4-602: The Bothongo WonderCave in Kromdraai , Gauteng , South Africa is situated within the Bothongo Rhino & Lion Nature Reserve in the Cradle of Humankind , a UNESCO World Heritage Site . The cave is the third-largest cave chamber in the country (behind the second largest, Sudwala Caves , and the largest, Cango Caves ). It is 5-10 million years old. The single chamber has an area of 46,000 square metres (500,000 sq ft), and
8-570: Is 125 by 154 metres (410 by 505 ft). It was discovered in the late nineteenth century by miners who dynamited and excavated limestone for the making of cement . Mining stopped during the Second Boer War and never resumed. The cave has about 14 stalactite and stalagmite formations up to 15 metres high, 85% of which are still growing. The 60-metre-deep cave is accessible to visitors by elevator. The cave can be visited as an attraction on its own. Kromdraai Kromdraai Conservancy
12-454: Is a protected conservation park located to the south-west of Gauteng province in north-east South Africa . It is in the Muldersdrift area not far from Krugersdorp . Its name is derived from Afrikaans meaning "Crooked Turn" after a kink in the meandering Crocodile River . It was established to protect the caves , old gold mines , fossil sites, trout farm and a game reserve in
16-583: The area. The caves in the area, known as the Sterkfontein caves have an extensive number of fossils and dolomite caverns . A well known fossil site is also named Kromdraai and it, along with such sites as Sterkfontein , Coopers , Swartkrans and Plovers Lake form part of the conservancy. Part of the Kromdraai conservancy also falls within the Cradle of Humankind World Heritage Site , proclaimed by UNESCO in 1998. This Gauteng location article
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