Pretoria, also known as the Jacaranda City for all the purple blossom-bedecked trees which line its thoroughfares, is a lovely, quiet city. It has a long, involved and fascinating history.
Staying in Pretoria you will find many significant old buildings and some fascinating museums. The Transvaal Museum has wonderful natural history displays and is the home of Mrs Ples, the australopithecine fossil found at Sterkfontein in the Cradle of Humankind. Also worth visiting are the Cultural History Museum and the Smuts Museum, just outside town.
It's a great town - there are quite a few open spaces where you can walk or mountain bike. Nearby is the Premier Game Reserve, next door to the Cullinan Diamond Mine, where the largest diamond in the world was found.
You could do a short horse trail at the Voortrekker Monument or through the Premier Reserve, taking a careful look at some white rhino and a number of eland. Pretoria also offers you the chance to do a tandem skydive or a first jump at the Pretoria Skydiving Club, which is the largest in the country.
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