Kimberley - Home of the Big Hole

April 27th was a national holiday so the temple was closed, givin us a three day get-away we took advantage of.  With our mission coming to an end soon we wanted to go and visit Kimberley.  I served in Kimberley during my mission back in 1966, my third area of service.

The Garretts, Yorgesens, Jenee and I took off Friday at1:00 PM  after finishing our early morning shift at the Temple.  It is a 5-hour drive to Kimberley going south west of Johannesburg.  Kimberley is located in the Northern Cape Providence almost exactly in the middle of South Africa.

We had reservations at the "4 Carrington Guesthouse" which is an historic home owned by the De Beer family that was renovated into a very nice B&B.

We arrived in Kimberley at about 6:30 PM, checked in and then went to dinner at Annabel's, one of the restaurants just around the corner from where we were staying. Nice atmosphere, fine dining at a reasonable price.

After dinner we returned to our rooms for a well deserved sleep before our busy day ahead of us: up at 7 AM for breakfast before setting out on our adventure.

After breakfast we set out to see the two major attractions in Kimberley: the Big Hole and the Magersfontein Memorial, a monument to the Anglo-Boer War.

Kimberley is known for its fabled Diamond Fields discovered in 1869. The diamond rush equals the gold rush of California. Miners came from all over the world hoping to make it big in the diamond fields of South Africa. The first rock found was an 83-carat diamond that came to be called The Star of South Africa, "the rock upon which the future of South Africa will be built."  The major attraction in Kimberley is the Big Hole, the largest hand-dug excavation in the world.

After touring the mine we headed out for the Battle Field which was about 28 miles south west of Kimberley.  We drove along dirt roads to get there, driving between two game reserves.  To our surprise we saw some game animals that we have not seen up north.

NYALA

BLACK WILDEBEAST

SABEL

After that we stopped for a light lunch at the Milky Lane and then set out for home.  Tired and exhausted we arrived home at about 7:30 PM.  The trip was short but we all were glad that we took the time to visit Kimberly and see its history.