The Big Hole, Kimberley travel tips and stories. Vacations ideas, cruises, spa and resorts

Here I show you the biggest diamond rush which the world has ever seen. Kimberley (the capital of the Northern Cape, South Africa) is famous with the Big Hole. It’s a huge open-pit diamond mine and claimed to be the largest hole excavated by hand. 50,000 miners dug a almost circular hole with a surface area of about 17 hectares, a perimeter of about 1,6 km and depth around of 215m, right in the middle of the town.
In 2006 De Beers (the owner) invested about USD 7.7 million for the reconstruction of the site. It includes an open air museum showing the history of diamond mining at Kimberley. The recent renovation is a cantilevered platform above the rim of the hole. It allows the visitors a vertical view down into the hole, as it protrudes across the rim like a half suspension bridge. A tour of the Big Hole is interesting with the new visitor center which is open every day of the year except for Christmas Day and Good Friday.