Well, just 36nm north of Grand Central you can see this hole in the ground caused by a meteor
slamming into the earth 40km north of Pretoria. Yes, it IS 40km north of PRETORIA, in Tshwane. Just in case you thought I was confused (Maybe YOU are confused now but never mind, this is South Africa and we are allowed to be confused)The Tswaing Crater is apparently one of the best preserved meteor craters in the world. Although it is not much to look at it does makes a change from Harties.
Lift off from Grand Central on 35 and just keep going until you find the Gerotek testing track in the Magaliesberg valley. This will keep you away from Zwartkops and out of Waterkloof airspace. Turn to 28deg magnetic and route another 20nm over the northern ridge. Just over the ridge you must watch out for traffic to/from
Wonderboom. There is a small piece of 124.8 sandwiched between the special rules area, Pretoria GFA and Wonderboom CTR and you may not hear someone calling as they cross one way or the other. Track just west of the Mabopane highway and look out for a brown/green patch between all the houses. It is only when you get quite close that you can see the crater.Do one or two circuits, remembering that it is a nature reserve and also inside the Pretoria GFA. Watch out for traffic in circuit around the crater as I think it is one of the cheapies for trainee pilots from Wonderboom.
On the return trip you can route back via Brits or for something completely different you can route east around the Wonderboom CTR and back along the Pinedene route.
Information Summary:
- Website reference: http://www.southafrica.info/travel/cultural/tswaingcrater.htm
- Coordinates: S24 24.6 E28 04.9
- 36nm one way
- 1.3hrs round trip via Brits & Hartebeestpoort dam on the charter hobbs (1.7hrs in and R22)
- Need to route north to Gerotek and then follow the Waterkloof and Wonderboom CTR boundaries until clear.
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