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Historical South African Areas

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It is quite a journey traveling to South Africa so make the most of your visit while here. After you have enjoyed Silkbush Mountain Vineyards and the South African Wine Country, we suggest you further your adventure to include some wonderful and historic areas of the RSA. Pretoria is an historical, tourist-friendly city in the northern part of the Gauteng Province of South Africa. It is one of the country's three capital cities, serving as the administrative national capital; the others are Cape Town, the legislative capital, and Bloemfontein, the judicial capital. Pretoria is generally regarded as being divided into three sections: west, east and north, relative to the central business district. Pretoria is contained within the City of Tshwane and is sometimes referred to as "Tshwane" due to a long-running and controversial proposed change of name, which has, as of 2014, yet to be decided.

An 18th century wagon peers out over a preserved wetland behind the upscale Irene Country Lodge (and restaurant). In the distance are the red tile roofs of the fast growing subdivisions between Pretoria and Johannesburg to its south. (<a href="http://www.irenecountrylodge.co.za">www.irenecountrylodge.co.za</a>) . Just a few miles away is the humble family home (now a museum) of General Jan Christian Smuts, acknowledged by Cambridge University on its 500th anniversary, as one of the three finest minds who ever attended (along with John Milton and Charles Darwin) and certainly the most accomplished public figure produced in South Africa (1870-1950).

Barely still a working dairy, the historic Irene Dairy Farm has been turned into a first class tourist facility with amenities and well manicured grounds. It is a beautiful, interesting and historical place to visit while in South Africa. The Irene Dairy Farm offers a little something for all visitors; there is the Dairy Shop that sells a decadent thick cream (perfect for afternoon scones) and fresh, raw farm milk. The shop is open year-round. There are also two restaurants that serve a range of freshly made breakfast and lunch dishes. They also host weddings and special events in a 120 year old barn.

These Eland, grazing on a large preserved tract in Pretoria, are one of the surprises tourists will discover in the expansive open land north of Johannesburg. The land was acquired as a watershed by a large utility, and then perimeter fenced, permitting for the introduction of large game animals. There are paved roads which allow visitors to come close to animals if they stay within their vehicles. Groenkloof Nature Reserve is located near the famous Fountains Valley. This valley, on the southern outskirts of Pretoria, was proclaimed a game sanctuary by President Paul Kruger to protect the shy and timid oribi, which previously lived there, and other game that were being wiped out by hunters.

Seldom does a tourist see more of a shy hippo other than their eyes and ears, as hippos prefer to stay submerged in lakes and rivers. So spotting this guy just as a rain squall came down was a real treat. Because of their nature to remain hidden, more people are killed annually by hippos than all other wild animals combined, as boaters inadvertently get between baby hippos and their submerged but highly protective parents.

Located on a hilltop overlooking Pretoria, the Voortrekker Memorial was completed in 1949 as a tribute to the Voortrekkers who brought their culture to the RSA interior. The English had conquered Holland and Napoleon's France by 1815, but their presence really started being felt around 1820 when some 4,000 British settlers arrived in the Cape, motivated by a very severe, post war depression at home. When slavery was abolished in all British colonies in 1833, the friction between the new colonial rulers and the Dutch Boers, who had been in the Cape since 1652, became intolerable. The treks commenced from the Eastern Cape in 1835, and continued until 1838. Your visit to South Africa certainly won't be complete without a visit to this most historic monument.

Protecting the Voortrekker Monument "symbolically" is a laager of 64 ox wagons. Encircling of the covered wagons each night, or "laagering", was a necessary defensive maneuver. It was far easier to protect the perimeter from attacks of native tribes with this procedure, often filling the gaps between wagons with barbed acacia tree branches. The Voortrekkers carried all their worldly possessions and their families in these wagons, most leaving around 1835 from the Great Fish River, the eastern border of the Cape, and proceeding north to the areas know as the Transvaal (across the Vaal River). The Voortrekkers first crossed the plains of the Orange Free State, but considered it an area too close to the Cape government. Therefore, a number dropped down into Natal and ran into the Ndebeles and Zulus.

