Pretoria: The Stately Capital (Tshwane)

Departing from Sun City in the early morning, our first port of call is the Voortrekker Monument where you will be taken on a guided tour, lasting approximately 2 hours. Thereafter, you will be taken to the exquisite 5 Star Sheraton Hotel which overlooks the Union Buildings. After booking in, we will take a stroll to the Union Buildings through the beautifully lawned and landscaped gardens. You will spend the last night of the tour at the Sheraton. Rates include Bed & Breakfast.

Pretoria, the 'Jacaranda City', retains much of the feel of a rural town. During springtime the city is brightened by the more than 70,000 lilac-leafed jacaranda trees. This handsome city is situated in Gauteng, ±50 km north of Johannesburg.

Set on the summit of a hill and overlooking the city, are the Union Buildings, designed by Sir Herbert Baker. It is crescent shaped, built of red sandstone and has beautifully lawned and landscaped grounds.

In 1994 Nelson Mandela was sworn in as President of the new democratic South Africa at a dignified ceremony held in the grounds of the Union Building.

About 3km south of the city centre is the Voortrekker Monument, an austere granite memorial to the Afrikaner. Designed and built to commemorate the Great Trek and particularly, the victory of the Boers over the Zulus in the 1838 Battle of Blood River, it comprises a massive central block ringed by a 'laager' of 64 granite ox-wagons.

The lower of the two halls houses a cenotaph whose inscription is so positioned that sunlight illuminates it on the precise date (16 December) and at the precise time (noon) of the victory.