Though restrictions are still firmly in place, there are still things you can do and places you can explore.
According to Jenny Grice, a volunteer at the Melville Koppies, you can take your kids to the nature reserve and heritage site. “See if you can find the site where hunter-gatherers camped thousands of years ago,” she said.
Situated on a north-facing slope and nestled against a ridge, Grice said the site was perfectly sheltered when that cool breeze brought the freezing air from the south in winter.
While on your adventure, you can see the only restored iron-making furnace in Joburg that was used by the first farmers in Joburg until the early 1800s. You can marvel at their iron-making skills.
“They knew the rocks that were iron-bearing, built clay furnaces to melt them down and used their knowledge of the relationship between heat and oxygen levels to smelt iron over a lengthy 18 hours,” concluded Grice.
Details: Wendy Carstens wendavid@mweb.co.za
