The tour takes 3,5-4hrs, it proceeds to the viewpoint for a geology overview. Included in this overview is a short history of earth, the formation of the continents and the emergence of the Kaapvaal craton as the first permanent continental landmass. Also visible to the south is the Witwatersrand Supergroup, one of the oldest intact sedimentary basins on earth and host to the worlds biggest deposit of gold. Visible to the north is the Magaliesberg mountain range, one of the oldest mountain ranges in the world. It is also the southern geological marker for the Bushveld Igneous Complex, which is the world’s biggest deposit of Platinum.   

The tour proceeds a short distance to the deathtrap and bone collector (sinkhole) where the guide explains the deposition of dolomite, the creation of a breathable atmosphere, the formation of caves and their role in accumulating and protecting bones. Also covered here are the continental uplift events peculiar to Africa and how this contributed to the creation of savannahs and grasslands and how that geological event played a pivotal role in the emergence of the homonin line. 

The tour then drives to Gladysvale Cave where the fossilization process is described and pointed out just inside the cave entrance.

At the Gladysvale lime kiln the guide will describe the role that lime miners had in the discovery of fossils in South Africa and present a short history of palaeoanthropology in South Africa, mentioning the key finds

Gladysvale is an active excavation site and weekday tours have the opportunity to interact with researchers at the site

The tour then proceeds to the Malapa site, which is an active site and the guide will explain the importance of Australopithecus sediba as a transitional species between Mrs. Ples/Lucy and Homo erectus. Weekday tours will have the opportunity to interact with the scientists on site.

The Malapa Observation Deck and Working Platform is known as ‘The Beetle’ amongst researchers and it is a multi-award winning structure that straddles the site. The guide will point out the unique architectural features of the structure from which visitors can look down on the researchers at work and interact with them. Malapa is the second most prolific homonid producing site on the African continent

The guide will then narrate the interesting back story, involving lime miners, that serendipitously led to Lee Berger’s son Matthew spotting a block of breccia containing a homonid clavicle thrown off the site by a miners’ blast 

Guests can then visit the Malapa Museum at a discounted entrance fee of R70 per person.

The tour takes 4-4,5hrs

Sites visited include the Umsuka Science Hub [new], the viewpoint, the death trap and bone collector [the sinkhole], Gladysvale cave and the Malapa excavation. The active Motsetse site is also visited as a new offering

The PALAEO+ tour starts around 09h00 with a site orientation in the Malapa Museum at the map table

The PALAEO+ tour then proceeds to the Umsuka Science Hub. This is a project supported by the Lee R Berger Foundation and the Malapa-Motsetse Foundation to promote citizen science and to afford visitors the opportunity to interact with specialists carefully removing fossils from their breccia encasement. Nowhere else in the world can visitors have such unfettered access to experts in the fields of palaeoanthropology and palaeontology. The Science Hub is open only on weekdays.

After about 30 minutes of interaction at the Science Hub, the tour proceeds to the viewpoint for a geology overview. Included in this overview is a short history of earth, the formation of the continents and the emergence of the Kaapvaal craton as the first permanent continental landmass. Also visible to the south is the Witwatersrand Supergroup, one of the oldest intact sedimentary basins on earth and host to the world’s biggest deposit of gold. Visible to the north is the Magaliesberg mountain range, one of the oldest mountain ranges in the world – one hundred times older than Mt. Everest. It is also the southern geological marker for the Bushveld Igneous Complex, which is the world’s biggest deposit of Platinum.   

The tour proceeds a short distance to the deathtrap and bone collector (sinkhole) where the guide explains the deposition of dolomite, the creation of a breathable atmosphere, the formation of caves and their role in accumulating and protecting bones. Also covered here are the continental uplift events peculiar to Africa and how this contributed to the creation of savannahs and grasslands and how that geological event played a pivotal role in the emergence of the homonin line. The 

The tour then drives to Gladysvale Cave where the fossilization process is described and pointed out just inside the cave entrance

At the Gladysvale lime kiln the guide will describe the role that lime miners had in the discovery of fossils in South Africa and present a short history of palaeoanthropology in South Africa, mentioning the key finds

Gladysvale is an active excavation site and weekday tours have the opportunity to interact with researchers at the site

Gladysvale is a good place to enjoy the snacks provided and for the guide to recap key parts of the tour and to give some background to the next stop at the Malapa excavation site

The tour then proceeds to the Malapa site, which is also an active site and the guide will explain the importance of Australopithecus sediba as a transitional species between Mrs. Ples/Lucy and H. erectus. Weekday guests will have the opportunity to interact with the scientists on site

The Malapa Observation Deck and Working Platform is known as ‘The Beetle’ amongst researchers and it is an award-winning structure that straddles the site. The guide will point out the unique architectural features of the structure from which visitors can look down on the researchers at work and interact with them. Malapa is the second most prolific homonid producing site on the African continent

The guide will then narrate the interesting back story, involving lime miners, that serendipitously led to Lee Berger’s son Matthew spotting a block of breccia containing a homonid clavicle thrown off the site by a miners’ blast

After Malapa, the tour proceeds by vehicle to the Motsetse cave. This is also an active site where the guide points out the breccia that has been hardened by lime rich water leaching out of the dolomitic rock onto the infill below. Cave infill contains sand, stone, leaves, sticks and the bones of creatures that fell into the cave, died in the cave or that were dragged into the cave by predators and scavengers millions of years ago.

The guide will then point out fossils protruding from the breccia and visitors can do a little fossil hunting for themselves

Also, at Motsetse is a Boer War sangar. A sangar is a head and shoulders protection made of rocks with rifle ports. These were first used by the British imperial troops in the Anglo-Afghan campaign [1838-1842] as protected firing positions where rocky terrain made trench digging almost impossible  

The guide will also explain how the use of sangars were slightly modified by the British imperial forces in the Great South African War [1899-1902] in an attempt to prevent boer commandos from getting behind British lines to raid their slow moving supply columns.

Visitors can then visit the Malapa Museum. Entrance fee is included in the tour price.