6 fantastic things to do in Magaliesburg

From fossils and caves to balloons and cablecars, there's always something to do on a weekend break to Magaliesberg

The 2,300-million-year-old Magaliesberg range starts near Bronkhorstspruit in the east and runs 120km west to the Pilanesberg.

Despite Gauteng's urban sprawl, it remains a mostly enchanted place with secret valleys and cliffs, home to leopards and brown hyenas and troops of baboons and black eagles and many, many Cape vultures.

This is where our distant ancestors used to hang out and for good reason - there was lots of clean water in the deep, cool kloofs and much food to be foraged. So, while you're here, take a trip to the Cradle of Humankind.

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WAY, WAY BACK IN TIME AT MAROPENG

Your first stop should be the superb visitors' centre at Maropeng. The 2,500m² exhibition contains fossils, stone tools and dioramas that bring to life in a spectacular way the history of humankind. You can take a boat ride through 3 billion years of history and feel an odd thrill when you realise that this is where it all began for us.

Phone 014-577-9000 or see maropeng.co.za.

INTO THE CAVES

Because nothing beats the immersive experience, you should head into Wonder Cave next. For an extra jolt of adrenaline, you can abseil in, but most people choose to go on foot. Despite its touristy nature, the cave's immense stalactite and stalagmite formations will still manage to send a thrill up the old spine.

R120 (R65 for children aged 4-14). Phone 014-577-9000 or see maropeng.co.za.

THE VIEWS FROM UP THERE

Then, to put the Magaliesberg into perspective, head for the sky. For the biggest thrill, take a balloon ridewith Bill Harrop's Balloon Safaris. The flights take off from the company base near Skeerpoort just after dawn when the air is still and flying conditions are perfect, and you drift along over the slowly awakening land, listening to the faraway sounds of roosters crowing, dogs barking and kids shouting in surprise as you pass by overhead.

Phone 011-705-3201 or see balloon.co.za.

The refurbished Harties Cableway offers another - and significantly cheaper - aerial view of the range and Hartbeespoort Dam. You will ride in one of the new, hi-tech gondolas that replaced the old cable cars a few years ago. There's a restaurant at the top but you could also take a picnic and spend a lazy afternoon gazing at the mountains and birds and enjoying one of the loftiest views at your leisure.

Rides cost R195 (R115 for children aged 4-14). Phone 072-241-2654 or see hartiescableway.co.za.

To get a bit closer to the geology of the place and have an adrenaline spike at the same time, the Magaliesberg Canopy Tour in Ysterhout Kloof is just the ticket. It takes you down the kloof on a series of 10 slides, sailing from platform to platform anchored into the rock. Apart from the whirr of the pulley wheel on the cable - and odd scream of overexcited riders - it is utterly quiet. You feel like a bird flitting over the trees, like you belong here in this treasured place.

Accommodation from R595 per person. Phone 014-535-0150 or seemagaliescanopytour.co.za.