A mere 45 minutes drive from Johannesburg or Pretoria, is Maropeng – the official visitor’s centre to the Cradle of Humankind. It is one of only eight World Heritage sites in South Africa – and the only one in Gauteng.
With its panoramic surroundings, world-class facilities, and unique tour packages, Maropeng never fails to leave a lasting impression, taking visitors on a fascinating journey back in time to the very beginning of the origin of our species.
Facilities include a 24-bedroom, four-star Boutique hotel, conference facilities for smaller corporate groups, an extensive underground Visitor Centre and four restaurants.
The Tumulus building was purpose-built as a visitor centre to showcase the Cradle of Humankind. The exhibition inside the buildings contains an underground boat ride, fun interactive displays, and real fossil displays, promoting a consciousness of preserving our natural heritage for future generations.
Maropeng also offers a number of smaller specialised tours hosted by a resident scientist or the curator including the Swartkrans walking tour allows, Coopers Cave Picnic and Walking tour, the Bone Detectives tour and monthly stargazing evenings.
As part of its greening initiatives, Maropeng has constructed an ozone wastewater purification system at the Sterkfontein Caves which uses ozone from the atmosphere to accelerate the breaking down of solids by bacteria and also to sterilise water.
Another water management initiative is an artificial wetland system, called a SSF CWS – Subsurface Flow Constructed Wetland System at Maropeng’s Visitor Centre. The wetland has been specially designed to naturally assist in the filtering and cleansing of the site’s grey and black water.
Other green projects close to Maropeng’s eco-friendly heart include biodegradable packaging and eating utensils, the rechargeable torch batteries used by Maropeng’s tour guides, conference notepads and pencils made using recycled paper, low-energy lighting and a variety of preservation efforts to protect indigenous fauna and flora in the area.
Quote from Tony Rubin, Managing Director at Maropeng:
The aim of FTT is to make tourism more sustainable by ensuring that the people who contribute their land, resources, labour and knowledge to tourism are the ones who reap the benefits. We fully support this aim and believe that through this FTT accreditation we are endorsing responsible tourism at our establishment. As a tourism destination it is our obligation to ensure that all those who enter our doors understand they part of a bigger, global initiative to preserve our heritage.
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Issued for and on behalf of Maropeng by Cathy Findley Public Relations