If there is one thing that is as much connected with South Africa as wildlife, it is diamonds. South Africa is one of the world's prominent producers of the high-priced stones, and the town of Kimberley is the country's solitaire capital. At one time it was a rip-roaring, wide open frontier town, full of fortune seekers who made it an African version of Dodge City. Kimberley today is a bustling commercial centre, but most of the spirited sights are connected with the solitaire industry. The town itself shows puny evidence of sparkling wealth; only in the suburb of Belgravia are there fine old Victorian houses. The central part of Kimberley is dominated by the De Beers headquarters and the Telkom Tower, which overlook office blocks and modern shops. You can tour the town on foot, or if you like, you can take benefit of the only working tram in South Africa. It runs from City Hall to the Mine Museum.
Diamonds, Diamonds...
MISSIONS TRIPS TO AFRICA
Kimberley's main tourist attraction is the solitaire Rush area. This is a range of 40 buildings from the late 19th century. A few are authentic models, but most of them are original. They have been put together in an fantastic replica of a community made up of a jumble of streets, perfect with sound effects to add to the realism. Visitors can hear singing and snippets of conversation, as though they were there a hundred years ago. They can visit a bar, shops, restaurants, and a boarding house. In the Mining House there are historic photos of the solitaire diggings that drew adventurers and fortune hunters to South Africa. In the De Beer's Hall, you can see genuine South African diamonds.
... And a Big Hole
The whole museum complex is centred around the Big Hole. This crater is one mile (1.6 km) around, and covers more than 32 acres (13 ha). Its excavation goes down 2,600 feet (800 metres). You can look into the Big Hole from two caged viewing platforms. What you see is an substantial cavity, partly filled with murky water, but it is nonetheless an fantastic sight, especially when you reconsider that it was man-made, before the age of big machines. Every bit of earth and rock was hauled out by hand and searched for diamonds. The whole of labour complex is unbelievable to imagine; small wonder that the Big Hole has become such an attraction in South Africa.
Diamond World
In 2006 a new part of the complex was opened to the public. It is called solitaire World, and it invites visitors to caress first-hand what life was like for solitaire miners in the early days of South Africa. Visitors will caress a simulated dynamite blast, perfect with dust in the air. They will have the chance to see real diamonds, along with the sublime yellow Eureka Diamond. This is an fantastic 616-carat, excellent octahedron (eight faced). Visitors can see this fantastic gem in a guarded vault. Only 15 habitancy are allowed inside at a time. A fully operational pulsar machine demonstrates how diamonds are extracted from surrounding rock beds by modern mining technology, and a twenty-minute film tells the story of solitaire mining in Kimberley.
South Africa - Kimberley - The solitaire Capital MISSIONS TRIPS TO AFRICA
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