South Africa has a truly world class fossil record and many people travel from around the world to visit this country and learn about our famous fossils. Most people have heard of the Cradle of Humankind where human ancestors may be found.  Another place to find fantastic fossils is the small town of Nieu Bethesda in the Eastern Cape. Here the rocks are rich in fossils which lived tens of millions of years before dinosaurs and mammals.  Nieu-Bethesda is also the birthplace of the world renown palaeontologist James Kitching who uncovered a large portion of South Africa’s fossil heritage.

The Kitching Fossil Exploration Centre aims to preserve and educate the public about the area’s extraordinary history and fossil heritage, provide curriculum support to local schools and universities, and employ local guides and stimulate local economic growth.

Visitors to the KFEC can explore a small exhibition centre which reconstructs life in the Karoo 255 million years, they also learn about moving continents, catastrophes when most of Life on Earth was destroyed, and the life and legacy of James Kitching. Thereafter, they can they witness the patient preparation process used to extract fossil from the rock and later, they can search, under the supervision of an experienced guide, for real fossils in the nearby riverbed.

 Kitching Fossil Exploration Centre is a Public Benefit Organisation which has been operating since 2005. The organisation is overseen by a board consisting of academics from the University of the Witwatersrand and Albany Museum, as well local stakeholders. Currently the board members are- Chair: Prof Bruce Rubidge, Rose Prevec, Ross Foxton, Hester Steynberg, Ian McKay, Fulvio de Stefanis and Anziske Kayster

The Centre employs employ three local guides from Nieu-Bethesda who manage the business on a day-to-day basis and take visitors to the small town on tours of our small museum and nearby fossil sites. The guides are also trained preparators, which means they can demonstrate the art of extracting a fossil out of a rock. The guides Gerrit Baard, Melanie Bowkers, and Andries Tromp have been with us for many years. Gerrit and Melanie started work in 2007 and 2008 and Andries in 2015. All three guides are a accredited Level 1 site guides and receive excellent reports from trip-advisor:

(https://www.tripadvisor.com/Attraction_Review-g1636600-d8524850-Reviews-Kitching_Fossil_Exploration_Centre-Nieu_Bethesda_Eastern_Cape.html)