Explore South Africa: Five wonderful places to see

In addition to the famous Table Mountain, Soweto Towers, and the Cango Caves, there is a multitude of things to see in South Africa that will leave you amazed.

THE TALLEST RESIDENTIAL BUILDING

Ponte Tower, also known as the Ponte City Apartments, in Johannesburg is the tallest residential building in the whole of Africa. Manfred Hermer designed the building. It was built in 1975. The building looks like a tube with an open centre that lets in light. The building comprises 54 storeys. Looking up at the sky from the inner courtyard can leave one feeling dizzy.

THE WORLD’S LARGEST PINEAPPLE BUILDING

The Big Pineapple outside of Bathurst in the Eastern Cape, is the world’s largest pineapple building. Most of the surrounding area is agricultural land. Pineapple production is a main industry. Farmers who settled in the area in the 18th century struggled to successfully grow crops until they began planting pineapples. So, naturally, locals decided to honour the fruit and the sweet earnings it brought by erecting a massive building in its shape. Members of Bathurst’s agricultural community constructed the Big Pineapple in the 1980s.

AMAZING BOOK LOVERS’ EXPERIENCE

In Johannesburg’s CBD lies a magnificent treasure for book lovers and those interested in history. Collectors Treasury houses over one million items that occupy nearly every inch of this eight-story building. It’s the largest shop selling rare and used books on the continent. Visitors will be amazed by what they see. If you look carefully, you will find some rare treasures such as first-edition books and books that you will not find anywhere else. In addition to books, Collectors Treasury also has maps, prints, engravings, newspapers, photographs, and thousands of vinyl records.

ANCIENT CALENDAR BUILT WITH STONES

Adam’s Calendar, also known as the Enkis Calendar, is a standing stone circle about 30m in diameter in Mpumalanga. Many people call it the “African Stonehenge” because of the similarities to Stonehenge in Britain. It is an estimated 75 000 years old, and many experts believe it is the world’s oldest man-made structure. Adam’s Calendar is probably the only fully functional and almost intact megalithic stone calendar in the world. This is one of the most amazing things to see in South Africa. The site drew public attention in 2003 when the pilot Johan Heine started photographing the region. Initially, experts thought that the ruins were remains of a cattle kraal.

SA’S VERY FIRST POST BOX

South Africa’s first post office was a tree! The Post Office Tree in Mossel Bay in the Western Cape marks the spot where a a Portuguese sea captain “posted” the first letter in the country. During the 1500s, Pedro D’Ataide’s ship was separated from the other ships travelling along the east. D’Ataide landed at Mossel Bay (then called the “watering place of São Brás”). He left a letter in a Portuguese sailor’s shoe tied to a tree. The fourth Portuguese fleet to India found his letter in July 1501. The letter warned them of rough waters to the east. The captain of this fleet, in turn, left an inscription on stone which was found in 1850. Leaving post ashore became a means of communication between ships that anchored in the bay for supplies.

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