13 April 2018

Paranormal Pretoria

By In Travel

The spooky side of Pretoria

 

Pretoria isn’t necessarily well known for ghost hunting, but it definitely has its fair share of scary stories and haunted places. Our ever inquisitive nature forced us to do our own paranormal investigation and it left us with more than just some goosebumps.

The CBD is full of empty buildings, somewhat ironic and a little sad. From abandoned government offices to controversial rundown residential blocks, this is the stuff ghost stories are made of. Although no official reports have been confirmed, our favourite is the old Transvaal Provincial Administration building. Situated behind the old Capitol theatre, which is definitely haunted, this huge office block will give anybody the shivers. Not to mention the 3 story basement of which one floor used to be the old government archives.  

Haunted Hotels

For reasons unknown the spirit world seems to favour old hotels across the world. Pretoria’s Victoria hotel is no exception, known for its paranormal activity, built in 1880 you can just imagine all the ghosts wandering around here. Alfie, one of the regulars, is a little boy who is always up to mischief and loves to play pranks on people in the hotel.

Pretoria Station is situated just across from the hotel and reports have been made of an enraged armed soldier with eye sockets full of fire, walking towards the hotel in search of a lost love.  

Situated to the East of the Pretoria Gautrain Station, the Belgrave hotel is another blip on the ghostbuster radar. The resident ghost takes the form a young girl who was apparently murdered in the hotel years ago. Despite being revamped recently and definitely being a good spot for a beer or two, we’d be careful to stay too long after dark.

 

More Spooky spots

  • Ou Raadzaal, Church square
  • Old State Museum, Next to the Pretoria Zoo
  • Erasmus Castle, Erasmuskloof
  • Smuts house, Irene

A Haunted Night Out

If your inner ghost hunter has been awakened, Pretoria actually has its own “Spookbus” this is not your normal Saturday night out on the town, but if you are looking for something different then they have you covered.

Part ghost stories, part production the evening consists of a bus tour around Pretoria stopping at some of the spookiest places with running commentary by author and host Jaco Hough-Coetzee. Without giving anything away we visited an actual crematorium, yes cringe now. *The tour is scheduled monthly and presented in Afrikaans so if you cannot understand, we’d recommend you take a local with to translate. It normally starts around 7pm and lasts 4.5 hours. More info here. 

 

Written by The Louwkuls

a guy, a girl & an old land rover

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