Makhonjwa Mountains

About Makhonjwa Mountains

The Makhonjwa Mountains around Barberton are renowned for their ancient green rocks with their unique scientific record of the pre-history of the earth and for the human stories in pursuit of hidden gold. Also referred to as the ‘Genesis of Life’, its geology includes the best preserved truly ancient rocks on earth.

Despite the rocks being 3.5 billion years old they are so well preserved that their fossils faithfully record the earliest life forms on the planet as well as evidence of the first recorded massive meteorite impact. Come to Barberton for the most spectacular sceneries, over the mountain for picnic, and if the beauty does not hold you back too long, a trip to Songimvelo Nature Reserve.

"The oldest well preserved sedimentary and volcanic rocks on Earth. ... These rock layers are like the pages of a book that we can read and translate in terms of early Earth's history. Here in Barberton is the Rosetta Stone for this period of time." Prof Don Lowe, Stanford University

"The rocks of the Barberton region represent the best-preserved example of the Earth's ancient oceanic and continental crust." Profs Terence McCarthy and Bruce Rubidge, University of the Witwatersrand