Kimberley sits in the middle of South Africa, a long way from anything — Johannesburg is 500 km away, Cape Town nearly 1,000, Durban over 800. It exists because of diamonds. In 1871, the discovery of a massive diamond-bearing kimberlite pipe triggered a rush that brought tens of thousands of prospectors to the dry Northern Cape, and within a few years the chaotic tent city had become the diamond capital of the world.
The Big Hole is the main attraction — the largest hand-dug excavation on earth, an enormous pit that drops 215 metres from the surface. The adjacent open-air museum reconstructs the original rush town with period buildings, mining equipment, and exhibits on the diamond industry. It is genuinely well done and surprisingly atmospheric.
The modern city retains a scattering of Victorian and Edwardian buildings from the boom years. The William Humphreys Art Gallery, one of the best in South Africa outside the major cities, is worth a visit. The McGregor Museum, housed in a former sanatorium that was used as the British headquarters during the Siege of Kimberley in 1900, covers natural and cultural history. The Sol Plaatje Museum tells the story of the remarkable writer and ANC founder who lived and worked here, while the Duggan-Cronin Gallery holds a striking archive of early ethnographic photography.