South African Airways

A 10-minute drive from the town is Polokwane Game Reserve, one of SA’s largest municipal reserves. It boasts unspoilt bushveld and numerous species game including white rhino, sable and giraffe, as well as 200 bird species. After game viewing you can hike, mountain bike or horse ride. There are comfortable self-catering chalets and a caravan site.

Set in picturesque surroundings, the Farmyard is 5km from the town centre. There’s a café set on a large veranda and areas where kids can watch the rabbits, ducks and chickens. The Trading Post part of the enterprise sells gourmet cheese, wine and home-made preserves. It hosts a market day on the last Saturday of each month, when local craftsmen set up stands selling clothes, jewellery, beading, antiques, crafts and food.

The Ranch Hotel is a leisure resort and wildlife conservancy which has a pride of lions on site. You can watch their cubs at play and even walk with the younger cubs. The hotel has four swimming pools in pleasant gardens, a gym and a playroom for kids.

Chuene Crocodile Farm is an interesting and educational place where its team tells you about crocodiles and their habits. It’s a breeding centre and sits 34km from the city. Bird and Reptile Park Almost 300 different species of birds can be viewed here, as well as snakes and lizards and dark pools where lurking crocodiles try to catch the wading birds. There are also some nice viewing hides and attractive picnic spots.

The museum is based in a former Victorian shop built in 1906, which is now a National Monument. It’s filled with Stone Age and Iron Age artefacts and a display depicting the colourful traditional cultures of the Limpopo people.

The Hugh Exton Photographic Museum gives an insight into the gold rush days of Polokwane’s beginnings, with more than 22 000 glass negatives capturing its first five years. You can see the cameras he used and his appointment books which contain notes of every photo he took, the subject and the cost. Exton photographed everyone and everything to chronicle the historic events of that time. It’s based in an 1890 Dutch reformed church.

Polokwane Golf Course was founded even before the city, dating back to 1863. It’s a highly rated course and has an attractive clubhouse with a bar and braai area and a pool. Retief Goosen learned to play here.