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Image by Africa Deluxe Tours
Originally Pretoria wasn’t included in the tour itinerary, but due to international flight scheduling we ended up with and extra day and worked in the extra excursions. We took the day at a very leisurely pace though, as the group had to board a long-haul flight in the evening.
The first of two Pretoria stops was at the Voortrekker Monument – in picture. The Monument commemorates the so-called ‘Great Trek’. It occurred from the mid-1830’s when the ‘Boers’ in the Cape Colony decided to rid themselves of British rule and trekked north, away from the Colony’s borders.
One of the pioneer groups clashed with the formidable Zuiu army at the Battle of Blood River. The latter skirmish is one of the central themes in the monument.
The group was introduced to the history around the Great Trek, the symbolism of the building, the stories depicted in the friezes inside the monument, as well as the political climate around the building of the monument (during and after the 2nd World War) during the rise of Afrikaner Nationalism.
We also climbed one of the narrow spiral staircases to the top of the Monument from where we took in the views of Pretoria and surrounds and some of the landmarks were pointed out to the group. In the lower level we viewed beautiful hand-made tapestries depicting the story of the Great Trek.
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