Ditsong National Museum of Natural History Museum

Address: Cnr Boom & Paul Kruger Streets, Pretoria, Gauteng, South Africa

Website: http://www.ditsong.org.za

Hours: Tue-Sat 9am-5pm, Sun 10am-4pm, closed Mondays

Admission: Adult: ZAR 20-30 (varies)

The Ditsong National Museum of Natural History is a national natural history museum in Pretoria, Gauteng, housing major fossil, mineral and natural history collections. It is part of the Ditsong group of museums and serves both research and public education roles.

Exhibition galleries present palaeontology, mineralogy and mounted specimens that illustrate regional natural history; the museum maintains research collections used by scientists. The institution retains collections accumulated over many decades and displays them for visitors and school groups.

The museum is located in Pretoria in Gauteng province and forms part of the city’s museum network, accessible from central Pretoria and serving as a regional centre for natural history exhibits.

• Institutional background: Formerly known as the Transvaal Museum, it is part of the Ditsong network of national museums and holds major South African natural history collections.
• Collections: Collections include fossils, skeletal displays and mineral specimens used for research and public exhibitions, so the museum is of interest to visitors wanting natural history displays.

What to See#

• Palaeontology Gallery: Palaeontology and fossil displays that cover regional fossil finds and reconstructions used in public exhibitions.
• Mineral Collections: Mineral and geological collections showing South African mineral specimens and curated displays for research and teaching.

The museum is on the Ditsong Pretoria campus in central Pretoria. From Pretoria Railway Station it is roughly a 10-15 minute taxi ride; local buses and minibus taxis serve routes that stop near Paul Kruger Street and the museum precinct.

• Combine the visit with the adjacent Ditsong Pretoria museums on the same campus for a full-day cultural itinerary.
• Check opening hours before visiting as individual galleries sometimes close for research or loans.
• Look for the skeletal mounts and taxidermy prepared in the museum's older galleries - they reveal changes in scientific display over the 20th century.