Harties CableWay

We try to find somewhere new to visit every month while we are in South Africa, this weekend we visited Hartbeespoort, a 45 minute drive from Pretoria, to collect a mask that a colleague of hubbies had purchased. We decided that on the way home we'd pay a visit to Harties Cableway.

I was a little shocked at the price R160 per person, with a R20 discount if booked online. For South Africa that is on the high side in regards to an entrance fee. The ride was smooth and pretty quick to the top. The cars carry 6 people and they make sure they are full, without separating families and groups.

Once at the top there were sign posts to the pizza shack, toilet, self serve restaurant, bar and kids playing area. I really wouldn't want to visit in the summer as I can imagine it is packed, but on a cold winters day, we were able to walk round, read the information plaques, take photos and find a seat at the bar to have a drink and enjoy the live music.

We opted to eat at the restaurant downstairs, which had a good selection and was reasonably priced. i don't think it is somewhere we will be adding to our 'must take out visitors' list, but we've been and it's another thing ticked off our 'must visit before we leave South Africa' list.

A day out at Hartbeespoort

As the youngest child is returning to live in the UK in 2 weeks, we asked him what places near us he'd like to revisit before he leaves.

Today's venue of choice was Bush Monkeys. It's a 60km drive from Centurion. once you leave the N14 be very careful on the roads. As you can see from the pictures it can be unsafe, but it's a journey I've completed many times alone and never had a problem.

The road is full of pot holes and the sides just drop off, watch out for speeding vehicles, plus there are no road markings so difficult to know where the over taking places are.



We stopped on route at Tan Malie se winkel, a wonderful restaurant with open fires in the winter, lapas on a terrace to enjoy a full meal or just a drink. Tan Malie is situated on the right just after the tunnel and the dam.

We drove onto Bush Babies. It cost R195 for an adult and R95 for a child 14 and under. Tours last an hour and start on the hour from 9am - 3pm. Our tour guide was extremely knowledgeable about where the monkeys originated from and was able to answer a wide variety of questions.

We have visited here many times and take all our visitors to enjoy the experience, unfortunately Appie, the over friendly, kleptomaniac monkey decided today he wasn't happy just sitting on my shoulders but decided to take a chunk out of my arm. My son was then armed with a water bottle to squirt at him should he come near me again.

After our tour we headed back and stopped at The Chameleon village we had driven through on route to Bush babies. The Chameleon village is open 7 days a week. Here we wandered round the market, the shops and stopped for a spot of lunch.

 

We then strolled over the road to the Welwitschia Market, open Tuesday-Sunday 9am-5pm before heading home a slightly different route by avoiding the Dam as the road over and through the tunnel is single track.


There are plenty of places to stop on route, cafes, restaurants, retail areas, plenty of fuel stations and accommodation. I personally would suggest you visit first for the day and decide where you want to go and what you want to visit: from Riding an Elephant, Aerial Cable Cars, Canopy tours and Ballooning, which are all on our 'to do next' list.