Thousands of tourists flock to South Africa each year to see the “big five”. But at Maropeng , rather than you having to squint into the bush from a 4x4 to catch a glimpse of them, the big five will serve you cocktails at the pool or a delicious meal at the Tumulus Restaurant.

Dubbed the “big five”, the food and beverage team at Maropeng is a dynamic and highly capable group that welcomes any challenge that is thrown at it.

Maropeng Managing Director Tony Rubin says, “From an enthusiasm and motivation point of view, they are the most motivated management team I have ever worked with.”

To read more about the team that hosts all the year-end functions at Maropeng, please click here.

The year is almost over and only two more stargazing evenings remain. For those who haven't been able to join us for these fun-filled evenings, now is the time to get that clicking finger ready and book your spot!

Summer has arrived, making it a pleasure to spend an evening under the stars at Maropeng in the Cradle of Humankind.

Due to popular demand, Maropeng will be holding two stargazing events in November.

Maropeng’s resident astronomer and host of the evenings, Vincent Nettmann, amazes his audiences with his use of the “wow factor”, adding in mind-boggling facts and amusing bits of galactic trivia.

After the presentation, the audience will be able to put their new-found knowledge into practice, gazing through a range of large-aperture telescopes. Many of the sky’s wonders will be visible through the telescopes.

Each stargazing evening has a different theme.

Guests attending stargazing on November 14 at the Maropeng Hotel will get to take a closer look at our summer skies and will also get the chance to take part in the binocular practical, which teaches stargazers how to look at the stars with binoculars.

For more information and to make a booking, please click here.

Guests attending stargazing on November 21 at the Tumulus Restaurant will explore our fascination with astronomy. The theme for the evening is “Living amongst the stars” and it will look into the fascinating realm of astronomy and how it relates to our lives today.

For more information and to make a booking, please click here.

The Maropeng Hotel will be running an accommodation special coinciding with the stargazing evenings on November 14 and November 21. Why not spend the night in a luxurious room after an evening under the stars?

Please note: telescope viewing is weather dependent.

With the festive season drawing ever closer, celebrations are in order and what better way to celebrate than by returing to the birthplace of humankind?

On December 25, Maropeng will be hosting Christmas Day lunches at the Maropeng Hotel and the Tumulus Restaurant.

Our chefs will prepare a festive Christmas menu that is guaranteed to have your tastebuds singing a merry tune. So come and celebrate with us – we promise a cracker of a good time!

For more information and to make a booking, please click here for the Maropeng Hotel lunch and here for the Tumulus Restaurant lunch.

Those looking  to escape fast-paced city life for a perfect December getaway, look no further: the Maropeng Hotel will be running an accommodation special for the entire month!

Peace, serenity and fresh country air await you at the luxurious Maropeng Hotel, our four-star boutique hotel.

This festive offer includes bed and breakfast, dinner and a combined tour of Maropeng and the Sterkfontein Caves for only R840 per person per night.

For more information and to make a booking, please click here.

Why not come and learn where all our dynamic cultures originated from in celebration of the Day of Reconciliation? Maropeng will be hosting celebratory lunches at the Maropeng Hotel and the Tumulus Restaurant.

Come and relax on the Maropeng Hotel deck while being serenaded by the soulful tunes of the Chromatics. The majestic views of the Witwatersberg and Magaliesberg mountains are breathtaking and make the perfect backdrop for the lunches.

For more information and to make a booking, please click here.

The Tumulus Restaurant is the perfect place to end your tour of the enlightening Maropeng exhibition . Acoustic Moodz will provide entertainment, combining the elegant sounds of guitar and marimba, and setting a relaxed and unobtrusive atmosphere to laze away the afternoon.

For more information and to make a booking online, please click here.

In the two months that it has been open, the original fossil display at Maropeng has already had 38 537 visitors! Were you one of them? If not, you only have one more month to see this amazing display, which will close at the end of November.

Entitled Evolution: digging for an understanding, the display illustrates and explains the theory of evolution, which was made famous by Charles Darwin . In particular, Charles Darwin provided a theory for a mechanism for evolution, namely natural selection.

The exhibition is a great study tool for matric and other learners, and offers the viewer a clear and concise explanation of the theory of evolution.

Some of the highlights of the exhibition include:

• A 100-year-old copy of Darwin’s book The Origin of Species by Means of Natural Selection opened on the page showing the only illustration in the book that explains the concept of common ancestry.
• The cranium of an Australopithecus africanus, Stw 505, discovered in 1989 at Sterkfontein Caves in the Cradle of Humankind . Stw 505 is the most complete hominid cranium discovered in Sterkfontein since Robert Broom’s excavations uncovered “Mrs Ples” in 1947.
• An almost complete postcranial skeleton of a wild dog, which may represent the oldest evidence of wild dogs in South Africa.

For more information about the exhibition, please click here.