August 14th - Day 11

A nine o'clock start was a real luxury. An hour's drive bought us to the first of the three battle sites we wanted to see, the flat top hill called Spioenkop. The battle was fought between the British and the Boers in January 1900, resulting in a British defeat. It was very sobering to stand in front of the British war memorial to the Royal Lancashire Regiment and see all the English names, so far away from home.

 

Joanna Brown, Mike Johnson and others in front of the war memorial to The Royal Lancashire Regiment at Spioenkop

Just north of Spioenkop is the town of Ladysmith, which became famous in the Boer War for the siege by the Boers of the British which lasted 118 days. Next we drove to the battle site at Rorke's Drift, re-enacted in the famous movie Zulu, starring Michael Caine. Here the battle took place in January 1897 between 390 British troops and four thousand Zulus. The British held out overnight until a relief force arrived. Eleven Victoria crosses were awarded, the most in any battle.

 

War memorial to the British dead at Rorke's Drift with poppy wreathes saying 'Never Forgotten'

Our final site was at Blood River, so named because the river next to the battleground ran red with the blood of the Zulus who were fighting the Voortrekkers, settlers who were moving from the Cape Town area into the interior. This battle took place in December 1838 and 464 Voortrekkers fought between 12,000 and 15,000 Zulus. They formed a circle of 64 wagons and with only three wounded they defeated the Zulus, who lost over 500 men.

 

Wagon memorial at Blood River

The site has the most impressive reconstruction of the wagon circle which was completed in the early seventies. The wagons are like sculptures, made from metal and appear to all intents and purposes to be real thing. To stand in the centre, surrounded by the wagons, is a very moving experience.

A further hour of driving bought us to our overnight stop just south of the town called Vryheid. The day was rounded off by hearing that the de Hullus had sighted the first giraffe!

Tomorrow we cross Swaziland, on our way to the edge of the Kruger National Park.