You do not have to leave the World Heritage Site to see big game. The Rhino & Lion Nature Reserve — today marketed as the Bothongo Rhino & Lion Nature Reserve — covers roughly 1,600 hectares of grassland and bush at Kromdraai, between Sterkfontein and Lanseria. It was founded in the 1980s by Ed Hern and is still privately run.
It is best understood as a hybrid between a game reserve and a wildlife park. In the large open section, white rhino, buffalo, hippo, giraffe, zebra, wildebeest and a long list of antelope roam free, and you can drive your own car on the gravel roads. Lions, wild dogs and cheetahs are kept in separate, spacious drive-through camps. There are also a reptile centre and animal nursery near the main rest camp.
Under the reserve lies the Wonder Cave, the third-largest cave chamber in South Africa and the best-decorated show cave in the Cradle.
Top things to do: Rhino & Lion Nature Reserve and Wonder Cave
Drive the game area
Self-drive is allowed in an ordinary car in dry weather, though a vehicle with some ground clearance is more comfortable after rain. Alternatively, book one of the reserve’s guided game drives in an open vehicle; guides know where the rhino have been seen and can enter the predator camps at feeding times.
Go down into Wonder Cave
Discovered by lime miners in the 1890s, Wonder Cave is a single enormous chamber, estimated at well over two million years old, hung with stalactites, stalagmites and rimstone pools up to 15 metres high. You descend by a stairway and a lift on a guided tour of about 45 minutes to an hour. No important hominin fossils have been found here — you come for the formations, which are far more impressive than those at Sterkfontein.
Watch the predator feeds
Lions, wild dogs and cheetahs are fed on set days, generally at weekends and public holidays. It is noisy, fast and popular; arrive early for a good position and check the schedule with the reserve.
Stay the night
The reserve has self-catering chalets and log cabins, which lets you combine an afternoon game drive with an early start at Sterkfontein next morning. More comfortable lodges are close by — see where to stay.
How to get to Rhino & Lion Nature Reserve and Wonder Cave
- By car: the main gate is on Kromdraai Road, about 45–55 minutes from Sandton via the N14 or Malibongwe Drive/R512, and around 20 minutes from Lanseria Airport. Sterkfontein is 15–20 minutes away.
- By tour: full-day tours from Johannesburg combine a game drive with Wonder Cave, or with Maropeng — compare the tours.
- Public transport: none. See getting there.
Insider tips
- Wonder Cave tours leave at set times and may be ticketed separately from the reserve; confirm times at the gate when you arrive.
- Keep windows closed and doors locked in the predator camps, and never get out of your car outside the marked rest areas.
- Mornings and late afternoons are best for animals; the middle of a summer day is hot and quiet.
- This is a managed reserve, not a wilderness. For a free-ranging Big Five experience, add a day in the Pilanesberg.
- Prices and animal-interaction policies have changed in recent years; check the reserve’s current information rather than older reviews.
Best tours: Rhino & Lion Nature Reserve and Wonder Cave
These top-rated experiences are the easiest way to see Rhino & Lion Nature Reserve and Wonder Cave:
Full-day tour from €104 From Johannesburg: Rhino & Lion Safari and Wonder Cave Tour
A full day inside the Cradle’s own private game reserve at Kromdraai. You drive among white rhino, buffalo and antelope, visit the predator camps and then go underground into Wonder Cave, a vast dripstone chamber with some of the best formations in Gauteng.
- Game drive in the Rhino & Lion Nature Reserve
- Descent into the huge single chamber of Wonder Cave
- Rhino, buffalo, lion, cheetah and antelope
Private tour from €75 Private Rhino and Lion Park, Cradle Caves or Maropeng Museum
A private six-hour outing that mixes a game drive in the Rhino & Lion Nature Reserve with one fossil stop of your choice — the caves or Maropeng. One of the best-priced private options in the Cradle, with consistently high reviews.
- Private game drive in the Rhino & Lion reserve
- Choice of caves or the Maropeng museum
- Strong value for a private tour
Full-day combo from €190 From Johannesburg: Cradle of Humankind and Lion Safari
The classic two-in-one day west of Johannesburg: human origins in the morning, big cats in the afternoon. After the Cradle of Humankind you carry on to a nearby wildlife park for a guided drive past lions, cheetahs, wild dogs and plains game. A perfect 5.0 guest score at the time of writing.
- Fossil sites in the morning
- Game drive among lions and other predators
- One driver-guide for the whole day
