Afrikaaner History Day for the C-Fs

Looking for something to do on a sunny Sunday, we decided to check out Pretoria's famous Voortrekker Monument on Jan 30th.  It's a massive granite building, built in 1949 (thanks, Wikipedia), to honor the Voortrekkers, the Afrikaaners who left the Cape between 1835 and 1854 and moved into the Gauteng areas of South Africa, largely settling in Pretoria.  It's a powerful symbol for Afrikaaners of their unique heritage and difficult past with the British and locals alike.  I won't comment other than to say that there were no black Africans to be seen, except those working in the gift shop. 

As a piece of architecture, it's striking, with a huge atrium, elaborate friezes (including the treaty with the Zulu people and the subsequent murder of the Afrikaaner leader, Piet Retief), and lots of masonic and other symbols. Read more about it on Wikipedia.   We had a picnic lunch on the grounds, toured the museum and climbed the steps to the very top and had great views of Pretoria.  Lucy was particularly taken with the dioramas of pioneer kids and displays with artifacts showing their handmade toys.

 Breakfast time. Noah sees no reason to dress up for pancakes.

 Catching up on the Sunday Times before we head out. (Noah loves to point at things in the book. Notice his finger.)

 Lucy (in her Lucy shirt!) gets some shade while we pick up lunch.

 Noah does some psuedo-walking.  We call this the Russian Dance because he scoots forward with one leg up.

 Checking out a recreated Zulu hut, a somewhat peculiar item to find on the Monument grounds.

 Heading into the monument

 Great view of our fair city

 Pretoria

 Scary view looking down from the sky dome.  (The pattern is of 32 sun rays. Who knew?) 

 Playground time

 Noah tries out the swing.  Swings made from tires are common here and can be very elaborate.  Noah wasn't so sure about it.

Amazing fields of wild flowers on route to and from the monument. (Remember, it's summer here!)

That's all for now. Safari-on! xo
Glenn