Maropeng (South African Culture North West)

About Us

Maropeng Vis­i­tor Centre:

The Maropeng Vis­i­tor Cen­tre is an award-win­ning, world-class exhi­bi­tion, focus­ing on the devel­op­ment of humans and our ances­tors over the past few mil­lion years.

Take a jour­ney through time, start­ing with the for­ma­tion of the plan­et and mov­ing all the way through the evo­lu­tion­ary process­es that cul­mi­nat­ed in the world as we know it today.

See fos­sils, learn about how humankind was born, view stone tools that are up to one mil­lion years old, and much more. This self-guid­ed, inter­ac­tive tour allows you to take all the time you need to pon­der humanity’s fas­ci­nat­ing ori­gin story.

Restau­rants:

Vis­i­tors to Maropeng are guar­an­teed to find some­where to eat that caters to every taste.

There is an excel­lent restau­rant at the Maropeng Hotel and two more with­in the Maropeng precinct – the Mar­ket Place restau­rant, which serves light meals and snacks, and the more for­mal Tumu­lus restau­rant, which offers a range of culi­nary options with spec­tac­u­lar views over the Cra­dle of Humankind.

There is also a restau­rant at the Sterk­fontein Caves that offers a wide vari­ety of snacks and meals.

Maropeng Con­fer­ence Centre:

The mag­nif­i­cent Maropeng Con­fer­ence Cen­tre is locat­ed inside the icon­ic Maropeng Vis­i­tor Cen­tre at the Cra­dle of Humankind World Her­itage Site, a mere hour’s dri­ve from Pre­to­ria or Johan­nes­burg. The loca­tion is per­fect for an inten­sive strat­e­gy ses­sion or a small exec­u­tive get­away close to the city.

Our state-of-the-art con­fer­ence cen­tre is just a short walk from the ele­gant bou­tique Maropeng Hotel, which offers guests and del­e­gates some of the best views in Gaut­eng, atten­tive four-star ser­vice and a fab­u­lous din­ing experience.

We are com­mit­ted to ensur­ing that your con­fer­ence or team get­away is a mem­o­rable expe­ri­ence and we offer a range of addi­tion­al ser­vices to meet your needs. Whether you and your team need to be col­lect­ed or dropped off, or would like to meet some of our world-renowned sci­en­tists and hear some of their sto­ries over a relaxed din­ner, we can make it happen.

At the Maropeng Con­fer­ence Cen­tre, we have a ded­i­cat­ed events team who will turn your con­fer­ence, strat­e­gy ses­sion or team-build­ing event into an unfor­get­table expe­ri­ence. With a vari­ety of seat­ing options, state-of-the-art facil­i­ties and full cater­ing ameni­ties, our venue is ide­al for a small, inti­mate meet­ing or an event host­ing up to 500 delegates.

Our real spe­cial­i­ty is small get­aways that include a night or two away from home, in our 24-room hotel.

In addi­tion to our sophis­ti­cat­ed con­fer­enc­ing facil­i­ties and lux­u­ri­ous hotel, we also have a host of activ­i­ties to keep you and your guests enter­tained before or after your conference.

For those with an inter­est in human devel­op­ment, the Maropeng Vis­i­tor Cen­tre invites guests to go on an adven­tur­ous jour­ney of dis­cov­ery through ancient times, and to con­sid­er the jour­ney that humankind and our ances­tors have tak­en over the past sev­en mil­lion years or so. In addi­tion, the Sterk­fontein Caves – the most sig­nif­i­cant hominid fos­sil site in the Cra­dle of Humankind – are just a short dri­ve away. We also offer guests walk­ing tours to active palaeon­to­log­i­cal digs, pro­vid­ing a first-hand expe­ri­ence of a dig that can be quite exciting.

Alter­na­tive­ly, you can treat your guests to a breath­tak­ing hot-air bal­loon ride over the beau­ti­ful Wit­wa­ters­berg and Mag­a­lies­berg moun­tains, or sim­ply relax after a pro­duc­tive day of meet­ings while sip­ping cock­tails on the deck and watch­ing the sun slip behind the mountains.

Game dri­ves will soon be added to our already impres­sive list of activ­i­ties, giv­ing you and your guests a fab­u­lous oppor­tu­ni­ty to expe­ri­ence wildlife just an hour away from the city.

We offer a vari­ety of pack­ages and with our events teams, unique com­bi­na­tion of facil­i­ties, enter­tain­ment options and exclu­sive accom­mo­da­tion, we are sure to be able to pro­vide you and your guests with an out­stand­ing exec­u­tive get­away and con­fer­ence experience

Accommodation:

Maropeng Bou­tique Hotel

The Maropeng Bou­tique Hotel, with its breath­tak­ing views of the Wit­wa­ters­berg and Mag­a­lies­berg ranges, is the epit­o­me of lux­u­ry accom­mo­da­tion in the Cra­dle of Humankind. It offers 24 bed­rooms, sleep­ing up to 48 people.

Opened in mid-2006, the bou­tique hotel is a five-minute walk from Maropeng and 10km (six miles) from the Sterk­fontein Caves. Enjoy a rest­ful night’s sleep in one of the 10 king or 13 twin rooms, or the ful­ly equipped room for dis­abled persons.

Our hotel is ide­al for a roman­tic get­away; for exec­u­tives seek­ing a con­ve­nient con­fer­ence venue with accom­mo­da­tion not too far out of town; for local vis­i­tors want­i­ng a short escape to refresh their souls; or for inter­na­tion­al tourists want­i­ng to see some of the best tourist attrac­tions South Africa has to offer.

All of our rooms are non-smok­ing and our room rate includes free high-speed inter­net, air con­di­tion­ing, a deli­cious hot break­fast, free park­ing, and access to the pool, restau­rant and bar, as well as wheel­chair access.

Hominin House

Hominin House, the bud­get accom­mo­da­tion facil­i­ty at Maropeng, pro­vides the per­fect venue for team-build­ing events, youth camps and school groups, and recent upgrades have only served to enhance the experience.

Wher­ev­er pos­si­ble, the upgrades to Hominin House were done accord­ing to sus­tain­able build­ing prin­ci­ples, using ​“green” mate­ri­als, and steps were tak­en to reduce ener­gy usage and waste. Exhi­bi­tion ele­ments that high­light sus­tain­abil­i­ty issues are placed through­out the facil­i­ty, allow­ing Hominin House to be more than just an accom­mo­da­tion venue – it’s an edu­ca­tion­al site as well.

In addi­tion to the exist­ing dor­mi­to­ry accom­mo­da­tion, which can sleep 120 peo­ple, Hominin House now sports six en-suite rooms for teach­ers or group lead­ers, an all-pur­pose hall and an amphithe­atre firepit. The din­ing area has also been enclosed, mak­ing it more com­fort­able dur­ing cold­er weath­er con­di­tions and turn­ing it into a mul­ti­pur­pose room that can be used as an addi­tion­al class­room or break­away facil­i­ty when required.

Thanks to these addi­tions and ren­o­va­tions, guests are guar­an­teed a com­fort­able stay at Hominin House. Teach­ers or group lead­ers will appre­ci­ate the pri­va­cy pro­vid­ed by their own rooms and en-suite bath­rooms. The new hall pro­vides guests with more space for addi­tion­al edu­ca­tion­al and team-build­ing activ­i­ties. Plus, sit­ting around the firepit will encour­age some down time and con­ver­sa­tion, and affords guests the oppor­tu­ni­ty to expe­ri­ence the beau­ti­ful night skies at Maropeng. Pri­vate stargaz­ing evenings can be arranged, which make for a per­fect after-din­ner activity.