Relaxing in Kwazulu-Natal's Drakensberg Mountains

After this month's Process Mineralogy '24 and Critical Minerals '24 conferences, Barbara and I took the morning flight to Durban, rented a car and drove to the Drakensberg Sun Resort in the heart of KwaZulu-Natal's Drakensberg mountains. The Drakensberg Mountains, meaning 'Dragon Mountains' in Afrikaans, are the highest mountains in South Africa, ranging up to 3,482 m (11,422 ft) in height on the border between Lesotho and Kwazulu-Natal. The Drakensberg is part of the Great Escarpment and separates the extensive high plateaus of the South African interior from the lower lands along the coast and is the main watershed of South Africa, the source of the Orange and Vaal Rivers to the west and the Tugela to the east.

The Drakensberg Sun Resort is situated within the beautiful Ukhahlamba Drakensberg Park adjacent to the impressive Cathkin Peak and is a great place to relax and just enjoy the scenery and the many hiking trails. 

Cathkin Peak

Some of the snakes to look out for in the hotel grounds
Can you spot the common error in some of the descriptions?

KwaZulu-Natal is a beautiful province, but it also has much military history, formerly being the British colony of Natal and adjacent Zululand. The province saw some bloody battles in the Anglo-Boer War, and during the Anglo-Zulu war, but prior to these wars, the Boers, trekking from British oppression in the Cape, encountered Zulu armies when trying to head towards the coast. At Blood River a replica laager of 64 life-size bronze wagons stands on the site where on December 16th, 1838, a 464 man-strong Boer commando defeated a Zulu army of between 15,000 and 20,000. The Boers made a solemn vow to God that should they survive the battle, Afrikaners would hold the day sacred in perpetuity. 3000 Zulu, armed only with spears, were killed, and no Boers died, leading to the myth that the Afrikaners were God’s chosen people!

At Blood River in 2006

Forty years later the most humiliating defeat in British military history took place on January 22nd 1879, when virtually an entire force of 1700 men was obliterated at Isandlwana by Zulu warriors armed with spears. The battlefield remains unspoiled and unchanged, apart from the graves of those who died.

Approaching Isandlwana in 2006

Isandlwana

Inspired by their victory, 4000 Zulus, part of a reserve force, launched an attack on the mission station at Rorke’s Drift, across the Buffalo River in Natal. Of the contingent of 139 men at Rorke’s Drift, 35 were seriously ill. The battle raged through the night, until the Zulus retreated at dawn. Only 17 British soldiers died, and 11 VCs were awarded, more than any other battle in history.

Most people have heard of the battle of Rorke's Drift, due to the 1964 film, Zulu, one of the biggest box-office hits of all time in the UK, but Cy Endfield’s film was actually shot 90 miles south-west of Rorke’s Drift in the Royal Natal National Park, a one hour drive from the Drakensberg Sun, with many excellent hiking trails. It was chosen as the location as it had the far more mountainous and picturesque Drakensberg Amphitheatre as a backdrop, rather than the low hills at the real site of the battle.

Rorke's Drift

The movie was shot in the dry season to make use of the deep blue sky contrasting with  the red coats of the British soldiers, but November is the rainy season so when we visited the Royal Natal Park, the Amphitheater was covered in cloud, but the surrounding scenery was nothing less than magnificent.

The 1964 Zulu movie with the Amphitheatre backdrop

Crossing the Tugela River

Although our ancient knees would have precluded us from attempting it even on a clear day, there is a classic hike to the summit of the Amphitheatre from where the Tugela River cascades 948 metres, making the Tugela Falls the world's 2nd tallest waterfall after Angel Falls in Venezuela. However in 2016 a Czech scientific expedition took new measurements, making the falls 983 m and so the world's tallest! Angel Falls, however, is almost universally regarded as having the tallest single uninterrupted drop of any waterfall in the world (the total height of Tugela Falls, even though possibly the tallest on Earth, is divided into five smaller tiers, its tallest individual tier being 411 m.

It was a wonderful day out in the National Park, even if this was the only view that we had from the Tugela River looking towards the Amphitheatre!

If you would like to visit KwaZulu-Natal after an MEI Conference, please contact our conference agent, Rene Simpson (simpsontours@gmail.com), who will organise this for you.

See also Mountains and Battlefields in KwaZulu-Natal