Leydsdorp Hotel, Kapiri Hills

Edward Button and James Sutherland reported the discovery of gold in the Murchison mountain range in 1870. However, it was only between 1886 and 1888 that a gold rush started in Leydsdorp, when the area was declared public diggings (Selati Goldfields) by the Zuid-Afrikaansche Republic and the township of Leydsdorp was laid out. By 1876, syndicates and companies started acquiring blocks of claims in areas like Pelgrimsrest, Kaapse Hoop, and Babberton, marking the end of the era of individual diggers.

In 1888, sensing the end of small-time operations, French Bob led the last rush of old-time diggers to the Murchison Range. His camp became the site of Leydsdorp, named after the state secretary, Dr. Willem Johannes Leyds. The gold yield in the area was disappointing, water was scarce, and the death toll was among the highest in South Africa due to malaria, sleep illness, scurvy, bar fights, and lion attacks. Leydsdorp was a harsh and unforgiving place that took more than it gave, scattered with unmarked graves and lost dreams. Those who came to Leydsdorp either paid with their lives or their livelihoods.

As the old-school diggers gravitated to more profitable fields and Leydsdorp's decline was set in stone, by 1924, it was practically a ghost town. The Leydsdorp Hotel's historical structure, dating from 1891, was restored to its original Victorian colonial mining style and character as much as possible. The famous dining hall still features its original high pressed ceilings and wooden floors, evoking an ambiance of a bygone era. The unpretentious menu offers freshly made, good-tasting food, and the "Dickinson Bro Pub" provides a quaint place to quench one's thirst in the unforgiving heat of Limpopo's sun.

The hotel offers various accommodation options, including bedrooms with twin beds, en-suite bathrooms, DSTV, air-conditioning, and tea/coffee facilities. There is also a swimming pool, Wi-Fi, and a restaurant where breakfast is served every morning. The bush camp offers chalets with twin beds, outside or inside showers, tea/coffee facilities, a swimming pool, a lapa on the dam, braai facilities, and the option to dine at the restaurant.