Cultural experiences
South African museums: Mpumalanga
Barberton
Barberton owes its existence to the discovery of gold in 1884, and the Barberton Museum has displays on geology and mining as well as archaeology, ethnology, and military and cultural history. The museum has a main exhibition building, an Anglo-Boer War blockhouse, and the Fernlea, Stopforth, and Belhaven house museums.36 Pilgrim Street
Tel: (013) 712-4281
Daily: 09:00-16:00
Website
Bethal
The 24-part exhibition in the Bethal Museum introduces visitors to a progressive rural community. Highlights are the Kork Pharmacy (1890) and the history of the Bethal Commando during the Anglo-Boer War (1899-1902). Market StreetTel: (0172) 2031 x 2132
Mon-Fri: 09:00-14:30
Botshabelo
The Botshabelo Mission Station is a historical mission station that includes Fort Merensky, churches and a parsonage. The museum provides a look into the daily routine of a 19th century mission station. Adjacent to it is a traditional village and living museum where Ndebele women demonstrate beadwork and other handicrafts and paint the brightly coloured geometric murals characteristic of their villages.Tel: (0132) 435-020
Mon-Fri: 06:00-18:00
Website
Groblersdal
The Kgodwana Ndebele Village and Museum consists of a reconstruction of Ndebele dwellings, an exhibition of arts and crafts, demonstrations of beadwork, weaving, and so on.32 km north of Bronkhorstspruit on the Groblersdal road
Tel: (013) 932-0894
Hazyview
Midway between the Blyde River Canyon and the southern Kruger National Park, the residents of Shangana Cultural Village invite guests to share in the way of life of the Shangaan people. The picturesque villages are set in the shade of ancient trees in a reserve of forest and grassland, and are open every day.On the R535 between Hazyview and Graskop
Tel: (013) 737-7000 or 107-10-20-100
Website
Lydenburg
The Lydenburg Museum is a local history exhibition that includes replicas of the famous Lydenburg Heads - terracotta animal and human heads dating from the Later Iron Age, AD 500.On Lydenburg-Long Tom Pass route in Gustav Klingbiel Nature Reserve
Tel: (01323) 2121
Website
Pilgrims Rest
The entire village of Pilgrims Rest, the site of the first economically viable goldfield, has been conserved and restored as a living museum. It boasts beautiful examples of houses from the period of the gold rush as well as an early mining camp and a complete reduction works.Tel: (013) 768-1211/1060
Daily: 09:00-13:00; 13:30-16:00
Website or Website
Sabie
The cultural-historical Forestry Museum in Sabie depicts various aspects of the country's forestry industry.Tel: (013) 764-1058
Website
Waterval Onder
The Krugerhof Museum is housed in a national monument, the house that was originally an annexe of the hotel and was the last residence of President S J P Kruger in the ZAR before he left South Africa in 1900 to go into self-imposed exile.Tel: (013) 712-4281
Daily: 09:00-16:00
South African museum listings
The entire village of Pilgrim's Rest, the site of the first economically viable goldfield, has been conserved and restored as a living museum (Photo: South African Tourism)