The order, geometrical precision and symmetry are basic to the design of the Monument, and its massive size and strength are indicative of the resolve of these pioneers. While they had muzzle loading rifles, the Voortrekkers were massively outnumbered by the fierce Ndebele. Nonetheless, these tribes were defeated in 1837 in the battle of Vegkop and they retreated to the north, across the Limpopo, to what is now Zimbabwe. Most of the trekkers and some 1,000 wagons, however, turned eastward, crossed the Drakensberg mountains into the lower lying lands of Natal where negotiations between the Zulu and Governor Piet Retief commenced in February 1838.

Two days after signing a treaty with the Zulus, Retief's 100 men were surprised and beaten to death with sticks and stones. A week later, at Bloukrans and Bushmans River, some 10,000 Zulu warriors attacked unsuspecting Voortrekkers and killed 500 people, predominantly women and children. Subsequently, an Eastern Cape farmer, Andries Pretorius, was elected the replacement leader in Natal. Pretorius set out with 530 men and 64 wagons to do battle with some 12-15,000 Zulus at Blood River. Fighting from a wagon laager and assisted by Ou Grietjie, a small canon, the Afrikaaners prevailed without a single Voortrekker casualty. Accordingly, each year at 12 o'clock on December 16th, the day of the battle, a ray of sunlight falls through the ceiling opening onto the inscription, "We for thee, South Africa." The vow to a Christian God taken by all the men prior to the battle is thus recalled annually.

Another important place to visit while in South Africa is Durban. Durban (in Zulu or "eThekwini" meaning bay or lagoon) is the largest city in the South African province of KwaZulu-Natal. It is also the second most important manufacturing hub in South Africa after Johannesburg. Durban is famous for being the busiest port in all of Africa. It is also one of the major centers of tourism because of the city's warm subtropical climate and extensive beaches.

Durban (formerly called Port Natal) is the center of this eastern province, and the majority Zulu people coexist with descendants of English settlers who started arriving in numbers by the 1830s. Under the former RSA government both groups had to learn Afrikaans in school but there were relatively fewer Boers living in Natal. Outside Durban, most try to make a living farming despite the poor land. The large Donga (a steep ravine created by erosion) is indicative of thin topsoil and overly intensive subsistence farming.

Pictured is the bridge over the Delmhwazine River which is in the Drakensberg Mountains. The Drakensberg Mountains are part of the continuous escarpment that rings the high center plateau of South Africa. These are serious mountains that kept most Dutch settlers on the coastal plain until the early 1800's. In November 2000, the 243,000 hectare Drakensberg Park received the World Heritage Site status, the fourth such in South Africa. It is a beautiful place to visit and not-to-be-missed on your South African adventure.

Injisuthi is a former private camp now part of the Government park service. Guests may stay in older, two-bedroom cabins, their own "caravans," or tents. The unique mountain peak in the center is appropriately known as the Monk's Cowl and is an objective of hardy climbers.

The Plein tree is known as the Sycamore in the US and it drops barbed nuts that are nasty to step on. However, they grow like crazy and provide good shade for non-air conditioned buildings. Accordingly, they are commonly planted in hot African locals.

Here you see theInjisuthi cabins more clearly as well as the fast running Injisuthi river. The trout fishing is quite good here. The white splash on the mountains in the distance is a rock landslide from years ago.

The Injisuthi camp managers were an Indian couple making a career of park management, but all the workers under them were Zulus who lived next to the camp in permanent quarters. The rondavels are traditional houses for numerous African tribes, but especially the Zulus.

Hiking is the predominant activity for Injusuti guests as there are wonderful trails and sights everywhere. However, one had best be fairly fit, as even the more gentle trails are a strenuous workout.

The climb up Monk's Cowl is spectacular. Most Drakensberg climbers are experienced back-packers who spend days in the mountains and carry their own light-weight tents and provisions.

There are many varieties of beautiful Proteas in the Drakensberg Mountains. Many are harvested commercially and exported to Europe, but not from the South African provincial and national parks.

Here is a Protea flower just entering bloom. The King Protea (Protea cynaroides) is the national flower of South Africa. It is only one of around 2000 species of the Protea family, an astonishingly diverse array of plants, also known as sugarbushes. They can range from ground-creeping shrubs to trees, but all have leathery leaves and thistle-like flowers from tiny red blooms to great furry pink and black globes.

The tent campers' section is left of the buildings area; the Zulu rondavel housing is behind the area with the cabins.

Injisuthi is located at the Confluence of Two Rivers.

