraserburg. Early mornings and late afternoons are ideal, when the shadows highlight the indentations in the rocks.
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Contact Marinda: Whatsapp and cell: 072 386 or 084 873 00980102
Fraserburg
Dinosaur Footprints Tour
Local Astro-Guides offer a fresh look at the universe.
In Carnarvon, six young Astro Guides (Cultural Guides) combine modern science with indigenous stories told for generations by our ancestors who walked these lands many years ago.
The Carnarvon Experience offers the unique stories our people had to tell, while at the same time leave visitors with an immersive feeling they will never forget.
Carnarvon's Astroguides
Carnarvon is the home of the Square Kilometer Array (SKA) Astronomy Project: The radio telescopes listen to the universe! The radio waves take us back into Deep Time - as far back as just after the Big Bang. Visit the SKA website here, as well as analysis by Daily Maverick.
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Tourists can generally not visit SKA the site, due to tight controls about radio interference.​ But the next Open Day for the MeerKAT radio telescope and SKA site visit is set for Saturday, 10 August 2024, and Sunday, 11 August 2024. See the SARAO website for details!
Contact:
brandon booysen: Cell 063 623 1072
Amy-lee visagie: Cell 083 261 1985
chrislin de koker: Cell 084 319 5587
Nicole Vermeulen: Cell 071 204 5266
Kaylee Malgas: Cell 074 290 6620
Gillian Kammas: Cell 079 550 3473
SARAO (SA Radio Astronomy Observatory, Carnarvon): 053 382 5000
Carnarvon:
Karoo Explorer
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Cultural tours
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Donkey cart rides
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Pedifeet (by appointment)
explorerkaroo@gmail.com
Whatsapp 079 933 0681
Carnarvon:
Karoo Explorer
Geocaching
Learn this wonderful treasure hunt pastime, and find unexpected places!
Download the app ...
There are numerous geocaches in Carnarvon ...
A great way to experience the Karoo!
Wonderwerk (Miracle) Cave
(Between Danielskuil and Kuruman)
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Open Mondays to Fridays 8am to 4pm.
Telephone 053-8392748
Wonderwerk Cave revamped chalets (and weekend access to the cave) can be booked through Chante at 083 810 3582.
This extraordinary dolomite cave, extending 140 m into the hillside, preserves archaeological layers built up over a period of some two million years. It is the oldest known cave occupation by human ancestors in the world. The earliest evidence for use of fire by humans was also found, dated about a million years ago.
Stone tools, animal bones, and botanical materials reflect the changing activity and ecological contexts of human ancestors. Rock paintings adorn the walls. Wonderwerk Cave is described as one of the great archives in the world, preserving fragile evidence of our history reaching far into the past.
A site museum and wheelchair-friendly walkway make the cave accessible, with a guide providing commentary. Accommodation is available.
Rock engravings, estimated more than a thousand years old, occur over the top of a hill within a property now owned by the !Xun and Khwe San people.
Community members and Khoe-San people work with researchers and other stakeholders to conserve the engravings and to make them accessible to the public. A visit here can be a deeply moving experience, and an informative one for school groups.
Wildebeestkuil
Between Kimberley and Barkly West
Situated 16 km outside Kimberley on the R31 to Barkly West. Open Mondays to Fridays (and other times by appointment). Tel 053-8392747
There is a guided tour starting at a Visitors’ Centre, where there are displays, and an auditorium with a twenty-minute introductory film.
The 800 m walk-way weaves up and over the hill via a number of information points with commentary provided by the guide.