Barberton Museum — Attraction in Umjindi Local Municipality

Barberton is named after the Barber brothers, but this museum has them as the Barberton brothers. There are bizarre displays all over the place, many not labelled. Cardboard cutouts showing hominin evolution? Possibly - but who knows? And what is the significance to Barberton? Stuffed birds in glass cases, not labelled, and down on the floor where one has to kneel to see them? What is going on? Is this museum seeking a cult status as the worst designed in the world? Not only that, but the several annexes (Stopforth House, Belhaven etc) will not let you in without a ticket from the main museum. There is no indication of this anywhere on the brochures issued by the museum. But when you ask for a ticket at the main museum, they direct you back to Stopforth House! School kids would do a better job of running...

Barberton has a fantastic history, in the 1880's this part of town had its own stock exchange and it was full of gold drifters who has abandoned the Californian gold rush and descended on the Barberton to Swaziland mountains. These old are called the Makhonjwa Mountains they are a range of comparatively small mountains best known for having some of the oldest exposed rocks on Earth. The are now one of the Unesco World...

A modest little museum. Entrance is free. Three rooms of exhibits. Not terribly well curated in terms of telling a story, and some exhibits are unexplained. One room is dedicated to the anti-apartheid struggle, and comprises only posters of the key individuals with a description of their role. Another room is more or less about the history of Barberton and the mining. The main room is a mix of geological and...