Travel to the malaria free Pilanesberg National Park, the fourth largest game reserve in South Africa and home to healthy populations of lion, leopard, buffalo, and rhino. Enjoy a closed vehicle game drive, going in search of the Big Five, in diverse and arresting bushveld terrain, followed by an orientation tour of the famous Sun City Resort. Known as Africa’s Kingdom of pleasure, Sun City is not only a luxury casino and resort but also a flagship structure, with a combination of features unmatched anywhere in the world. Bordering this entertainment complex, you will find one of the world’s outstanding geological phenomena; a crater of a long extinct volcano, the result of eruptions some 1,200 million years ago and home to the Pilanesberg Game Reserve.

Soweto is an urban area of the city of Johannesburg, bordering the city’s mining belt in the south. Its name, an English syllabic abbreviation for Southwestern Townships, refers to its origins as a Black township under South Africa’s Apartheid government. The population has historically been overwhelmingly black and some of the watershed events in the struggle against Apartheid occurred in this township. On this tour we will discover Soweto and the surrounding area, driving past a hostel in Diepkloof, the well known Chris Hani Baragwanath Hospital, Orlando Power Station, Mandela House Museum, Desmond Tutu’s House, the Hector Pieterson Memorial & Museum, a quick stop at a well known restaurant, a shebeen, the Regina Mundi Church, Maponya Shopping Mall, Kliptown, Walter Sisulu Freedom Square and Aldorado Park. Afterwards we will head towards the Apartheid Museum. Once there you will have the opportunity to discover the history of the Apartheid era on your own.

Experience the birthplace of life, first-hand. The Cradle of Humankind is one of eight world heritage sites in South Africa boasting 13 excavation sites that’s recognised worldwide. The first Hominid Fossil was discovered in 1924. Visit the Maropeng (meaning “returning to the place of origin”) Museum and witness how we evolved into the people we are today, discover some of the animal species that became extinct in the last century and see how humans are busy destroying the earth in real-time. Our tour continues to the Sterkfontein Caves (subject to the Caves being open), one of the richest and most productive Paleo-anthropological sites in the world that forms part of the Cradle of Humankind World Heritage Site. Amongst the most remarkable findings to have been made by numerous world-famous scientists within the Cradle of Humankind is the famous Mrs. Ples, the first complete Australopithecus skull to be discovered and more recently, “Little Foot”, a 4.17-million-year-old almost complete ape-man skeleton that was discovered in the same caves.

Maboneng, meaning ‘Place of Light’, is a fully fledged thriving community that has become a centre of creative energy for Johannesburg’s urban artists.

With a mix of art galleries, retail and studio space, the precinct draws the inner-city public, as well as a chic, art-going crowd. Enjoy a leisurely walking tour of the area, browsing around the arts and craft shops, sampling artisan food and produce.     

A visit to Carlton Centre is included 

This Half Day Tour offers excellent insight into this fast growing and fascinating suburb of South Africa.

Highlights Include:

• Experience a fascinating glimpse of bustling neighbourhood life. Soweto is the most metropolitan township in the country – setting trends in politics, fashion, music, dance and language.
• Drive past two former Nobel Prize winners’ previous residences
• The Hector Peterson memorial; dedicated to one of the first casualties of the Soweto uprising of 16 June, 1976, when over 500 people were killed as they protested over the imposition of Afrikaans as a medium of instruction in township schools.
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Soweto is home to more than 2 million people. Soweto dwellers have a wonderful sense of community, despite living in crowded and often chaotic conditions – something which the ordered, elitest suburbs ironically lack. Visit the Hector Pieterson Museum, and explore the causes of the tragic riots which led to this death.

You will have the option of a visit to Mandela House – a fascinating museum [ costs for own account ]

Continue to the Regina Mundi Church, which was the site of secret underground meetings of the banned political parties during the years of Apartheid.

You will end your tour with a drive past the largest stadium in Africa – Soccer City. Soccer City is also known as the Calabash and was the host of the 2010 FIFA Soccer World Cup.

Soweto is unlike a suburb you’ve ever seen or been to, yet the history of struggle encapsulated here is a cornerstone of the South African story.

Highlights Include

• See the fascinating Voortrekker Monument, a massive granite structure built to honor the early pioneers
• Church Square, surrounded by several historically and architecturally significant buildings,
• The City Hall, State Theatre & Opera House
• The Union Buildings, which form the official seat of the South African government and also house the offices of the President of South Africa.