“We invite you to experience the spirit of Ubuntu at this Unique Cultural Venue where the people of Lesedi welcome you with music, song and the warmth of Africa.”
Lesedi Cultural Village is a unique ‘conglomerate’ of several separate ‘tribal villages’ or homesteads that make up the entire Lesedi Cultural Village – each representing one of South Africa’s main tribes: Zulu, Pedi, Ndebele, Xhosa and Basotho.
Cultural experiences on offer include living with members of each community, theatre productions that take you on a journey back in time, music, dance and invocative shows tell the stories of each these local tribes, their beliefs, legends and heritage, and of course then then there is the food – all traditional, delicious and authentic and served in surroundings as beautifully decorated and tribal as the rooms.
The brainchild of famous National Geographic explorer Kingsley Holgate, Lesedi Cultural Village is run by a BEE tourism company – ensuring that the income from this venture goes to the sector of the South African community it stems from. The entire complex offers 38 themed rooms, designed by representitives of each tribe. Kingsley Holgate is still involved with the day to day operations.
The accommodations at Lesedi Cultural Village offer all mod cons, but besides this comfort aspect, Lesedi is the closest you can get to travelling back in time to pre-colonisation of Southern Africa and experiencing the cultures that developed here in harmony with nature over thousands of years.
Day visitors are also welcomed and exetensive selections of arts and crafts are on sale in the individual tribal homesteads.
Getting there: Lesedi is situated in the north Cradle of Humankind World Heritage area near Broederstroom, in the foothills of the ancient Magaliesberg mountain range, just north of Johannesburg and west of Pretoria. Take the R512 toward Hartbeespoort and Sun City.