Zoological & Voortrekker Monument
Today we visited the National Zoological gardens and the Voortrekker Monument. The first portion of the day was dedicated to the zoological Gardens. This was an experience because we got to actually see the inner and outer workings of the entire operations of the zoo. We started our day with a breakfast and a meeting the director of the zoo. After the brief meeting we went to a building that contained a doctors office and operating table, a kitchen for all of the dietary needs of each animal and holding pen for animals when they are sick. We also went to the lab on the campus were they studying all types of different aspects of the animal ranging from DNA to the feces. After we took at look at the different mechanisms we started our tour of the Zoo. The zoo was quite large and contained a multi-variety of animals ranging from the “Big Five” to the all different types of birds seals, etc. After finishing up most of the morning at the National Zoological Gardens we drove to the Vootrekker Monument. The Voortrekker Monument is situated in the northern part of South Africa in the Pretoria region in a nature reserve. It is a unique Monument which commemorates the Pioneer history of Southern Africa and the history of the Afrikan. The hard thing about this one particular museum is the way that relations between Zulu and Vootreekers. One has to realize that history is told in the ones who hold the power. The Zulu were defeated in the famous “battle of blood River.” The hard fact to swallow is the way that the Zulu were portrayed, being that they were portrayed as savages and beast.