Maropeng

Running out of ideas to keep the kids busy? A trip to Maropeng, the official visitor centre for the Cradle of Humankind World Heritage Site, will keep young minds occupied long after the visit is over. If your kids have ever posed perplexing questions to you such as ‘How old is the world?’ or ‘Why is the dodo extinct?’, chances are that you’re uncertain yourself. Maropeng is a fascinating journey of discovery, using world-class audio visual technology to present the history of the earth and the life forms it supports.

Maropeng visitors centre

A great day outing for you and the kids. The tour starts with an underground boat ride which retraces the various stages of the creation of the earth, winding through a tunnel of ice, snow, water and fire and emerging into a ‘black hole’, symbolising the beginning of the world.
Make sure you’ve set aside a couple of hours for Maropeng as the interactive zone will keep your kids fascinated for some time. They’ll be able to talk by phone to an extinct dodo, watch a film about the Little Foot excavation taking place at Sterkfontein Caves (Little Foot is a full skeleton of an Australopithecus, estimated to be 2-million years old) and learn about what it means to be human. They’ll even be able to see an original fossil display of human and animal fossils discovered in the Cradle of Humankind.

Dining venues at Maropeng

Maropeng has several dining venues to choose from. The market place restaurant at the entrance of the visitor centre and the outdoor café behind the Tumulus building both serve light meals, and the Tumulus restaurant puts on a superb buffet spread for lunch on Sundays.

Sunday buffet lunch

Maropeng Sunday Buffet lunch at the Tumulus Restaurant Come and tantalise taste buds with wonderful culinary surprises from a selection of mouth-watering cuisines. Acoustic Moodz will provide entertainment as they combine the elegant sound of the guitar and marimba, setting a relaxed and unobtrusive atmosphere to laze the afternoon away. The Sunday carvery lunch is available from 12pm till 3pm

Maropeng school tours

The school year has officially started and Maropeng is looking forward to welcoming many more learners to the Cradle of Humankind. Make sure that 2011 is a memorable year for learning and book your school tour to Maropeng.
School groups can be accommodated at Hominid House, which offers lots of place to play and relax after spending the day exploring Sterkfontein Caves or learning about the origins of humankind.

**Maropeng and Sterkfontein Caves are powered by generators during power outages and continue to operate during load shedding**