Voortrekker Monument

Voortrekker means "first trekker."  We would say pioneer in English, and the Voortrekker Monument celebrates the accomplishments of Dutch settlers who migrated inland from the South African Coast in 30 covered wagons to escape British colonial rule.  Prior to their journey, only the coastal regions of South Africa had been settled and the inland territories were unexplored and hostile, full of wild animals and many tribes of warring nations. 

The monument sits on a large hill overlooking Pretoria.  A friend recommended I see it and it was on the way back from my meetings.  My driver had never been there either (in fact, blacks weren't even allowed to visit it during Apartheid) so it seemed we had to see it.  I approached it with some trepidation as I saw it as a museum glorifying white colonization of African lands, but the museum turned out to be far more objective and historically accurate.  We both enjoyed it quite a bit. 

I met an Australian in the parking lot who told me the monument was built with granite rock by Irish masons as there were no skilled masons with that capability in South Africa at the time. 

The monument looks like a mausoleum on the outside and there is in fact a ceremonial tomb to the fallen Dutch settlers on the inside.  We took an elevator to the roof and I shot this panorama of Pretoria and the surrounding countryside.

It is quite detailed if you zoom in.  This is what the monument looks like from the roof where I shot the panorama. 

 This is a sample of the bass relief that runs across the inside.  It details both the journey the Voortrekkers took as well as the massacre of their leaders by the Zulu warriors after the battle of Blood River in 1839.

 This is what it looks like from the outside. 

And finally, this is my driver, Nathaniel.  He really enjoyed the museum.  It was the first time he had ever seen a covered wagon in person.  He said he had only seen them on TV in American cowboys and indian movies and never in the historical context of his own country.