Maropeng Museum & Cave

Yesterday we ventured outside the city for the first time.  It was fun to “get away”.  We went to an area called “The Cradle of Humankind”.  It is a World Heritage Site.  This is about an hour northwest of Johannesburg.  We first toured the Sterkfontein Caves. 

This is one of the most significant and famous archaeological sites in the world.  The limestone caves here have produced hundreds of hominid fossils.  These are considered to be ancestors to the Homo sapiens.  The most famous fossils found here are Little Foot – a complete skeleton of a hominid that once walked upright – stood about 4 feet high.

Another famous fossil was the skull of Mrs. Ples – which may have really been a man – the skull contained 32 teeth – significant in terms of evolution.  The cave tour showed us where these fossils had been excavated from the flowstone and cave rubble.  The tour was not for old people.  Stooping, scooting, ducking, waddling, climbing, in poor light and unstable footing with 180 feet of vertical were the actions of the day.

Debbie had a vegetarian burger for lunch.  It was nothing like the garden burgers in the US.  It was mostly potato and corn.  I drank a “Stoney” – ginger beer which is non-alcoholic of course.

Next we visited the museum at Maropeng. 

This complex looks like a grassy mound, but is really a building covered with dirt.  There is an impressive museum that describes the “Cradle of Humankind” area and talks about our evolution as a people. 
There is also a raft ride that is a part of the exhibit that takes you “through” the ice age and history of the earth’s evolution.  But I think Splash Mountain is better.