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6 off-the-beaten-path suggestions for day trips in Gauteng
Contrary to non-Gautengers' belief, the province has lots more to offer than skyscrapers and traffic. If you're staying home (in Gauteng) this holiday season, you'd be delighted to find that there are lots of fun staycation ideas, especially outdoor activities, available.
Here are six off-the-beaten-path suggestions for Gauteng day trips, most of which can be extended into overnight stays if desired.
Explore Cullinan
Cullinan is a quaint little town about an hour-and-a-half from Joburg (significantly less from Pretoria) with just enough to see and do in a day, maybe two days for hardcore history buffs.
Visit McHardy House, the oldest house in Cullinan, built for mine manager William McHardy in 1903, and check out some of the other historic buildings, including the Herbert Baker-designed St. George’s Anglican Church.
Enjoy a leisurely lunch at As Greek As It Gets or grab a drink at the pub along the train tracks near the Cullinan Railway Station.
Take a journey back to the Cradle of Humankind
The Cradle of Humankind, a Unesco World Heritage site less than an hour northwest of Joburg, is the bucolic home of some of the world’s oldest human ancestors.
Day-trippers can visit the Sterkfontein Caves, where archaeologists discovered the famous ‘Mrs Ples’ and ‘Little Foot’ fossils, and the nearby Maropeng Visitors Centre, a museum that takes visitors on a journey through the history of the universe, for a combined price of R160.
See the Big Five at the Dinokeng Game Reserve
Just 30 minutes from Pretoria, Dinokeng Game Reserve is the only free-roaming big five reserve in Gauteng. Although Dinokeng is a relatively new reserve and hence doesn’t have the same biodiversity as the Kruger Park or Pilanesberg, it’s still a great spot to get away and hopefully spot an elephant or lion or two.
Enjoy a day of twitching at the Marievale Bird Sanctuary
Although it’s well-known to many hardcore birders, the Marievale Bird Sanctuary, about an hour east of Joburg near the town of Nigel, is one of Gauteng’s best kept wildlife-viewing secrets.
Located on a Ramsar wetland site created accidentally by the mining industry in the 1930s, Marievale boasts nearly 300 bird species and a variety of other wetland animals. The park is maintained by Gauteng province and admission is free.
Marievale is located on the R42 in Ekurhuleni, about four kilometres from the town of Nigel. Opening hours are from 5.30am to 7.30pm in summer and 6am to 6pm in winter.
Go wild and amble at the Wilds and Melville Koppies Nature Reserve
Joburg’s city parks are its most underrated attraction. Here are two of the best.
Spend a few hours in the Wilds, a municipal nature reserve between Killarney and Houghton. It’s a wonderland of indigenous trees and shrubs and is dotted with colourful art installations. The Wilds’ greenhouse is home to a beautiful collection of rare cycads.
The open day is a great opportunity to hike through this pristine landscape and check out the well preserved Iron Age furnace and other archaeological artefacts.
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