The two prior photos were taken from the highest point you can see in this shot. While the view was really worth the effort, it was an extremely strenuous climb, not a "hike" in any sense of the word, toward the Champagne Castle. The Champagne Castle is a 4-star hotel situated within the "uKhahlamba" Drakensberg Park and is considered to be in the finest location in the entire Drakensberg range.

Here is Silkbush Founder, Dave Jefferson, starting to realize that he is not a kid and not fit enough! Note the beautiful Proteas bush behind him.

This concrete bridge was the best part of the otherwise dirt road. You will cross several creeks between here and the main highway in a rental car holding your breath each time. If you get stranded in the Injisuthi Valley, and out of cell phone range, you may have a very long day or night ahead of you.

About four plus hours drive to the east was the next objective: the battlefields of Isandlwana and Rorke's Drift. Isandlwana was the first battle of the Anglo-Zulu War of 1879, and a very sad day in English military history. Much to the surprise of the English, who invaded Zululand from Natal to "disband the Zulu army," the Zulus won.

While this area is a full day's drive from the main coastal city of Durban, many visitors from South Africa, Britain, and elsewhere come here annually. The battle fought here has been studied by war historians world wide ever since. The Zulus, on foot, only had spears and swords; the English army had repeating rifles and pistols, and many mounted men. The English were of the opinion they would have to force the Zulus to fight them!

In Isandlwana, most of the battle was fought on the slopes leading to the mount, where the English were camped. The day of the battle, the main force left over 1700 troops to guard the camp, and marched off well before dawn some 13 miles to where it was believed the Zulus were camped.

The Isandlwana Lodge was built in 1999 and is a beautiful structure. Anyone considering visiting here should review their website: http://www.isandlwana.co.za. The attractive rooms are large, designer grade, and the food is super, AND they soon will be carrying Silkbush Pinotage!

This photo shows more of the external traditional design of the 12-guestroom lodge. The lodge is built onto a steep iNyoni cliff on which the commander of the Zulu army directed his warriors' attack. The British were invading Zululand and did not know the territory well enough, or sufficiently respect their opponent.

The cliff is steep and building the lodge presented significant hydrological problems to solve. If they did not provide adequately for runoff, the lodge could easily become a reservoir and flood the lower rooms.

You can see the lodge's pool in the distance. When the battle took place, January 22, 1879, starting about noon, the local temperature was reportedly well over 108 degrees Fairenheit (42 Celsius). There was no pool then to cool off!

Pat Stubbs, an American entrepreneur, is a gracious, mature and very determined woman. She and another American woman put up the money to build this impressive facility. One of their objectives was to employ local Zulus and celebrate their culture. It has been a bigger challenge than they anticipated. But having former US President Jimmy and Rosalyn Carter as guests for four nights and the growing allegiance of other bird watchers evidently makes up for a lot.

Every day in Isandlwana seems to have a different personality, and this one was especially eerie. The rolling hills and high cliffs of Natal are fascinating, but in 1879 they proved fatal. The main English military body rode and hiked off in a SE direction to where they had been, but the Zulu army had run almost 20 miles overnight to a Northern position blocked from sight by the cliff on which the Isandlwana Lodge now sits.

By dawn the main English fighting force had already left camp, leaving behind 1774 men to guard their tents, wagons, and supplies. Unfortunately, this was before scout airplanes and observation balloons. What the General Lord Chelmsford did not know was that there were about 25,000 Zulu warriors sitting silently out of sight just a couple of miles over the hills to the north.

Of the 1774 men left behind, 1329 were dead when the main force returned about 6:00pm. The 400+ that survived (mainly conscripted Natal natives) had made a run to save their lives before the battle started, and had gotten over the Mzinyathi river (at Fugitives' drift) before the Zulus killed them off. Isandlwana is known as the greatest defeat of the English army during the reign of Queen Victoria.

This is where the army was camped, with ox drawn wagons of ammunition and supplies. Perhaps because the land is so rocky, the weather so hot, or their stay to be brief, the English did not dig trenches or erect defensive walls. In fact they were breaking camp to move when the attack began. All catastrophic blunders, as the Zulus took no prisoners, immediately disemboweling any remaining wounded.

According to many Zulu eyewitnesses, the final group of troops to fall was commanded by Capt. Young-Husband. High on the mount, surrounded by thousands of Zulus, and out of ammunition, he was seen to shake hands with each of his 14 remaining men before the final charge of warriors began. The Zulus were very impressed with the bravery displayed. Accordingly, the simple small memorial carries the inscription in Zulu, English, and Afrikaans.

