Activities
Kgaswane Nature Reserve Rustenburg
22min 20.4km
The Kgaswane Mountain Reserve is a place of special beauty. Day visitors are welcome to enjoy the self drive route on tarred roads which links a number of picnic sites and view points.
The reserve caters for a wide range of interests and is famous as a hiking destination. Two trails are open to the public.
Wildlife: The principal vlei which traverses the central portion of the reserve is the largest of its kind in the Magaliesberg and is an important catchment area at the headwaters of the Hex River.
The reserve hosts a population of over 800 antelope, including klipspringer, grey duiker, bushbuck, kudu, oribi, mountain reedbuck, impala, red hartebeest, zebra, springbok, steenbok, sable antelope and waterbuck.
The reserve is famous for the breeding herd of sable antelope which are particularly well suited to the environment. Small numbers of predators, including caracal, aardwolf, black-backed jackal and leopard also occur.
Birdlife
Varied birdlife of over 320 species have been recorded including a breeding colony of cape vultures. Nesting pairs of martial and black eagles are also of great interest.
Sun City
52min 70.4km
Sun City was developed by the hotel magnate Sol Kerzner as part of his Sun International group of properties. It was officially opened on 7 December 1979; at the time it was located in the Bantustan of Bophuthatswana.
As Bophuthatswana had been declared an independent state by South Africa’s apartheid government (although unrecognized as such by any other country), it could provide
entertainment such as gambling and topless revue shows which were banned in South Africa. These factors, as well as its relatively close location to the large metropolitan areas of Pretoria and Johannesburg, ensured that Sun City soon became a popular holiday and weekend destination. The United Nations had imposed a cultural boycott on South Africa in condemnation of apartheid. To overcome this, Kerzner offered substantial financial incentives to performing artists to use Sun City as a venue.
Pilanesberg National Park
1h35min 94.4km
The creation of the Reserve is considered one of the most ambitious programmes of its kind to be undertaken anywhere in the world.
Thanks to Operation Genesis in 1979, which involved the game-fencing of the reserve and the re-introduction of many long-vanished species, the park now has in excess of 7 000 animals including 24 of the larger species.
The crater of a long extinct volcano is the setting of Pilanesberg National Park – a fascinating alkaline complex produced by volcanic eruptions some 1300 million years ago. Pilanesberg is one of the largest volcanic complexes of its kind in the world. Its rare rock types and structure make it a unique geological feature.
Hartbeespoort Dam
47min 55.8km
Roughly 47 minutes’ drive from Marjaniek Guest House & Game Lodge, surrounded by the beautiful Magaliesberg mountain range, Hartbeespoort Dam, or Harties to locals, has become a hive of activity and is a very popular weekend getaway.
The Hartbeespoort Dam offers an array of water sports, a local bird sanctuary, challenging hikes and gentle rambles. There is a collection of restaurants in Hartbeespoort that range from Tan Malie se Winkle, a local institution where you can eat to your heart’s content on traditional Afrikaans home-cooked meals, to the local Pick-a-Pancake, which takes pancakes into a new league. This restaurant lies literally in the heart of the Welwitschia Market – a range of African arts, crafts, novelties, curios and other at the fourway crossing at Hartbeespoort that makes a visit here imperative.
Waterfall Mall
18min 19.7km
WaterfallMallThe Mall is mainly frequented by families and marketed to the A+, A and B income groups. The primary feeding area is Rustenburg and a 50km radius. The industry consists predominantly of platinum & ferrochrome mines, holiday resorts and the downstream industry. The centre is periodically frequented by local and international tourists from Sun City, Pilanesberg and the surrounding holiday resorts. As a regional shopping centre, the centre also enjoys patronage from the secondary catchment area including Brits, Thabazimbi, Mafikeng and Klerksdorp.
The centre has 159 varied tenants anchored by Woolworth’s, Game, Edgar’s, Pick n Pay, Dischem and Ster Kinekor.