Kimberley

Framed by the rugged escarpments and dry rock ridges of the Northern Cape, this one-time mining boom town is South Africa’s answer to the Californian settlements of great Gold Rush. Its peripheries are still peppered with sheer-cut caverns and dig shafts, looming piles of mining waste, disused tunnels and dilapidated pits, while its centre plays host to the best array of diamond mining museums and exhibitions in the country. Ask your Kimberly tour guide for an itinerary that encompasses all the major sights in town, of which the iconic Big Hole and its concomitant Open Mine Museum are perhaps the most significant of the lot. Here, visitors can see the so-called Eureka diamond that kick-started Kimberly’s boom in the 1860s, and follow the stories of the great De Beers mining cartel that plucked their riches from the hills all around. Later on, why not wander between the elegant mansions and homes that decorate the downtown—lasting relics of the mining magnates that once made their home in the Northern Cape. Then, settle for a frothy beer in one of the old saloon-style drinkeries, or a coffee between the haunted walls of the old Kimberley Club on Du Toits.