Saturday in Pretoria, Sunday, and Monday too

We had one final last hurrah this weekend--a trip to Pretoria with our host, Neville Walker, who planned a wonderful morning of sight-seeing. We drove into Pretoira, one of the three capital cities of S Africa, and started our day with a tour of the Voortrekker Monument, which chronicles the great trek of the Afrikaners.

A view of the "wagon train wall" from high up on the monument

Sorry, Neville, no animals allowed inside!!

Michael poses overlooking Pretoria in the distance. The steps up to this vantage point were a long, winding spiral staircase that had some of our team members scouting out the lift for the return trip down!

Rae checks out a huge embroidered tapestry of the Trek

Team Pic time in front of the monument

After the Voortrekker, we headed off to see Freedom Park, which is quite new. The Park is a memorial to those who have died in the struggle for freedom in S Africa. There's a wall of names similar to our Vietnam Memorial wall, with names of those who died going all the way back to the 1700s. The names are categorized by reason for death (which struggles, wars, genocide, slavery, etc.) and there's much space left to add more names. If you know of someone who's died in the struggles, you can submit their name for inclusion, and if the investigation proves that the claim is legit, they'll add the name to the wall.

There's also a stately amphitheater, and a sanctuary with an eternal flame. The park consists of a long pathway that winds from one area to another. We chose a self-guided tour, and found our way through with a map.

The eternal flame, with the amphitheater in the background

 

Next we ventured on to see the Union Building, where the government seat is. We also saw the Presidential compound, which was huge, and we had an insider peek in the stadium where Invictus was filmed (I think it was there!) 

The Union Building

Many tiered, gorgeous gardens

Another opportunity to get a few souvenirs in front of the Union Building

A traditional wedding dress. There were 2 wedding parties that came for pictures there while we were visiting

Having tea and cookies at Edenvale Baptist Church after the service Sunday AM. Rae and Michael pose with Patrick Amber, and Bongane

After church we went for an outdoor lunch at a bird sanctuary

This little fellow had a real eye for Bongane, and kept following his every move

Back at school on Monday, Michael is in his element playing cards with the children during play time

Posing with his friend, Paul

The girls show off their baby dolls

This is Titi, who shares a nickname with our very own Katie. When she found out that Katie had the same name, she said she felt like she was my daughter, too.