Monday morning after we left our homestay and had a reflection session, we hit the road for Pretoria which is the capital of South Africa.  Pretoria is much smaller than Johannesburg, but quite beautiful.

Tuesday morning we first visited the Voortrekker Monument.  It is a very large dedication to the Voortrekkers, who were Dutch colonists that decided to leave the cape for the interior of the country when they got fed up with the British presence.  They encountered numerous challenges and especially clashed with the Zulus.  The monument is 40 meters high and 40 meters wide and sits on top of a hill overlooking the city.

Next up was Freedom Park which sits about 2 hilltops away from the first monument.  The park is still under construction, but what is done so far is a beautifully designed dedication to the past struggle and present freedoms of all peoples in South Africa.  From the highest point in the park we could see many important representations of the new South Africa.  The Voortrekker Monument could be seen in the distance as well as two different forts, downtown Pretoria, and two universities.  It is peaceful and symbolic and looks like it will be even more impressive when the work is done.

We finished our day with a stop at the U.S. Embassy.  We spoke with two women who are career foreign service officers about their jobs and the embassy’s role in South Africa.

This morning we got up too early to get to the airport and fly to NAMIBIA!  I was very ready for this.  South Africa was more wonderful than I could have imagined, but I was ready to stop living out of a suitcase and start settling down a little.  Of course, these next 3 months are still filled with travel and sight-seeing and homestays, but now we at least have a constant place to call home here in Windhoek.  The drive from the airport was beautiful; very stereotypical Africa.  Rolling hills of green with small trees and bushes and some mountains in the distance.  We sounded super touristy when we all yelled in excitement about the baboons and giraffes we saw on the side of the road!  I’m so happy to finally be here!

I wanted to post pictures in the last post, but I ran out of internet time.  However, now that we’re in our house I have lots of free internet!  So go check out my Picasa to catch up my South African adventures!