The exclusive garden suburb of Waterkloof Ridge is brimming with tastefully designed, established households and ostentatious old homes for the privileged few. Being on an elevated ridge, the suburb has superb views of the valley and Pretoria city below. A common site is a lengthy guarded driveway with masses of parking space for hosting on a grand scale, after all, many of the residents are High Commissioners, Ambassadors and Consul-Generals.

Waterkloof Ridge is a leafy suburb with wide streets and easy access to major centres via the two highways bordering the area. Temperatures in Pretoria rarely fluctuate and the climate is considered mild.

Expect understated elegance in the course of a stay at Waterkloof Ridge.

Top 8 reasons to visit Waterkloof Ridge

1. There are 3 hiking trails in the nearby Groenkloof Nature Reserve that range from 3.5km to 10.5km in length. The reserve has several buck species, giraffe, small mammals and a high concentration of birdlife. Look out for the sable antelope with its stately, curved horns.

2. Cycle to the Waterkloof Ridge Lifestyle Centre for a relaxing session at the BSXI Hydro Spa followed by an enjoyable meal at one of the many restaurants in the mall.

3. The Pretoria Boeremark (farmer’s market) in Silverton is open on Saturday for an opportunity to try out egte (real) Afrikaans cuisine. Sample the rusks, preserves and biltong savoured by the locals.

4. Take a drive out to the small town of Cullinan for a tour of a diamond mine, to visit the agricultural museum and an ethnic experience at the Ndebele Village. Picnic under the trees at the nearby dam.

5. The University of South Africa (UNISA) space art gallery has exciting contemporary art on view. The gallery showcases constant exhibitions of work created by the university’s budding visual arts students. 

6. One of the more macabre museums is the Correctional Services Museum in the city centre. The museum contains handmade weapons and tattoo machines, illegal devices and ingeniously made keys, mostly recovered from Pretoria Central Prison cells.

7. Day visitors are invited to self-drive the Dinokeng Game Reserve set in a residential area and 50km from Waterkloof Ridge. The reserve has the Big 5 on view (lion, leopard, rhino, elephant and buffalo). A unique resident is a zebra without stripes!

8. The 18-hole course at Waterkloof Golf Club has a few surprises for the golfer, hole 8 is tricky with a water hazard and bunker surrounding the green. The club has an excellent restaurant on the premises.

Transport

The nearest airport is OR Tambo International Airport, 40km from Waterkloof Ridge. Domestic flights arrive and leave from Lanseria Airport, a 50km journey. Other airports for chartered flights are Wonderboom (21km) and Grand Central in Midrand (29km). Catch the Gautrain, a fast train service that travels between the OR Tambo Airport and the Hatfield business district, 8km north of Waterkloof Ridge. Car rental agencies are located at the airport and throughout Pretoria city or book a vehicle online. Metered taxi companies are based in and around Waterkloof. If you have the Uber app, order a ride via your mobile phone.

Did you know?

Following a fire at the Pretoria Station early in 2015, workers discovered a swastika embossed on the clock tower. Arrangements were immediately made to remove the offensive sign until authorities realised that the swastika had been placed there in 1910, well before Hitler’s Nazi reign. The swastika has been used in art forms for centuries, from diverse cultures such as American Indians and people in the South Seas.

Pretoria has many foreign representatives in the form of embassies, including the Holy See diplomatic mission representing the Catholic Church of Rome, an independent sovereign entity.