Cradle of Humankind

We took a day trip to the Cradle of Humankind, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, with several members of our tour group. Located an hour's drive from Johannesburg in the Guateng Province, the highlight of our day was going down into one of the caves at Sterkfontein. During the rainy season, cave access is often closed due to underground flooding but fortunately we were visiting during the dry season.

 

We all had to wear hairnets and hardhats because there are sections of this cave where you have to duck or crawl one at a time. Good thing we took this precaution because I still managed to clunk my head several times!

Hardhats with hairnets are never a good fashion statement.

 

Our guide was very knowledgeable. After going through narrow passages, we often would come into a large "room".

One section of the cave has a large lake.

There were some impressive stalactites!

 

Once out of the cave, our group followed a walkway back to the parking area, passing this excavation site on the way. Several universities have active digs here.

 

Dry scrublands extend in all directions in this harsh and unforgiving climate.

 

Our next stop was the Maropeng Visitor Center. The displays in the building near the caves had already provided lots of information about the hominid remains found in this area, so after touring the visitor center we felt that it was probably designed for students and families.