When the burial party interred the dead months later, the remains of the English soldiers were buried in mass graves, marked with rock cairns. The larger the cairn, the more bodies below.

What a lonely desolate place to fight and die for only the hubris of the British Empire... Historians estimate roughly the same number of Zulus or more died that day, or soon afterwards, of wounds and while the war continued for another six months, the Zulu leaders already suspected their final defeat could not be avoided.

The sole memorial for the Zulu fallen is this massive iron necklace erected a few years ago. Standing in front of the Zulu Necklace Memorial is tour guide, Rob Gerrard, an outstanding lecturer with a photographic memory. Formerly an officer in the Gordon Highlanders, he makes all the events vividly come alive.

Not 20 miles away to the West and just across the Mzinyathi (Buffalo) River lay the small Swedish missionary community of Rorke's Drift. The safe river crossing (a drift) had been established by an Irish settler, who gotten along fine with the Zulus living peacefully across the river. James Rorke, a hard drinker, was long gone by the time of the battle, however, as he had committed suicide years before.

The low stone wall is emblematic of the wall hastily erected by some 139 British troops (including 36 sick or wounded before the battle began!) with corn meal bags. They were attacked by a division of about 4,500 reserve Zulu troops in the late afternoon of day of the battle of Isandlwana. These Zulus had been told by their commander to kill any soldiers fleeing from Isandlwana but not to cross the river into Natal (from Zululand). But they thought they could mop up the few remaining Brits and get a bit of honor in the process.

The battle at Rorke's drift lasted 11.5 hours through the night. Unbeknownst to the Zulus when they left at daybreak, the defenders had exhausted all but the final few hundred rounds of ammunition. The Zulus had lost perhaps 600 hundred dead, the British but 17. More Victoria's Crosses, 11, and Distinguished Conduct Medals, 5, were awarded to the heroes than from any other battle in the history of England. (The 1964 movie Zulu, starring Michael Cain, is a decent reenactment of the event.)

On our way to visit Spioenkop, scene of an important battle in the Anglo-Boer War of 1899-1901, we startled this kudu. Protected from hunting, the kudus can range freely on the sides of this low mountain. There are other large nature and game parks in Natal, however, for respectively conservation and hunting enthusiasts alike.

The Second Boer War, as it is also called, started in 1899 when the Boers decided to resist expanded English domination. The First Boer War the Boers had won in 1881 after a couple of skirmishes with the Brits. Thereafter, the English had allowed the Boers to retain their dominion over the Transvaal and Orange Free State republics. But as the extent of the gold and diamond discoveries became known, England coveted the rich area inland of their coastal South African colony.

This modern "Spioenkop Dam" was built many years after the early battle between the Dutch commandos and the English army. The English were attempting to secure the Dundee coal fields of Natal not far away, and the Boer horsemen had come from the Transvaal over the Drakensberg Mountains looking for a fight. The Boers were on top of the hill, and the English climbed the ridge at night; the battle started at dawn.

Neville, well in to his 70's and a Zulu-fluent, former farmer in Natal, is now a professional guide. He was superb, describing how the Boer riflemen and artillery cut down the unprotected British and forced their retreat. This, however, proved to be one of the few Boer victories in a futile war.

A one-day battle was fought over rural real estate soon to be abandoned by both. The euphoria of the Afrikaners was soon replaced with the depressing inevitability of English victory. The guerrilla war dragged on for three years, and the English prevailed, partly because many of the Afrikaners' families were removed from their farms and incarcerated in tented prisons in the first use of "concentration camps." Thousands of women and children died of disease rampant in these prison camps authorized by Queen Elizabeth.

Silkbush Founder Dave Jefferson went to visit the battlefields of the Zulu and Boer wars to understand better the history of South Africa. However, understanding the events and inevitability of these imperial wars does not decrease the tragedy which occurred just 100-125 years ago. The suffering on all sides was certainly no less anguishing than in any other colonial war, before or since. These sites are important for you to visit to gain a fuller understanding of South African History.

SOUTH AFRICA VINEYARD OFFICE: PO Box 91, Breerivier 685, Western Cape, RSA
Tel: (27) 083-629-1735 or email: [email protected]
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USA OFFICE: Public Relations, Social Media & Marketing: Lisa O’Connor Email: [email protected]