IN Pretoria Day of the Museums: Natural History & Culture

First stop at 9AM:

1) The National Museum of Natural History was founded as the Staatsmuseum in 1892 and is the oldest in the Country.

The Museum has a vast range of exhibits that including hundreds of taxidermied birds and animals, amazing collections of insects and butterflies, and a valuable geological Collection.

The story of life on Earth and of the unique Geological Foundations of the African Continent are outlined, and the Theory of Evolution is explained in detail, illustrated with fossils of prehistoric creatures that once roamed across South Africa.

One of the key features is the Austin Roberts Bird Hall. Visitors will find an astonishing Collection of 875 species of indigenous Stuffed Birds to South Africa, including eagles, owls and even vultures. Information on the migration, feeding and flight patterns of South Africa’s different bird species can also be studied.

The Museum is used by Researchers from across the Globe to understand the Diversity of Wildlife in Southern Africa.

2) Those wanting to skip the first but join us for the second Cultural Museum visit/tour at 11:30/12PM including San rock paintings and engravings, thousand-year-old Iron Age figurines from Schroda in the Limpopo Province (“the best-known artefacts indicating ritual behaviour in the Early Iron Age”). An exhibition on Marabastad, a once cosmopolitan quarter in the developing city and pottery displays.