South African Tours - Kimberley

If there is one thing that is as much associated with South Africa as wildlife, it is diamonds. South Africa is one of the world's leading producers of the precious stones, and the town of Kimberley is the country's diamond capital. At one time it was a buzzing, wide open frontier town, full of fortune seekers. Kimberley today is a bustling commercial centre, but most of the interesting sights are connected with the diamond industry. The town itself shows little evidence of sparkling wealth; only in the suburb of Belgravia are there fine old Victorian houses. The central part of Kimberley is dominated by the De Beers headquarters and the Telkom Tower, which overlook office blocks and modern shops. You can tour the town on foot, or if you like, you can take advantage of the only working tram in South Africa. It runs from City Hall to the Mine Museum.

Diamonds, Diamonds...

Kimberley's main tourist attraction is the Diamond Rush area. This is a collection of 40 buildings from the late 19th century. A few are authentic models, but most of them are original. They have been put together in an amazing replica of a community made up of a jumble of streets, complete with sound effects to add to the realism. Visitors can hear singing and snippets of conversation, as though they were there a hundred years ago. They can visit a bar, shops, restaurants, and a boarding house. In the Mining House there are historic photos of the diamond diggings that drew adventurers and fortune hunters to South Africa. In the De Beer's Hall, you can see genuine South African diamonds.

... and a Big Hole

The entire museum complex is centred around the Big Hole. This crater is 1.6 km around, and covers more than 13 ha. Its excavation goes down 800 metres. You can look into the Big Hole from two caged viewing platforms. What you see is an enormous cavity, partly filled with murky water, but it is nonetheless an amazing sight, especially when you consider that it was man-made, before the age of big machines. Every bit of earth and rock was hauled out by hand and searched for diamonds. The amount of labour involved is staggering to imagine; small wonder that the Big Hole has become such an attraction in South Africa.

Diamond World

In 2006 a new part of the complex was opened to the public. It is called Diamond World, and it invites visitors to experience first-hand what life was like for diamond miners in the early days of South Africa. Visitors will experience a simulated dynamite blast, complete with dust in the air. They will have the opportunity to see real diamonds, including the famous yellow Eureka Diamond. This is an astounding 616-carat, perfect octahedron (eight faced). Visitors can see this extraordinary gem in a guarded vault. Only 15 people are allowed inside at a time. A fully operational pulsar machine demonstrates how diamonds are extracted from surrounding rock beds by modern mining technology, and a twenty-minute film tells the story of diamond mining in Kimberley.