Experience the adventure of a lifetime with our Human Origins Tour, an exclusive private guided tour in an open game drive vehicle that affords guests the unique opportunity of experiencing first-hand two famous fossil dig sites – Gladysvale and Malapa – in the heart of the Greater Cradle Nature Reserve situated within the Cradle of Humankind.
It is an exclusive and unforgettable journey of storytelling as you walk in the footsteps of our hominin* ancestors and learn more about the story of human origins. But that’s not all – you’ll also get to witness death traps and bone collectors, streams that disappear into vast underground lakes, and even rock-eating termites with magnesium mandibles!
These sites are situated in a pristine 9000 hectare nature reserve which protects some of the largest and most pristine areas of the remaining high altitude dolomitic grasslands which are second only to the Cape Floral Kingdom (fynbos) in terms of floral diversity. The reserve is home to leopard and brown hyena and antelope such as the magnificent eland, blesbok, kudu, blue wildebeest and red hartebeest amongst other species. Amazingly, all this within sight of the second largest urban area on the African continent.
The area is an ancient landscape – truly primordial geology protecting and slowly revealing the ancient origins of the human race.
These excursions must be pre-booked!
* hominin, any member of the zoological “tribe” Hominini (family Hominidae, order Primates), of which only one species exists today – homo sapiens, or human beings. The term is used most often to refer to extinct members of the human lineage, some of which are now quite well known from fossil remains
THE MALAPA MUSEUM EXPERIENCE
Visitors will explore the geological origins of the region and gain a deeper understanding of the three million year fossil bearing history of this wilderness. They will also learn about such famous fossils as Australopithecus sediba and view reconstructions of the ancestors of wild dogs, false sabre tooth cats and giant hyenas that once roamed the dolomitic hills of the Highveld and whose fossils have been found in the caves of the region.
With films, interactive displays, dioramas and reconstructions of the landscape and animals of the past, the Malapa Museum Experience is a not to be missed introduction to our deep human journey.
All the proceeds from the Greater Cradle Nature Reserve go to The Cradle Foundation and the Lee R Berger Foundation for Exploration supporting science, exploration, conservation and education in the Cradle region.
