Kitching Fossil Exploration Centre

About Kitching Fossil Exploration Centre

The small town of Nieu-Bethesda is situated in the beautiful Karoo of South Arica, where the natural beauty is uniquely enthralling and the history permeates every building, remnant and smile. It has earned acclaim for the Owl House, a haunting home that tells an intriguing tale, as well as for its natural history. Still, it remains a quiet little town, a haven of serenity from the hustle and bustle of the big city.

The Kitching Fossil Exploration Centre was established to showcase fossils that have been estimated to be about 253 million years old. This is an impressive 50 million years before the arrival of even the most ancient of dinosaur bones that have been found to date, and was known as the Permian Period. At this time, the geological and topographical profile of what is now South Africa was very different; and visitors to the exploration centre will have the opportunity to learn about how this affected its current natural beauty, and the types of fauna and flora that once occupied the land.

Short guided tours are conducted to the rock formations that continue to clutch their treasured fossils, untouched and unhindered by development. The Kitching Fossil Exploration Centre is home to an array of exhibitions. These include life-sized models of the animals that once inhabited the area, as well as unique paintings and illustrations that fill in the gaps and help visitors to envision what the world was like at this time. The centre has expanded its sites, though, and also includes the history and details of other fossil hotspots throughout South Africa.

The Kitching Fossil Exploration Centre was named after acclaimed palaeontologist, James Kitching, and is currently run as a joint project of Wits University (Johannesburg) and the Albany Museum (Grahamstown).