Karoo graveyards are amazing places to explore – they contain the names of many famous people who passed through. And Cradock, in the Karoo Heartland, is no exception.

‘The Big Hole’ is a name that is self explanatory, yet is also so befitting of this iconic South African attraction and the heady days of the diamond rush in Kimberley.

The <em>Mail & Guardian Book of South African Women</em> includes ordinary women from all walks of South African life doing extraordinary things.

Stick fighting in the South African rural areas is a rite of passage for young boys, who become as adept at this form of martial art as any other swordsman elsewhere.

History is one-dimensional at times, a recitation of facts. But then something makes it real – like a little pond full of preening ducks and bobbing ducklings.

To whom do we owe the very great pleasure of birdwatching? Some say that person would be François le Vaillant, an eccentric French traveller, explorer, hunter and social observer who came to South Africa in the late 1700s.

The Karoo has a rich history, and a community theatre group brings its stories wonderfully to life.

If you want to understand your past, then visit a never-seen-before priceless exhibition of fossils currently on display at Maropeng, the visitor centre of the Cradle of Humankind World Heritage Site.

The Inspiring New Ways video from Brand South Africa epitomises the ‘can-do’ spirit of ordinary and not-so-ordinary South Africans.