Golde Acre - Cape Town

When you are on your Cape Town Tour, be sure to vis the Golden Acre. The Golden Acre is a cosmopolitan complex of department stores, specialty shops, restaurants and coffee houses, cinemas and offices, all forming part of an even larger concourse that runs beneath Adderley Street and adjacent thoroughfares. Among points I inked by the bustling and largely subterranean passages are the railway station, the bus and air terminals, the sky-scraping Cape Sun Inter-Continental Hotel, two parking garages and a pedestrian mall connected to the old General Post Office building, now a busy indoor market. Along the fringe of the Golden Acre are Cape Town's famed and philosophical flower-sellers. The Golden Acre is close to the site of the primitive, leaky-walled fort built in the early 1650s by the first Dutch settlers, though nothing remains of the structure. A small reservoir, or dam, dating back to the commandership of Jan van Riebeeck's successor, Zacharias Wagenaer, was uncovered during building excavations for the Golden Acre, and the thoughtful architects redrew their plans to retain the relics in situ. They're now attractively displayed behind glass.

African Herbalist’s Shop – Diagonal Street

A visit to the African Herbalist's Shop (also known as the Museum of Man and Science) in downtown Johannesburg will be an enlightening experience for those who have used only traditional Western medicine when ill. Exhibits of skins, claws and wings jostle with the more mundane roots, bark, powders and potions which pack this shop. Consider the fact that there are over 200000 African traditional healers in South Africa and you will realize that the muti sold in this shop is not an oddity, but the source of the majority of South Africans' healing supplies. Inyangas, or izinyanga, (herbalists) and sangomas, or izangoma, (diviners) use a huge variety of plants in their work. Some are used as charms — for example, as a love charm (Crabbea hirsuta) — or for strictly medicinal purposes. Wild ginger (Acridompus natalitius), for example, is used for coughs and colds. Luckily for the curious, there is a daily tour and a museum is planned.

Johannesburg can be the perfect start to your Kruger National Park Self Drive.

Ben Albert Nature Reserve - Thabazimbi

The muted colours of the bushveld vegetation — silver and fawn, dun, grey-green and gold— contrast sharply with the rust-red soil of the terrain in this out-of-the-way bushveld sanctuary, lying in rolling hills at the foot of the Ysterberg, near Thabazimbi. Thabazimbi means 'mountain of iron', and the region's soils and rocks are indeed rich in iron ore, which has been mined here for some centuries, first by Sotho people, and now by the Iron and Steel Corporation (Iscor). Iscor laid out the town of Thabazimbi in 1953, and later established the Ben Alberts Nature Reserve as a recreational facility for its employees. The reserve covers some 2000 ha, and is watered by the Crocodile River, which is flanked by steep hillsides. In the back-ground, the Kransberg (highest peak of the Waterberg range) is a magnificent and brooding presence. A network of good gravel roads criss-crosses the reserve (visitors will find a map printed on the back of their entrance tickets). Some routes take you to lookout points commanding panoramic views of the reserve. Here you can expect to spot an abundance of game, including such mammals as white rhinos, kudu, blue wildebeest, giraffes, eland, zebras and warthogs. There is also a wide variety of bird life for the enthusiast.

A number tented bush camps are found on private game drives in the area where guests can stay when they want to visit the Ben Alberts Nature Reserve.

Private Kruger Safaris

Private Kruger Safaris offer guests the opportunity to explore the Kruger National Park with their own private tour guide and vehicle. This allows guests to explore the Kruger National Park without having to worry about finding the best routes to find the famous Big Five or how to approach sightings of the Big Five.

Private Kruger Safaris will start from any location in Pretoria, preferably in the before 12:00 allowing enough time to reach the Kruger National Park before the gates closes. If guests leave after 12:00 when they travel from Pretoria, a night on route to the Kruger National Park in Dullstroom needs to be included.

Travel to Kruger suggests a minimum of two nights when you visit the Kruger National Park. This will allow you an afternoon, full day and morning in the Kruger National Park. An extra day or two will increase the opportunity to see Lion and the rest of the Big Five.

Accommodation can be in 3 star camps with no meals included.

Game viewing is good all through the year but best during dry winter of April to September. Many animals congregate on the dry river beds and water holes for drinking water in the early mornings. October to March is the rainy season when the park blossoms with plenty of lush pastures with fewer sights of grazing animals. Taking game drives is rewarding in the early mornings and evening. There are also 130 recorded rock paintings in the park you can visit en route.