Guided Hiking – Ganora Guest Farm

Ganora Fossil Walk

After a visit to the fossil museum, visitors are welcome to go on a fossil walk with JP.  On the fossil walk JP will show you sites where he has discovered various prehistoric animal fossils, which have been covered in mud to be preserved as the fossils that you can experience today. You will also see evidence of the rivers that flowed in a northerly direction at the time when the continents were joined to form Pangea.

The walk is not strenuous as you drive from one point to another. The Karoo contains fossils of the mammal-like–reptiles that lived in the basin on average 280 million years ago. Long before the Dinosaurs of average age 140 million years ago. Here you will come across our Gorgonopsian, some Dicynodon remains, evidence of mudslides remains of the bottom of an old lake and even view bushman edgings.

You are welcome to order sunset drinks and snacks to be enjoyed in the veld. These excursions must be booked ahead of your arrival at Ganora.

Bushman Rock Art

The first Bushman paintings were discovered in 1996. The owners’ sons discovered the first two caves at the ages of 6 and 8 years. With the excitement of the first discoveries they often set off to try and discover more, which they did successfully, sometimes on their own and sometimes along with their parents. There are now 5 shelters with paintings and many more without paintings but with evidence that the caves were inhabited as there are still old Bushman tools found there.

A guide will take you to one of the shelters which is an easy walk for all ages. Here they will tell you all about rock art while pointing them out to you as well as a little of their culture and beliefs. Included in the ½ – ¾ hour tour you will be shown the engravings made by the young farmer’s son that hid in the shelter for 3 months during the Anglo Boer War. The Bushman engravings can be viewed when on the fossil walk.

Medicinal Plant Tour

Henry, better known as Punky, Ganora’s local guide, enjoys taking people on walks through the farm. He tells you about the farm and how things are managed as you pass by the lucern lands, but his real interest is in medicinal plants. He was taught by his grandfather, a Bushman descendant, what plants can be used for. He can also guide you on longer hikes through the canyon where he points out birds, reptiles and insects of interest. You might be lucky and come across one of the rehabilitated meerkat groups that we have released.