Maropeng & Sterkfontein Caves Tour

Maropeng & Sterkfontein Caves Tour comprises:

Maropeng Visitor Centre:

The Maropeng Visitor Centre is an exciting, world-class exhibition, focusing on the development of humans and our ancestors over the past few million years. On arrival, you will see a massive burial mound called the Tumulus, which is your entrance to learning the secrets of our ancestry.

Maropeng, situated in the Cradle of Humankind in Gauteng province, South Africa, it is a world-acclaimed tourist destination that is not only part of the South African national pride, but appeals to the world.

The Tumulus building is a first of its kind in the world! It is designed to look like an ancient burial mound from the front, upon exiting one then looks back on a very modern structure. The architecture is symbolic of the journey through the evolution of life.
Newly opened 260m2 exhibition consists of four large show cases which include life like models of hominids, a sabre tooth cat, a reconstruction of a mined cave vs a pristine cave, cave formations and geologies, early life forms, fossils in general, specific finds (like Mrs Ples, Taung Child, Little Foot), details of fossilization, paleo botany and landscapes.
Maropeng, which is a Setswana word meaning ‘returning to the place of our origins’, takes visitors on a fun and informative journey of discovery using spectacular methods to tell stories of the evolution of life and the origins of humankind.  It denotes the universal relevance of the Cradle of Humankind as the ancestral home of all, no matter what colour, culture or creed.

The Sterkfontein Caves:

The Sterkfontein Caves are owned by the University of the Witwatersrand, whose scientists have been responsible for the main excavations of the World Heritage Site. They are credited with many of the famous discoveries including the world famous “Mrs Ples” and “Little Foot”, an almost complete Australopithecus skeleton dating back more than 3-million years.

Within the caves, scientists have discovered many hominid and other animal fossils, dating back more than 4-million years, to the birth of humanity. The most important and most famous of these fossils are Australopithecus skeleton that is more than 3-million years old. These fossils, both found in the Sterkfontein Caves in the Cradle of Humankind, tell us much about the precursors of modern humans, Homo sapiens.

Collection Points (between 8:30 and 09:15am):

• The Palazzo Hotel - Montecasino

• The Michelangelo Hotel - Sandton

• The Hyatt Regency Hotel - JHB

If you require collection from a different location please contact us regarding times and prices. Please note there is no extra cost to be collected from any hotel in the Sandton area.