KwaZulu-Natal: Take a virtual tour of the Nelson Mandela Capture Site! [update]

update (05 September 2020) From the 01 September 2020 to 20 September 2020, to celebrate Tourism Month, The Nelson Mandela Capture Site has dropped the cost of all ticket prices by 15%! The Cafe is open!

update (18 August 2020): The Nelson Mandela Capture Site has reopened on 15 August 2020. Only the Cafe is currently still closed!

update (14 June 2020): The Nelson Mandela Capture Site is still closed!

update (12 June 2020): Under alert level three, the Nelson Mandela Capture Site is set to reopen with limited access from 17 June 2020. Before you travel to the Nelson Mandela Capture Site, check the website for the most recent updates.

• Sculpture - open from 17 June 2020
• Visitor Centre - temporarily closed until further notice
• Cafe - temporarily closed until further notice

The Nelson Mandela Capture Site, located near Howick in KwaZulu-Natal, has launched a virtual tour of its new visitor centre and the sculpture while it remains closed to the public due to the spread of the coronavirus. The virtual tour includes video, high quality graphics and content about the Capture Site. It is best seen on a desktop in full screen with audio turned on. Unfortunately the tour is not yet suitable for smartphones. The virtual tour of the Nelson Mandela Capture Site's visitor centre and sculpture was launched on 27 May 2020, marking two months since the site was first closed to the public due to the coronavirus pandemic.

Nelson Mandela Capture Site exhibition from The Capture Site on Vimeo.

Google launches 360-degree panoramic imagery of South Africa's tourism hotspots!

Google South Africa has launched "The Mzansi Experience – Discover South Africa on Google Maps", a collection of 360-degree imagery of South Africa's iconic destinations, on 08 March 2016. The new feature will allow travellers from around the world to go on virtual tours of some of South Africa's most popular tourist hotspots, including, among others, Table Mountain National Park, Cape of Good Hope (Cape Town), Kruger National Park, West Coast National Park, Lion's Head, Signal Hill (Cape Town) Golden Mile (Durban), Sunset Beach, Clifton Beach, Hout Bay, Llandudno Beach, Camps Bay Beach,Boulder's Beach. Enjoy exloring South Africa on your phone, your tablet or computer!

Google's Street View now live in Lesotho

The landlocked country of Lesotho, completely surrounded by its only neighbouring country South Africa, is the third country in Africa to be covered by Google's Street View service. Explore the "Kingdom in the sky" and get to (virturally) know the roads, landscapes and lakes, Maseru, the capital of Lesotho, and other highlights, such as the AfriSki Ski & Mountain Resort near Butha-Buthe or the impressive Katse Dam, famous for its pony treks! Enjoy!


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btw - the other two countries in Africa covered by Street View are currently South Africa (since 2010) and Botswana (since 2012).

Virtual tour along the Meiringspoort, one of South Africa's most scenic drives

Meiringspoort, the first road to link the Central Karoo and the coast, is one of South Africa's most scenic drives. The 25km road, lined by spectacular rock formations and an incredible plant diversity, is winding along the gorge, crossing the Groot River no less than 25 times. The road is the perfect place to experience the Cape Fold Belt and its stunning beauty, but also keep a look out for birds, baboons and smaller wildlife abound in the protected kloofs and crevices.
Halfway through the gorge you'll find an Information Kiosk where the history of Meiringspoort is displayed as well as samples of some of the different plant species growing in the area. Make sure that you take a walk up to the impressive waterfall hidden in the deep ravine. The water drops some 60 m into a deep pool.
Entry to Meiringspoort is via Klaarstroom or De Rust. Klaarstroom is located 55km east of Prince Albert en route to Oudtshoorn and the coast, while it is about 80km to De Rust.

Klaarstroom > De Rust

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De Rust > Klaarstroom

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A virtual tour through Stellenbosch

The town of Stellenbosch, located about 55km east of Cape Town, is South Africa's second oldest European settlement in the Western Cape, after the Mothern City. The town was foundet in 1679 by the Governor of the Cape Colony, Simon van der Stel, who named it after himself - Stel(l)-enbosch actually means "Stel's forest". During 1690 some Huguenot refugees settled in Stellenbosch and started planting grapes in the fertile valleys around town. It took them only a couple of years to establish the centre of the South African wine industry in Stellenbosch.


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Our virtual tour through Stellenbosch is starting at the Moederkerk, the oldest church in Stellenbosch. From there, turn right and follow "Drostdy Road" untill you reach "Dorp Street", the historical main road of Stellenbosch. Turn right and follow the road untill you reach "Andringa Street" on your right hand side. Follow the road to explore the town's CBD. Enjoy Stellenbosch!

Cape Town daytours to Stellenbosch >>

South Africa: Virtual safari through Addo Elephant National Park

I love Google Street View. I think it is an amazing tool for everyone travel planning or at least for the vivid armchair travellers. Anyway - after I found out that you can go on a "virtual safari" through Kruger National Park via Street View the other day, I had a look for other National Parks in South Africa and found Addo Elephant National Park also to be covered (in parts) by Google Street View. Great!


View Virtual safari through Addo Elephant NP in a larger map

btw - also check the virtual tours on the blog!

accommodation in & around Addo NP >>

tours to Addo >>

online car hire >>

South Africa: Virtual safari through Kruger National Park

Thanks to Google Street View you can now go on a virtual safari through Kruger National Park. Street View is covering almost the whole southern part of the Park, including the area around Numbi Gate, Pretoriuskop, parts of the Sabi Sand Game Reserve, Skukuza, Lower Sabie and the area around Crocodile Bridge Gate. Safari njema!


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btw - also check the other virtual tours on the blog!
 

Kruger National Park info guide >>
Kruger National Park tours >>
accommodation in the Kruger NP area >>

online car hire >>

The highest definition picture ever taken of Cape Town

Virtual Africa, a South African company specialised in virtual tours, just took what is believed to be the highest definition picture ever taken of Cape Town.
Watch the video for the "making of..." and click here for the pic!


Some details as to the size of the pic:

• It was created by stitching 1850,fully zoomed (x 20 optical zoom), 10 MegaPixel images together.
• The time it took from the first shot (top left) and last shot (lower right) being taken, was about 3 hours.
• It’s 205 000 pixels wide.
• That equates to a printout of about 90 m x 15 m!
• The end result was a 25 GigaBytes RAW file
  [src.: virtualafrica.co.za]
  

Cape Town city guide >>
accommodation in Cape Town >>
tours & activities in Cape Town >>