Less than an hour from the bustle of Sandton, the Cradle of Humankind might as well be in another world. Large tracts of land, bushveld, expansive views in all directions. It’s a 47,000ha patch of tourism heaven within which you’ll find the 9,000ha Greater Cradle Nature Reserve. Within that is the Cradle Boutique Hotel.
This is an eco-tourism destination with a difference. Thought to be the birthplace of humanity, the broader Cradle area is a Unesco world heritage site. The fossils of the earliest human ancestors were found here, and the area also happens to be home to the largest concentration of ancestral remains anywhere in the world. Two active palaeoanthropological sites dig into the area’s roughly 4.5-million-year history.
Probably the best-known spots in the greater Cradle area are Maropeng — the official visitor centre for the Cradle of Humankind — and the nearby Sterkfontein Caves. But the FM’s visit is about the Cradle Boutique Hotel and its surrounds.
First up is a two-hour game drive in search of giraffe, zebra, monkeys, antelope, kudu and an occasional leopard (the reserve is also rich in birdlife). Along the route are sets for Shaka iLembe — carefully reconstructed Zulu villages for the television series that began screening recently.
Next stop: the Malapa Museum. It’s near the hotel and is accessible only through the estate, but anyone can visit if they book in advance. It was established through a partnership between the Lee Berger Foundation (named for the Wits University professor and famous human fossil-finder), National Geographic and educational outfit the Malapa Motsetse Foundation. Heavyweights, in other words, in their various areas of expertise.
The museum is elegantly curated but not overwhelming. The building houses fossils that tell the story of the origins of humankind, but there’s no overdose of information. The exhibits themselves are fairly interactive; through films, displays and dioramas you’ll learn about the fossils, and see reconstructions of skeletons, false sabre-toothed cats and hyenas. Through a window, you can see people excavating bits of rock in a laboratory. Also on display are the casts of two skeletons of Australopithecus sediba — a new humanoid species unearthed by Berger in 2008.
(For those who are into their trivia, back in 2001, Berger happened to meet the legendary Marvel Comics creator Stan Lee on a flight; 10 years later, Australopithecus sediba featured in a Marvel universe storyline.)
Those interested in taking a deeper dive into history may want to take the Malapa Human Origins Tour, a privately guided tour to the two active digs on the reserve. The first, Malapa, is the site where Berger’s team discovered Australopithecus sediba. At the second, Gladysvale, you may see “South Africa’s underground astronaut” at work. Archaeologist and palaeoanthropologist Keneiloe Molopyane is the principal investigator at the site, and the first woman of colour to lead a dig in the Cradle.
Lunch is a leisurely affair, set on a deck with a panoramic view of rolling hills and the Magaliesberg in the distance
A focus on sustainability
Then, on to a more contemporary issue — lunch. It’s a leisurely affair, set on a deck with a panoramic view of rolling hills and the Magaliesberg in the distance. On the FM’s visit, there’s burrata salad and pan-seared chicken breast with peach glaze — both delicious. Dessert is a choice between mango vanilla panna cotta or honey-baked yoghurt.
It’s mostly healthy fare on offer; chef Sam Ramokoka, who took up the role after the FM’s visit, is also aware that more people today are making healthy food choices. And it’s certainly more memorable than most lunches in the city.
There’s a clear focus on sustainability here: Ramokoka runs a no-waste kitchen, and the trout and tilapia on offer are bred in the reserve’s aquaponics tunnel, which also produces some of the restaurant’s vegetables, fruits and herbs. (If recent reports of sewage running through the Cradle area have you unnerved, rest assured: the hotel tells the FM it is entirely unaffected.)
Wider sustainability is in the mix too. Profits from the 220-seater restaurant, along with those from the hotel and conferencing and eventing facilities, are poured back into the Greater Cradle Nature Reserve to make it self-sustaining and ensure it remains pristine.
Alternative funding has also been injected into the area. The reserve has been stitched together by South Africa-born, UK-based Tim Nash, who spent years buying farms to create the nature reserve. The intention, he told the FM last year, is that the area doesn’t become a housing development “or simply part of Lanseria. And if it takes a wealthy person to pay the bills, so be it”.
In all, it feels like a confluence of past and present, of digging and dining, of meaning and substance mixed with enjoyment and leisure.
* The writer was a guest of the Cradle Boutique Hotel restaurant
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