Karoo koppies

The Karoo landscapes are beautiful and always give you something new to photograph.  Driving back from Gauteng I stopped for a quick break outside Steynsburg and snapped this farm gate with Karoo koppies in the background.

These specific Karoo koppies in question are Koffiebus (Coffee pot) and Teebus (Tee pot).

Union Building Gardens

The Union Buildings are surrounded by beautifully terraced gardens of indigenous plants as well as various monuments and a 9,000 seat amphitheatre.  On our visit the roses were in full bloom, the weather nice and warm and people were just relaxing all over the gardens.

The lawn in front of the Union Buildings are often the location for public gatherings, whether they be protest or celebration, such as the presidential inauguration.  In 1915 there was a march of Afrikaner women to the Union Buildings to ask for the revision of prison sentences for those who rebelled against the government’s decision to take part in the First World War.  Forty years later, in 1956, some 20 000 women, protesting against apartheid laws, undertook a procession to the Union Buildings to hand over a memorandum to Minister J.G. Strijdom.  Probably one of the biggest events, if not the biggest, to be held in front of the Union Buildings was the inauguration of South Africa’s first democratically elected President, Nelson Mandela in 1994.

The gardens have several monuments scattered all over.  These include the South African Police Memorial, the Delville Wood War Memorial, a plaque in memory of those that died during the Korean War and a statue to President J.B.M. Hertzog.

Standing at the bottom of the gardens is a large statue of General Louis Botha on horseback. Gen Botha was the first Prime Minister of the Union of South Africa.  There was a plan to have a statue of Nelson Mandela, the first democratically elected president of South Africa, erected somewhere on the grounds as well, but this was changed and the intended statue was put up in Nelson Mandela Square in Sandton, Johannesburg. 

Union Buildings

The Union Buildings on Meintjieskop in Pretoria is the official seat of the South African government and also house the offices of the President of South Africa.  The Boer Republics of the ZAR (Transvaal) and the Orange Free State united with the Cape Colony and Natal Colony in 1910 to for the Union of South Africa.  Pretoria was selected as the administrative capital of the Union.

The cornerstone of the building with its two identical wings was laid in November 1910, shortly after the Union of South Africa was formed. Hence the name Union Buildings.  It took 1,265 workers over three years to build the structure.  The two wings at the sides served to represent the union of a formerly divided people and was again relevant in 1994 with democracy coming to South Africa.

The two cannons standing outside the Union Buildings overlooking the gardens are 40-pounder RML field carriages.  The guns were navel guns that were mounted on carriages by the British forces during the Anglo Boer War (1899 - 1902) and accompanied the British siege train to South Africa.  Although intended to, they were not required for the expected siege of Pretoria, which did not eventuate.

Also standing joust outside the Union Buildings overlooking the gardens is a war memorial commemorating those who died during the First World War.  The monument is a replica of the monument that stands in the war cemetery in Delville Wood in France.  There is also a replica in Cape Town in the Company Gardens.

British Troop Train

On the way up the hill to Fort Klapperkop and the SA National Defence Force Memorial outside Pretoria stand an old steam locomotive.  This specific locomotive was amongst others used over 100 years ago during the Anglo Boer War (1899 - 1902) to carry British troops and supplies from the coast to where the war was taking place in the interior of South Africa.

Van Stadens Wild Flower Reserve

The Van Stadens Wild Flower Reserve is situated about 40 kilometers west of Port Elizabeth.  The reserve is 450 hectares in size and includes both pristine fynbos along the plateau and coastal forest in the gorge.  There are several hiking trails through the reserve and one of them will take you to the spot from where the Van Stadens Bridge is visible.  One of the magnificent flowers that grow in the reserve is the King Protea, South Africa's national flower.

Soldier statue silhouette

The silhouette of the South African Nation Defence Force Memorial at Fort Klapperkop outside Pretoria

Visit Skywatch for more pictures of the sky

South African National Defence Force Memorial

The South African Defence Force Memorial is situated just outside the entrance to Fort Klapperkop in Pretoria. The memorial was unveiled on May 31 1979 and includes a statue of a soldier holding a R1 rifle, in memory of all members of the South African Defence Force who lost their lives serving their country. The individuals who have lost their lives are honored with an inscription on a number of marble plaques mounted around the statue.