The Battlefields (Kwa Zulu)  Continued

Fugitives Drift and the grave site lie on private property, a lodge, but the owners kindly allow tourists to visit the site free of charge. We didn't realised it but it was 5.30pm by the time we arrived at the security gate so we were expecting to be turned away however when we said to the watchman we wanted to see the graves he just waved us through.

We had no idea where the graves where so we headed to the lodge for directions. Initially it seemed deserted but eventually a white girl came out to meet us expressing surprise we had got through the gate as they don't normally let visitors in after 5pm as it takes a while to get to the graves. However, as we were here we could go but we must ensure we returned to the lodge to pick up a key to the security gate otherwise we would be locked in for the night, it wasn't clear how we would return the key but we thought we would worry about that later!

It was nearly 6pm by the time we arrived at the grave site and parked up. The site is on a very lonely and poignant spot sited halfway up a hill looking back over the Buffalo river and Fugitives Drift (ford to us Brits).

The graves mark the spot where the two young Lieutenants had reached before being discovered and killed by the pursuing Zulu's.  As we climbed the hill and got near to the spot we were very surprised to hear voices and found a group of up market tourists there on a guided walk from the lodge.

Their guide, who also happened to be the owner of the Lodge, looked mildly bemused by the sudden appearance of two complete (scruffy) strangers on his property, especially so late in the day, however realising we were foreigners he warmly welcomed us and told us to take as long as we like as he herded his clients off to see something else.

So far on the trip we have found the vast majority of people of all races in South Africa to be most helpful and welcoming and  he proved to be no exception.

The next day we left Dundee en route to Johannesburg, where we would stay with an old friend from our Botswana days, first however we went over to visit Rorke's Drift which we missed yesterday. Having watched the movie Zulu many times we were looking forward to Rorke's Drift but it turned out to be a bit of a disappointment. It has none of the atmosphere of history that pervades Isandlwana although it didn't help that the local running club was holding a half marathon there that day!  

The buildings unfortunately are not the originals but rebuilt from the originals however you can get a feel for the place and what is surprising is how small the total area is as the film depicts it as being much larger. However, it is worth a visit if your ever in the area.

We finally left for Joburg at 12.30pm, the trip up there was long and pretty uneventful finally arriving at our friend Carol's place in Sandown at about 6pm. We hadn't seen Carol and her daughter Tanya for over 6 years so it was good to meet up with them again.

The next week would be spent recovering and re-organising in readiness for the next stage of our trip through Swaziland.

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