KwaZulu-Natal Museum — Attraction in Msunduzi Local Municipality

Night at the Museum

Last night, my daughter and I attended the "Night at the Museum" event, which was a first for us after experiencing several daytime events there. The turnout was impressive, and I felt safe walking to and from the parking area.

The event featured a wide range of stalls, offering us plenty of opportunities to indulge and spoil my daughter. We arrived a bit later than planned, so we couldn't explore the entire museum, but our favorite was the Le Piete puppet show. Although it was aimed at younger children, it was interactive and engaging, with songs and actions that captivated the audience.

Both reptile shows were extremely popular and could have easily accommodated a third show. We also enjoyed tasting different types of honey and chatting with beekeepers about their work and equipment.

Other activities we participated in included drawing rock art, examining preserved animals, learning about the insides of earthworms, and discovering how the museum creates molds of snakes using silicon and plaster of Paris. At the end of the night, my daughter exclaimed that it was the best night ever.

I would like to extend my heartfelt thanks to the museum staff for the long hours they put into creating such a memorable evening. It was a delightful and educational experience...

Before visiting the museum I had the impression that it would host an exhibition about the South African history and culture. While I wasn’t exactly wrong, the KwaZulu-Natal Museum proved to have much more on offer. The ground floor hosts an exhibition centred around South African mammals and birds, with a touch of primates, butterflies and other stuff. The first floor had a variety of exhibitions. The first I walked through was the Nelson Mandela exhibition, which was probably the highlight of my visit. It was very interesting to walk through Mandela’s life, from new-born to Nobel Prize winner, and I learned a lot that I did not know before about the challenges he faced. There was also an exhibition about Indian culture, which I didn’t have time to visit, and one about the history of the region. The latter started out with a number of Creation Myths and proceeded to show different aspects of early life in southern Africa. All-in-all I was very happy with the museum. The fact that it has several different exhibitions that range from animals to history to culture made it all the more enjoyable and gave a quite full picture of the country and region. I would definitely recommend a visit should you happen to pass through Pietermaritzburg. (Oh, and it’s only R10...

Growing up in Pietermaritzburg, we had many school outings to the museum, and I was always fond of it as a child. I wanted to show my own children the museum now, but I did not have much expectation as a lot of PMB has degraded since my youth and I thought I was going to be disappointed but was pleasantly surprised. It has actually improved with more diverse sections representing South Africa's natural and cultural history. The exhibits are clean and nicely displayed within their environment, and information is easy to read. There is just so much to get through that I would advise you to schedule a lot of time here, or if you local make a few visits and take it in sections so you can really take in all the info. My kids loved the insects with their interactive displays, and my favorite section is still Victorian PMB, but there are so many new sections to explore and learn about, very informative. The entrance fee is also...