MOUNTAINS AND BATTLES
Paul Ash explores two fascinating KwaZulu-Natal attractions
THE southern and western parts of the province are famous for two things — the Drakensberg and the battlefields of the Anglo-Zulu and Anglo-Boer wars.
Both offer absorbing travel, the ’Berg for relaxing in spectacular surroundings; the battlefields for a look into this country’s tempestuous history.
Two hills are the centre of battlefield tourism here. One, shaped like a crouching lion — or a sphinx — looms rockily above the Isandlwana plain; the other is Spionkop — two small hills rising to a flat rump with a steep face looking down upon a lazy river.
Isandlwana is the site of a great Zulu military victory, where the pride of King Cetshwayo’s regiments smashed through a ring of red-coated British soldiers on a hot day in January 1879.
At Spionkop — “Spy Hill” — hundreds of British soldiers fell during a bitter night during the Anglo-Boer War in January 1900.
South Africa has many battlefields worth visiting but Isandlwana and Spionkop are two of the most evocative and atmospheric. When the mist shrouds Isandlwana, you can see how the Welsh soldiers, whose sphinx cap badge looked eerily like that mountain, would have seen it as a bad omen.
When the wind sighs through the grass on Spionkop, and the jackals are calling in the dusk, you may feel a chill settle on your skin.
To get the most out of both battlefields, you need a guide who knows the history and can tell a good story.
There are many guides leading tourists around Isandlwana and nearby Rorke’s Drift where the battle continued that night, but who better to hear the story from than a relative of one of the great Zulu generals who fought that day? Lindizwe (Dalton) Ngobese is the great-grandson of Mehlokazulu of the iNgobamakhosi Regiment, which formed part of the left horn of the Zulu advance.
Dalton is based at Isandlwana Lodge, a community-run hotel — built in the shape of a Zulu shield — that overlooks the battlefield and its brooding mountain. His tours cover the battlefield and traditional Zulu culture.
At Spionkop, the guide to have is Raymond Heron, owner of nearby Spionkop Lodge, who leads daily tours up the mountain. His stories about the battle include the little ones that say so much, like the one about the grieving mother who brought a cedar tree sapling all the way from England by ship to plant on her son’s grave. More than a century later, despite having been struck by lightning numerous times, the tree still guards the soldier’s grave.
DETAILS: Lindizwe Ngobese, Isandlwana Lodge,tel: 034 271 8304, e-mail lindizwe.ngobese@gmail.com or see www.isandlwana.co.za. Raymond Heron, phone 036 488 1404, email spionkop@futurenet.co.za or see www.spionkop.co.za