Voortrekker Monument + More Safari

We have had a beautiful first week in South Africa, the second isn’t looking so fabulous with rain forecast for the rest of the week. Seems I have brought the rain along with me here as I am seeing the sunshine updates in the UK, just my luck! We went with Luke’s mum to visit the Voortrekker Monument situated in the Pretoria region.

It was constructed to commemorate the pioneers that travelled from the Cape Colony between 1835 and 1854 waaay up to the northern part of South Africa. Looking at the paintings, carvings and tapestry’s inside the monument – it seemed like a tough old ride! More on that on wikipedia if history floats your boat.

Also more wildlife photos! We took a drive to the Pilanesberg game reserve. I could literally spend all day everyday driving around looking for animals. If we didn’t have Eva with us, I would have booked a week in the Kruger. Pilanesburg is still pretty darn big though at 550km², it is also home to the big 5. We saw one elephant as soon as we entered the park which was lucky as we didn’t see any of the 250 others. The grass was far too long this time of the year so a very slim chance on spotting any cats on our own in our teeny little car.

It’s just such a thrill to be driving for 30 minutes or so, giving up hope on seeing anything and then you turn a corner and see a herd of giraffe. They are sneaky little buggers too as when they spot you they walk off and hide behind a tree. Same for all of the animals..they turn their butts to you.

One of the most exciting parts was seeing two grey bumps in the distance and driving closer realising they are rhino. We were ecstatic considering we had been driving for hours around the other park trying to find them.

I know you can see any of these animals in captivity, but I can’t stand zoo’s generally. Nothing beats seeing them in their own natural habitat.