Top 10 Weird Attractions in South Africa
There is no question that South Africa has some beautiful places, natural or manmade, it is known for its tourist attractions. Robben Island, Table Mountain, Sun city you name them its beauty all around. Which makes us wonder why these wacky attractions exist although we are dying to explore them? I guess weird is the new cool. So if you haven’t heard here they are.
1.Eco Shrine, Hogsback
Found in the middle of Amatola Mountains, the Shrine can be reached via a leafy tunnel of hazelnut. There a 6m tree sculpture of an angel carved out of a redwood tree struck by lighting and in a circular enclosure with oil paintings and glittering mosaics. It’s free for children and R20 for adults.
2. The Big Pineapple, Bathurst
The largest artificial pineapple tree in the world is found in Bathurst, the Pineapple capital of South Africa .It’s 16,7m, 70m higher than the Big Pineapple on the Sunshine Coast of Australia. There is an auditorium with a 12 minute film on how pineapple is produced, an exhibition on local agriculture, and an observation deck. The cost is donation.
3. Owl House, Nieu-Bathesda
The Owl House is chock-full of concrete and ground glass sculptures. Helen Martins and her assistants spent many years creating the very colorful house and fantasy garden, with mirrors, candles, and lanterns positioned to catch the light at different times of the day. A visit to the Owl House will set you back a cool R50.
4. Cat Statue, Aberdeen
Petronella Lynz and her daughter are the cat ladies of Karoo. They created a feline orphanage for hundreds of stray cats. A giant statue stands outside the Arbedeen Heritage Archive &Tourism Bureau in their honor. There’s a metal cage installed around the cat to keep it safe.
5. The Valley of Desolation & Giant Flag Project, Graaff Reinet
The valley of Desolation is filled with vertical cliffs and dolerite columns towering 120m into the air as a result of 100mllion years of volcanic forces. There’s a giant South African flag being created completely out of plants that will be so large making it visible from space. It will cost you R30 and R15 for the kids
6. Giant Post Box, Calvinia
The 6,17m neglected water tank was transformed with a touch of new paint into an enormous red post box. Letters posted there are hand stamped with a flower emblem.
7. Spider Lady, Hanover
If you suffer from arachnophobia you might want to avoid this one. Marie de Jager has turned her home into a living museum with tanks full of scorpions and spiders including the six eyed crab spider, tarantula, and small brown button spider.
8. The Big Boabab, Modjadjiskloof Limpopo
The big baobab at Sunland Nursery is 47m wide holding a pub within its trunk. Standing 24m it is the largest baobab in the world and estimated to be around 6,000 years old.
9. The Shoe House Mpumalanga
The Shoe House calls to mind the nursery rhyme of the little lady that lived in a shoe. With a small museum, art gallery, Alfa Omega Cave curio shop, and tea garden, it will cost you R3per person for museum and art gallery and R50 for the cave.
10. Dick Heysteck’s Game Farm, Lyndenburg
It won’t be a mission spotting the animals on this reserve since they’re all made out of concrete, chicken wire and steel. Each giant sculpture took around 2months to complete. R36 gets you in.
