Voortrekker Monument

With an extra day in Johannesburg we decided to go to Pretoria and see the Voortrekker Monument.  Pretoria is really the city where most of the centers of government are located. It doesn't seem as big or busy as Johannesburg, but is an important political center in South Africa. It's only about 45 minutes drive from Johannesburg.

 The history of South Africa is quite interesting. There were three groups of people who lived in and influenced the settling of this land. The first groups were the native tribes, Zulus, Basotho, Pedi, Xhosa and Ndebe.  Then a group of Dutch settlers arrived in the Cape Town area. They migrated North in an overland trek at almost the same time as the American Mormon westward migration. The two treks had much in common and it was interesting to see the monument to this migration of the Afrikaners, as they came to be called.  They still maintain much of their culture and their own language and you hear Afrikaans often in South Africa.  Signs are written in both English and Afrikaans.

There's an enormous monument to the Voortrekkers, as the group is called.  The monument can be seen for miles as you leave Johannesburg and head toward Pretoria and offers a great view of Pretoria.

The monument was constructed to honor the great strength of these pioneers and their contribution to the building of the nation. It's massive size and location atop a mountain gives it a massive and imposing  appearance.

 

 

 One interesting thing inside the monument is a tomb on the bottom level of the three story monument. It's symbolic of those who lost their lives during the trek.  On the annivesary of the Great Battle of Blood River, on Dec. 17th at noon each year, a shaft of light comes through a hole in the ceiling of the monument, goes down through three stories of the building and rests on an  inscription on the tomb that say "We are for Africa" in the Africanns language.  This time of year the beam is off to the left of the tomb.

                   

 There are also walls full of engraved relief around the center level showing the events of the trek and the history of the Afrikaners experience. It reminded us so much of the story of the Mormon pioneers. Their style of clothing, their mode of travel, their faith that they were doing what God wanted them to do, their struggles and losses were so much like our ancestors. We felt a real kinship with these pioneers.  The pictures could have been pictures of any of our ancestors as they crossed the American plains at just about this same time.

  

  
After spending time in the Monuments we stopped by the snack bar as waited for the others to finish their visit.  When they arrived the Hatches felt badly that they'd taken longer than we had.  They went into the snack bar and come out with MAGNUM ICE CREAM BARS for us all to apologize for making us wait. We felt badly that they were uncomfortable with our waiting but were thrilled to have Magnum bars. We've all fallen in love with them while in Johannesburg and know that it will be a long time before we see them again. So, naturally, we ate dessert first that day.
                
After dessert we walked down a little path to a replica of a Zulu hut. There was a picnic table there and we enjoyed our little picnic in this beautiful place.  It was our last outing in South Africa and was a great ending.