Gold Reef City complex of is made up of Various components:
The Gold Reef City Casino.
The Apartheid Museum - details on separate page.
The Gold Reef City Mining town with Amusement and Theme Park.
Gold Reef City - Amusement Park - Gold Mine Underground Tour - Mining Town -Theme Park - Helicopter Tour.
Helicopter/Chopper flight:
Take a sightseeing flight over Soweto and Johannesburg.
Gold Reef City Amusement Park:
Test drive the water rides, roller coasters and any of the over thirty adrenalin pumping fun rides. Includes the fastest inverted roller coaster in Africa - the Anaconda. Other popular rides are the River Rapids, Tower of Terror and the Jozi Express.
Gold Reef City - Gold Mine History:
The Golf Reef City theme park is situated on a 10Ha site which surrounds the historically significant no 14 shaft at Crown Mines. This 19th century gold mine produced 1.4 million kilograms of gold before closing in the 70's. The shaft was opened in 1897, only 11 years after Johannesburg was established and was part of the gold reef stretching 100 km from Boksburg in the east to Randfontein in the west. This made gold reef city (shaft 14) the world's richest producer of gold, 1.4 million kilograms over its 90 year life span. This shaft was at its time, one of the deepest gold mines and worked by 30 000 miners.
A miner's language (Fanagalo) was developed in 1910. This enabled the miners from different walks of life to communicate. Fanagolo was simplistic consisting of only 2000 words, 25% of these were swear words. For the miners, this was a tough way to earn a living with the heat, dampness, darkness and the ear shattering noise of the drills. Lighting was by candle-light, posing a continued risk of explosion due to the presence of methane gas. Thousands of miners died in this mine.
Donkeys pulled the gold laden coco pans, staying down the mine for three months before going blind. There is gold remaining in the mine; however the price of gold at the time the mines closed, it was uneconomical to remove. The lower levels of the mine are currently flooded - 19th level to the 57th level. Tours are conducted only up to the 5th level.
Travel down a Gold Mine shaft at Gold Reef City
Gold Reef City - Underground Mine Tour:
Gold Reef Shaft No 14, in production for 84 years - 1887 to 1971 and at its time, the deepest mine in the world. Travel down the Gold Mine shaft (under 5 years not allowed) in a large clangy lift to level 5 - 720 feet (226 meters) for a guided tour. Walk down tunnels with a hard hat and a torch in hand and experience the tough conditions that the miners had to endure. Experience a short burst from a miners drill, this will clearly give you an understanding as to why the miners would go deaf without ear plugs.
See the mine manager's office with the miner's identity box. This helped identify missing miners. Follow the coco pan tracks past the red dynamite box and get a view up a 35 degree slope with little head room and wooden steps that lead to the surface in the event of a power failure. Once back on the surface you experience daily demonstrations of pouring molten gold into gleaming bars of bullion and traditional miner's gumboot dances on visiting the mine manager's house. Also see how coins were pressed in the past and a museum dedicated to gold mining.
Gold Reef City - Mining Town Theme Park:
The mining town has been reconstructed to capture the gold rush era times of Johannesburg in its heyday. A comprehensive depiction of life in a turn of the century mining town including period houses and colourful street entertainment, discovering for yourself as to how the miners worked and played. Staff wear period costumes and you can also have your picture taken in a period costume. Enjoy a few pints in the saloon; take a stroll through the animal farm or a ride on a steam train. Or even a penny farthing cycle and a horse drawn carriage around the village.
Tours available - 5 days a week. Wednesday to Sunday
The international appeal of the Gold Reef City amusement and theme park with its depiction of nineteenth century mining life is seen daily by a large number of tourists. Johannesburg is one of the most popular cities in Africa and is also the continents economic powerhouse. Its history is based solely around the discovery of gold and this park brings the history lesson to life with a glimpse into the economic development of Johannesburg and its gold mining. Travel back in time with a first hand look at an old mining town and the vibrant life thereof.
Ekala Eco Tours use qualified and registered guides - not drivers only.
Different Gold Reef City tour options are available - with different prices.
Perfect options to include with Gold Reef City and Theme Park to create a full day tour:
Apartheid Museum - Soweto Tour - Johannesburg Tour - Constitution Hill
Ekala Eco Tours - Personalised attention to your needs. We look forward to hearing from you.
For Gold Reef City Tour details or bookings -
Please Contact Ekala Eco Tours - info@ekalatours.com - for - tour details - Personalised attention - Bookings
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For further information on Gold Reef City, please Contact Ekala Eco Tours. We look forward to hearing from you - info@ekalatours.com