Visit the world-renowned Cradle of Mankind on a popular full-day tour from Johannesburg. Transfers from your accommodation in Johannesburg or Pretoria are provided. The Cradle of Humankind is about 47,000 hectares in size and is located just 50 kilometers from Johannesburg. It is one of 8 places in South Africa listed as World Heritage Sites by UNESCO in 1999. You’ll find a complex of limestone caves, including the Sterkfontein Caves, where the 2.3-million-year-old fossil Australopithecus africanus (nicknamed Mrs. Ples) was unearthed in 1947. In fact, more than a third of all hominid fossils ever found have come from this area. At the Maropeng Visitor Center you’ll take in the world-class exhibition, opened in 2005, that focuses on the development of humans and hominins over the last few million years. At the entrance, you’ll see a massive burial mound called the Tumulus, which is also your gateway to learning the secrets of human ancestry. At the Sterkfontein Caves you’ll see evidence of the discovery of many hominid and other animal fossils, dating back more than 4 million years, to the birth of humanity. The Lion Park, which you’ll also visit on this tour, is a prime example of the grassland biome typical of the highveld.