The Pioneer Yard offers young and old the opportunity to come and experience traditional Afrikaner cultural activities in an exciting, interactive way!

Here we offer customised, educational programs on a daily basis for visiting school groups, as well as enriching, guided tours for families and other local as well as international tourists.

The Pioneer Yard consists of the Living Laager, where traditional Voortrekker activities are illustrated interactively in an ox wagon laager, the Farm Yard, with its cute farm animals that can be pet and fed, and the Pioneer Centre.

The Living Laager offers visitors a unique cultural experience by providing a glimpse into what a day in the life of the Voortrekkers looked like inside a traditional ox wagon laager.

Traditional filter coffee and milk tart over the fire, potjiekos, hand-churned butter, the casting of rifle bullets and other ironwork, whipping and more!

Here we bring history to life!

Make this experience even more special and book your place to spend the night in one of the ox wagons!

Send an e-mail to besprekings@kultuurtuiste.org.za

Here at the Pioneer Yard we have a magnificent farm with Boerperd horses, Shetland ponies, pigs, dwarf goats, Dorper sheep, and various poultry.

Feel free to bring the kids and come and meet our beautiful farm animals!

At the Farm Yard, we like to tell all our visiting friends a little more about our animals and how to care for them, and they also get the opportunity to feed and pet them.

The Pioneer Centre is an interactive discovery center and a treasure trove of valuable additional resources to the current CAPS outcome-based learning themes presented in South African schools.

Original objects, replicas, historical photographs, contemporary visual material and bits of information are used to present educational themes in a creative way for educators and learners.

Here you can also learn how to make a clay brick with which the Voortrekkers built their houses, bake bread in the pioneer way, or come whip like the real Voortrekkers of old!

The Pioneer Centre also houses a permanent model train exhibition, which was launched on 22 September 2022. This exhibition, developed in collaboration with the Northern Transvaal (NTVL) Model Train Club, creates a new opportunity for the monument to not only celebrate our rich cultural heritage, but in the process inspire the youth of South Africa to do the same.

The Model Train Club was founded in 1949, the same year that the Voortrekker Monument was opened. This club came to settle at the Voortrekkermonument to let their love for model trains and the history of South African railways live on here.

Come and visit this beautiful exhibition!

At the Pioneer Yard there is no shortage of fun and excitement! Take a look at all the wonderful activities, programs and packages that are also available for bookings by families, groups of friends and Voortrekker teams.

The Pioneer Yard offers exciting horse rides on a daily basis!

Visitors who have seized this opportunity more than once cannot get enough of the unique perspective they get time and time again of the impressive monument and picture-perfect nature reserve!

Costs: R200 per adult | R100 per child under 18 years
Duration of rides: One hour

Please note: Our guides can accommodate a maximum of four guests at a time, and bookings must be made in advance at besprekings@kultuurtuiste.org.za

Make sure you add this unique experience to your to-do list and book your spot today!

None of these rides would have been possible if it wasn’t for the generous donation of these Boerperd horses that we received from our friends at Mooikrans Opleiding!

Mooikrans Opleiding, an agricultural training institute in Mpumalanga, made a donation of five beautiful Boerperd horses to the Voortrekker Monument in 2022, which enables us to offer these wonderful rides!

Mooikrans offers qualifications in agriculture, equine assisted therapy and equine sciences. Visit their website at www.mooikrans.co.za to find out more!

Do you often wonder before the start of each school holiday how you are going to entertain the kids?

Why not bring them to the Pioneer Yard to take part in our fun holiday programs?

The Pioneer Yard offers fun and exciting pioneer activities during every school holiday!

Each of these programs offers the kids the opportunity to play, laugh a lot and learn about the wonderful culture and heritage of the Afrikaner!

Activities the young ones can look forward to:

• Fun with Boeresport
• Make your own breadsticks
• Prisoner of War Art
• Learn about and feed our cute farm animals
• Horse rides
• Guided walking tours through the Voortrekker Monument Nature Reserve
• Make your own clay ox and ox wagon
• Boer espionage
• Laser tag battle

Make your child’s next birthday an unforgettable one at the Pioneer Yard with our exciting children’s party package!

This offer includes the supply of two steel tables and 15 plastic chairs that can be decorated as desired, and also an exciting activity to choose from, such as horse rides, feeding our cute farm animals or a laser tag battle.

There are two time slots available to choose from:

09:00 to 12:00 and 13:00 to 16:00 – Mondays to Sundays.

Please note: There will be a 30-minute time slot before and after the party for parents to set up and disassemble.

Bring your family or circle of friends and challenge each other in an exciting game of Jukskei!

The Pioneer Yard has three beautiful Jukskei sand pits which are available for use by the public, as well as hosting competitions.

Costs: R50 per adult | R30 per child under 18 years

Please note: Unfortunately, the monument does not provide any skeie at this stage to those interested in playing, so please bring your own skeie.

The Voortrekker Monument offers Voortrekker teams and commandos the opportunity to come and present camps, badges and specialisations at the Pioneer Yard.

Voortrekker officers are welcome to contact us for a complete list of badges that can be offered here.

The Pioneer Yard staff also have the necessary expertise in selected subject areas to be able to provide assistance with the presentation of these specific badges, so feel free to ask us about this as well.

We also have various facilities available for hire, and equipment and meals can also be booked for each event at an additional cost.

The total cost will be determined according to the group’s needs.

Apart from the available expertise and facilities, there is also camping space available on site for those who have to travel far, or who want to stay on site for a weekend to present badges that may take longer.

For any inquiries about our customized educational programs, available packages and other exciting activities at the Pioneer Yard, send us an email. Click on the link below.