Friday, June 15, 2012

Day 9


We woke up to a cold rainy morning. We decided to take it easy today and visit some of the more interesting sights of South Africa. On our agenda was a drive the Makola National Park which is only 20 minutes away. We also went to what is know as "The Big Hole" which was a little over an hours drive to the town of Kimberley. The Big Hole is the largest man made hole in the world. It was an open pit diamond mine started in the 1800's and closed sometime in the 1940's when WWII started.


At Mokala.
It was starting to rain real hard and i'm doing my best to stay dry and get this pic!




Kyle shot these pics of a river in the Mokala National Park.





The bird below is called a guinea fowl.  


A group of baboons spotted us and headed for the hills.


This warthog may not have a huge body, but he definitely has a nice set of choppers!


This ostrich was just standing by the roadside on our way to the park.


A young kudu bull stops to take a look at us.


These kudu cows were keeping track of us from a high vantage point.


As we rounded a bend in the road the grey duiker was fascinated by our presence.


From the park, we headed towards the town of Kimberley. Kimberley was once the diamond capital of the world and the town was built around the mine.
This is a picture of what is known as the "Big Hole"
This is the largest hand dug hole on earth. it reaches a depth of 1,800 meters (much of it under water)


This pic helps the viewer to gain an idea of the actual size. 
What you see in the background is the city of Kimberley. The city pretty much comes right to the edge of the hole.





















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