Make the most of your time in South Africa (MapStudio), by Sean Fraser

Make the most of your time in South Africa (MapStudio), by Sean Fraser (ISBN 9781770265929 / ISBN 978-1-77026-592-9)

Detail from MapStudio's 'Make the most of your time in South Africa'. ISBN 9781770265929

Route description from 'Make the most of your time in South Africa'. MapStudio: ISBN 978-1-77026-592-9

Sean Fraser edited MapStudio's new guide Make the most of your time in South Africa and did some research on the least and ideal time span to spend on the many sightseeing points he suggests to travel to.

Sean Fraser  MapStudio  

Gariep Dam Nature Reserve
4hrs/6hrs

Proclaimed in 1979, the nearly 18,000ha Gariep Dam Nature Reserve lies on the northern banks of the dam with which it shares its name and is one of a staggering 80 provincial and private nature reserves in the Free State. The waters of the massive 36,500ha dam, on South Africa's most significant river, the Orange, are pivotal to the local environment, irrigating some 200,000ha of the surrounding land. The reserve has approximately 6,000ha open to visitors, and the remainder is devoted entirely to conservation and local breeding programmes. The attractions are based mainly around the dam, mostly water sports such as sailing, fishing, canoeing, swimming and boating. This is where the annual Gariep Dam Watersports Festival is held in February, as is the popular Gariep 500 Rubber Duck Race. Also on the to-do list are several land-based activities, including hiking, day walks, horse riding and game viewing. The game viewing here is rewarding, with a number of birds, and mammal species such as red hartebeest, Cape mountain zebra and, most importantly, massive herds of black wildebeest and springbok. The reserve is well geared towards visitors, with a variety of overnight accommodation available in the immediate environs. These range from the self-catering chalets of the popular Gariep Forever Resort to guesthouses and B&Bs. And for those especially interested in the engineering of the dam, there are guided tours of the enormous dam wall.

A Big Hole Viewpoint
1/2hr/1hr

If you're anticipating a spectacular panorama or some extraordinary feature of the Northern Cape landscape to take your breath away, you're in for some disappointment. Kimberley's Big Hole is just that - a big hole. Yes, it is indeed big - some 214m deep and covering a full 17ha, and it is partly filled with water of an unusual blue-green colour. But it's the fact that it was hand-dug, an amazing feat of human perseverance and endeavour, that causes the wonderment. The hole - the largest of its kind in the world - was excavated some 150 years ago, at the height of the big diamond rush that saw Kimber-ley start out as a simple tented settlement populated by fortune seekers armed with picks, shovels and sieves. The massive crater has yielded some 2,700kg of diamonds since those early pioneering years, and at least a quarter of its depth (about 40m) has now filled with ground water. With De Beers having invested a lot of money into upgrading the museum complex, it is now a much-vaunted tourist attraction, with a jewellery, curio and coffee shop, and even overnight accommodation nearby.

Big Hole Museum Complex
2hrs/3hrs

The central focus of the museum complex is the Pulsator Building, an enormous information centre that chronicles the timeline of the great diamond rush of the mid-to-late 1800s, and has a display of photographs, artefacts, documents, and a row of sparkling replicas of the biggest diamonds discovered, including the Star of Africa. Also part of the complex is a cantilevered viewpoint over the Hole, an underground mine experience, a visit to the Diamond Vault, and the Old Town, a beautifully recreated mining village filled with authentic fittings, furniture and collectables. There's a movie, a guided tour and an optional ride in an old-fashioned trolley car. [...]

This is an excerpt from the guide: Make the most of your time in South Africa (MapStudio), by Sean Fraser.

Title: Make the most of your time in South Africa (MapStudio)
Scale: not available
Author: Sean Fraser
Genre: Route proposals and travel guide
Publisher: MapStudio
Cape Town, South Africa 2014
ISBN 9781770265929 / ISBN 978-1-77026-592-9
Softcover, 21 x 30 cm, 173 pages, throughout maps and photos