12 Best Sights in The Northern Cape, South Africa

If you do one thing in Kimberley, visit the Big Hole, which, at 2,690 feet deep, is the world's largest hand-dug hole. Although water now fills most of its depth, it's still impressive, particularly from the observation post. You also get to explore facsimile tunnels for a sense of what it might have been like for miners—there's even a simulated dynamite blast that can take you unawares. At the end of the tunnels, comprehensive museum displays document the history of both the city and the mine. Replicas of the world's most famous diamonds, including the Eureka, a 21-carat yellow diamond that was South Africa's first recorded diamond discovery in 1866, are also on view.

Touring the extensive, open-air Kimberley Mine Museum, on the lip of the mine, is like stepping back in time to wander through a mining town with a host of authentic 19th-century buildings, many of which were moved here from the city center. They include the first house erected in Kimberley (1877), which was originally brought piece by piece from Britain to the diamond fields by ship and ox wagon; Barney Barnato's boxing academy; and the very popular Occidental Bar, which serves pub-style food and is reminiscent of a Wild West saloon. There is also a hotel, The New Rush Guesthouse, whose good-value accommodations are in a variety of the museum site's old buildings and have antique furniture and slipper bathtubs that enhance the time-travel sensation.

At the Wildebeest Kuil Rock Art Tourism Centre, the half-mile-long San Rock Art Trail takes you on a short walk back through time. Billed as "helping to protect the future of the past," this memorable rock art experience includes engravings made by ancestors of the Khoisan, dating between 1,000 and 2,000 years ago. (Ancestors of the Khoisan are believed to be some of the earliest humans to walk the face of the earth.) Listening to an audio player, you take a boardwalk to the best of more than 400 images––eland, elephant, rhino, wildebeest, hartebeest, ostrich, and dancing human figures—on a low ridge of ancient andesite rock. The center also offers a 20-minute introductory film and display on the subject and a crafts shop run by the !Xun and Khwe San (refugees from the Angolan and Namibian wars), whose land surrounds the site.

Housed in the old Kimberley Public Library (1887) is one of the country's premier reference libraries, where books are shelved from floor to ceiling, an ornate wrought-iron staircase connects the floors, and locally published, limited-edition books are for sale. Included in the 20,000-volume collection are such rarities as the Setswana Bible, the first-ever Bible in an African language, printed by Robert Moffat in the 1850s, as well as four books dating from the 1400s. The library is said to be haunted by the ghost of Bertram Dyer, the country's first qualified librarian. After he was caught defrauding the library of money, he committed suicide. He now purportedly stacks files on the floor and rattles teacups in the kitchen.

Today you can visit the open-air Canteen Kopje Archaeological Site to view both archaeological and geological treasures, ranging from Stone Age artifacts more than a million years old to rock axes, found in a recent excavation, that date from the late 1800s. Walk the 1-km (½-mile) trail to take in the exhibits. Students of history—and South Africa in particular—will really appreciate this off-the-beaten-path stuff.

This gallery houses early photographs of southern Africa and its inhabitants taken by A. M. Duggan Cronin, an Irishman who arrived in 1897 to work as a night watchman for De Beers. A keen photographer, he traveled widely through southern Africa, capturing his impressions—mostly of African peoples—on film. While the gallery is actually on Egerton Road, access is now via the McGregor Museum.

A well-known Kimberley landmark, the family home of merchant John Orr has a colonial wraparound verandah painted a distinctive green and white. Sadly, its upkeep is lacking, and you can only visit it on a tour (pre-booked through the McGregor Museum), during which you'll hear about the swimming pool (the first in Kimberley) and the red dining room, which took a shell through its ceiling during the Anglo-Boer War siege. 

Where this evocative, barren national monument now stands, the Boers resoundingly defeated British forces marching to relieve besieged Kimberley in December 1899. An excellent museum screens an 11-minute multimedia display that does such a good job of recalling the battle in pictures and sound that it will give you goose bumps. You can also visit several monuments dotted around the battlefield. A pleasant tearoom and the on-site Bagpipe Lodge (bagpipes not included) offer a place to refuel and recline. This was the site of a major battle in the South African War, and is must for anyone with a sense of military, or South African history.

In 1803 the London Missionary Society established a mission here, and Mary Moffat, wife of explorer David Livingstone, was born here. The old mission house is now home to the Mary Moffat Museum, which has interesting displays and literature on the history of the Griquas, the missionaries, and the area. The phone number may not work, but it's definitely open.

This graceful Kimberley landmark, built at Rhodes's instigation, was first used as a sanatorium, then an upscale hotel, and later as a girls' convent school. Rhodes (now a much-maligned figure who occupies a shady realm within the South African colonial discourse) himself stayed here during the siege, and you can see rooms he once occupied.

Today the building houses a museum that focuses on Northern Cape history (prehistoric to early 20th century) within a global context. It contains quite a good display on the Anglo-Boer War and the even more impressive Hall of Ancestors—an extensive exhibition on the history of humanity that includes prehistoric human skulls dating back some 3 million years. The natural history of the area can be seen in the EnviroZone, and a chapel once stood on what is today the Hall of Religion. Note, though, that much of this museum is in need of a refresh, and some of its displays are akin to high-school projects.

In the leafy suburb of Belgravia, Rudd House is the rambling home of Cecil John Rhodes's first business partner, the early diamond magnate Charles Dunnell Rudd. The house has been restored in the art-deco style of the 1920s, when the Bungalow, as the house was then known, was in its heyday. Look for the croquet ground made out of kimberlite, and the massive snooker table surrounded by a multitude of animal heads from Rudd's trips north to Matabeleland. Like Dunluce, Rudd House can be seen only on a tour operated by the McGregor Museum (see).

Activist, author, and journalist Sol Plaatje (1876–1932) lived most of his multitalented life in this house. In addition to being the first general secretary of the African National Congress, he was the first black South African to publish a novel in English, an influential early black newspaper editor, and an energetic campaigner for human rights. His house is now a small reference library, publishing house, and museum with displays on his life and extracts from his diary. The reference library contains the works of previously exiled South Africans (in English) and a collection of Tsetswana literature; books are also for sale.

This renowned art museum in Kimberley's Civic Centre is at once sedate and lively. It's an air-conditioned haven of tranquility on a hot summer day, and its impressive collection features South African works as well as those by Dutch, Flemish, British, and French masters. One area is devoted to local work, and a very popular exhibit highlights the rock art of the Northern Cape. Free guided tours (preferably booked in advance) cater to specific interests on request. Be mindful of parking your car outside the museum; it may be worth asking someone to keep an eye on it, or catching a taxi here.