2 Best Sights in The Northern Cape, South Africa

If you do one thing in Kimberley, visit the Big Hole, which, at 2,690 feet deep, is the world's largest hand-dug hole. Although water now fills most of its depth, it's still impressive, particularly from the observation post. You also get to explore facsimile tunnels for a sense of what it might have been like for miners—there's even a simulated dynamite blast that can take you unawares. At the end of the tunnels, comprehensive museum displays document the history of both the city and the mine. Replicas of the world's most famous diamonds, including the Eureka, a 21-carat yellow diamond that was South Africa's first recorded diamond discovery in 1866, are also on view.

Touring the extensive, open-air Kimberley Mine Museum, on the lip of the mine, is like stepping back in time to wander through a mining town with a host of authentic 19th-century buildings, many of which were moved here from the city center. They include the first house erected in Kimberley (1877), which was originally brought piece by piece from Britain to the diamond fields by ship and ox wagon; Barney Barnato's boxing academy; and the very popular Occidental Bar, which serves pub-style food and is reminiscent of a Wild West saloon. There is also a hotel, The New Rush Guesthouse, whose good-value accommodations are in a variety of the museum site's old buildings and have antique furniture and slipper bathtubs that enhance the time-travel sensation.

Established in 1816, the Kuruman Moffat Mission is the most famous mission station in Africa. It was headed by Robert Moffat from 1820 until his retirement in 1870. The site, with stone-and-thatch buildings dating from the 1820s and 1830s and surrounded by huge trees, represents an interface between precolonial history and the present. A complete Setswana Bible was printed here in 1857—the first time the Bible was printed in its entirety in a previously unwritten African language. The mission served as a springboard for many early adventures into the interior, including David Livingstone's expeditions. It's a lovely and gentle place full of memories, though it's in need of some TLC. It still functions as a mission and community center, and has a small curio shop.