Vredefort Dome, Free State
Some two billion years ago a meteorite hit Earth about 100 km southwest of Johannesburg, creating an enormous impact crater. This area, near the town of Vredefort in the Free State, is known as the Vredefort Dome. The crater, with a diameter of 190 km, is the largest, oldest and most deeply eroded astrobleme found on Earth.
iSimangaliso Wetland Park, KwaZulu-Natal
Robben Island, Western Cape
Robben Island is most famous as the place where Nelson Mandela was imprisoned for 18 of his 27 years in jail. Between the 17th and 20th centuries, the island was used as a prison, a hospital for socially unacceptable groups including a leper colony, and as a military base.
Mapungubwe National Park, Limpopo
SA’s 700-year-old golden rhino.
This open savanna, not far from the Zimbabwe border, lies at the confluence of the Limpopo and Shashe rivers. It was the heart of the Mapungupwe Kingdom until the 14th century, when the area was abandoned, leaving untouched remains of settlements. Its highly sophisticated people traded gold and ivory with China, India and Egypt.
Richtersveld Cultural and Botanical Landscape, Northern Cape
The Richtersveld Cultural and Botanical Landscape covers 160 000 hectares of dramatic mountainous desert in the north-west part of South Africa. This mountainous desert is communally owned and managed. It sustains the semi-nomadic pastoral livelihood of the Nama people, including seasonal migrations that have persisted for two millennia.
Cradle of Humankind, Gauteng
Homo Naledi: Fossil find at the Cradle of Humankind.
The Cradle of Humankind covering the region of Sterkfontein, Swartkrans, Kromdraai and environs has one of the world’s richest concentrations of hominid fossils – evidence of human evolution over the last 3.5 million years.
Cape Floral Region, Western Cape
The Cape Floristic Region, the smallest of the six recognised floral kingdoms of the world, is an area of extraordinarily high diversity. It is home to over 9,000 vascular plant species, of which 69 percent are endemic. Much of this diversity is associated with the fynbos biome, a Mediterranean-type, fire-prone shrubland. The site contains nearly 20 percent of Africa’s total flora. It is one of the planet’s 18 biodiversity hot spots.
uKhahlamba Drakensberg Park, KwaZulu-Natal
The Park has spectacular natural beauty – Africa’s highest mountain range south of Kilimanjaro, and the largest and most concentrated series of rock art paintings in Africa – making it a World Heritage site of both natural and cultural significance.
Originally appeared on Southlands Sun