The
day after the night before and we’re all a little tried after a fantastic night
in Beata’s where she treated us to a Braii.
The
plan for the day is to visit the Cradle of Humankind and the Chamelon Village. We leave the hotel promptly at 10am and
start the 2 hour bus ride, as we leave the hustle and bustle of the city behind
we head north west, our journey takes us through some gorgeous scenery of
rolling hills and vast open spaces.
Our
first stop for the day is the Maropeng & Sterkfontein Caves
Tour, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, renowned for the discovery of a
2.3-million-year-old fossil Australopithecus africanus (nicknamed “Mrs.
Ples”). Before our tour of the caves
we don our safety helmets.
The
first thing you notice on entering the caves is how cold it is, for most of us
it’s a welcome break from the heat. Our
guide leads us through the caves and we’re blown away by her in-depth
knowledge. As we weaved our way through
the various passage ways and crooks and crannies, we all emerge safely back
above ground.
The
next stop was the interactive tour of Maropeng Museum. The self-guided exhibition starts with the
beginning of the world 4 – 6 billion years ago with a ball of burning gas and
takes you through the evolution of the species. It seems in relative terms, humans are
pretty much new comers to Earth, while our ancestors have been around a lot
longer. While the
exact shape of the human family tree is something scientists are still
debating, the one thing that they mostly agree on is that humankind was born in
Africa.
Our final stop
of the day was to the Chamelon Village, basically a huge market selling
‘authentic’ South African crafts and hand-made jewellery. No sooner had we got off the bus when we
surrounded by sellers, with big smiles and well-rehearsed sales pitches. We had been told the trick is to haggle and
haggle until you get to the price you’re willing to pay. That was my intention, but no sooner inside
the market I was surrounded by at least 4-5 stall owners all turning on the
charm to make a sale. I succumbed in
seconds probably paying slightly over the odds, for my next purchase I roped in
Jalpa the ‘haggle expert’ and managed to purchase some lovely souvenirs. Jalpa’s assistance was called upon several
times by the group to secure good deals, her trick ‘appear like you don’t want
it, state your price and stick to it’. 
We return to our bus armed with our shopping bags for
the journey home, all exhausted but exhilarated by yet another wonderful South
African experience.
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