After the Ann van Dyk Cheetah Centre, we drove to the Voortrekker Monument. I had visited the Monument on my last trip to South Africa and I wanted mom to experience the history and architecture.
Voortrekker Monument
2020 Price: R90 per person (approx. $6 per person)
Voortrekker Monument
The Voortrekker Monument commemorates the Voortrekker history of South Africa. Voortrekkers means ‘pioneers’ or ‘early migrants’ in Afrikaans. When the British colonized the Cape in the early 1800s, Boer farmers migrated to areas outside British rule. This migration was called the Great Trek.
On the entrance road there are pay stations. After you pay your entrance fee you are given a small sticker to wear as proof of payment. From the parking lot you will have to climb stairs to the main level of the monument. At the bottom of the Monument there is a bronze sculpture of a Voortrekker woman and her two children – reflecting the perseverance and sacrifice of Voortrekker women.
Surrounding the monument is a stone laager wall of 64 wagons. On December 16, 1838, 64 wagons were drawn into a laager (encampment formed by circled wagons) at Ncome River. The Battle of Blood River was a battle between approx. 460 Voortrekkers and 10,000 to 15,000 Zulu warriors where the Voortrekkers prevailed. The Ncome River turned red from the blood of the casualties which led to the name Blood River.
Hall of Heroes
The main level is called the Hall of Heroes. On the walls there are 27 panels of a marble frieze depicting events from the Great Trek. It is the longest marble frieze in the world at 92 meters (about 300 feet) long.
You can walk along the frieze at your own pace and there are placards with information for each panel. There is a large circular opening on the marble floor that looks into the floor below.
Cenotaph Hall
The level below the Hall of Heroes is Cenotaph Hall, aptly named for the cenotaph which sits in the center of the monument. It is a symbolic resting-place for Piet Retief and his men. Carved onto the top are the words ‘Ons vir jou Suid-Afrika’ which comes from a poem and is Afrikaans for “We for thee, South Africa.”
Cenotaph Hall also displays flags of the different Voortrekker Republics, wall tapestries depicting Voortrekker history, plaster models of the marble frieze above, and cases with artifacts from the Great Trek.
Observation Deck
Look up from the Hall of Heroes to see a sky dome with a cupola. The top-level observation deck of the Monument has stone arch hallways and beautiful views of the surrounding area.
Sky Dome
From the observation deck you can walk in the sky dome. Like the Hall of Heroes, the sky dome has a circular opening to peer down through the monument to the cenotaph. A small opening in the cupola at the top of the sky dome is designed to allow a sliver of sunlight into the monument. Every December 16 at noon, the sun shines on the center of the cenotaph.
As for accessibility, there are a lot of stairs up to the monument – 130 steps in total to get from the parking lot to the main entrance. To get from the main level (Hall of Heroes) to the lower level is 38 steps. There are 169 steps from the Hall of Heroes to the top of the monument. However, once you are in the monument you can take a small elevator up or down rather than walking the winding stairwells.
Garden
Between the Monument and the 64-wagon laager is an indigenous garden. You can walk around and get different views of the Monument. We also saw a small lizard on our trip.
There is a curio shop and restaurant about mid-way up the entrance steps to the Monument. It’s a nice place to grab a bite or souvenir on the way out.
Want to learn what else I did the last time I visited Voortrekker? Check out my 2016 Pretoria, Soweto, and Johannesburg blog!
Shredded Tire
As we approached the main gates to leave the Monument, there were cones blocking the exit lane. One of the employees at an entrance gate motioned for us to leave through one of the entrance lanes. As we drove past there was an odd bump. Right after we left the monument, I could feel that something wasn’t right with the car. We pulled over once to check the tires but nothing looked wrong at a cursory glance. Knowing we weren’t in the best part of town, we decided to keep driving and try to find a petrol station or auto shop.
A few minutes later it became apparent that we were not going to make it. The entire car was shaking and so was I. I had to slow down a lot and hope to find a place to pull over since to my left was a long section of guardrail. A car from behind starting honking to get my attention and then pulled in front of me. It signaled to pull over and we finally found a grassy area off a busy section of highway.
Help Arrives
A man named Dom had seen us struggling and wanted to see if he could help. Once we were pulled over, you could see the tire was shredded and we were almost on the rim! There was no place to change the tire and traffic was too hectic to move the car. I called Hertz to report the issue and see if they would send someone to tow the car. Seeing that I was having trouble, Dom offered to talk to the rental company and message with the technician through WhatsApp. He insisted on staying with us until we had a usable vehicle because he didn’t feel right leaving two women alone on the side of the road.
He was a Godsend! I don’t know what we would have done without him. With Dom being so calm and offering suggestions it made the situation way less stressful. After a couple of calls, Dom got Hertz to agree to bring another car and trade us for the car we had been using. That way they could deal with the tire and we wouldn’t have to wait hours and pay the cost of towing.
If you do not have a local phone in the country you are visiting, have an app to make communication easier. Many countries use WhatsApp. I learned from this experience to already have the rental company’s office and roadside assistance number in my contacts. Also, there are often Facebook groups you can join that have WhatsApp numbers to reach out if you find yourself needing help.
While we were waiting, a car with two women stopped at the median three lanes over. They rolled down the window and asked if we were ok. There truly are kind people out there.
Switching Cars
The three of us were on the side of the road for maybe an hour. Since there was no good marker or landmark near us, Dom had to leave at one point to drive to the technician and have him follow Dom back to us. After that it was pretty smooth. We moved our stuff to the new SUV, thankfully the same make and model, and I had to fill out some paperwork on the incident. After that we got the keys for the new vehicle and drove away.
We truly appreciate Dom’s kindness that day from the bottom of our hearts. To him, it was just the right thing to do – but for us it turned a horrible situation into a long-lasting friendship and a reminder to help where we can.
In our new vehicle, we drove to our accommodation. We stayed at the ‘Kingfisher Retreat’ again and I was so glad to go back to a place I felt comfortable after the day we had.
Airbnb – Kingfisher Retreat
2020 Price: $143 for a 3-night stay
Thank you Dom! There is goodness in the world !
Yes! Dom made that entire experience a happy memory about the kindness of strangers. Don’t know how we would have handled it without him.