Beyond the sugar cane – Kwazulu-Natal Route 66
Text and Pictures: Andrea Abbot
Source: This article is taken from the September 2011 issue of Country Life Magazine.
Hidden behind the relentless sugar cane fields of Zululand lie all sorts of interesting attractions – especially along Route 66.
Whizzing along the N2 from Durban to the world famous game parks of KwaZulu-Natal, tourists often ask what’s inland of the highway. ‘Sugar cane,’ comes the invariable answer: Satisfied, the visitors then focus on the road ahead, excited about encountering the Big Five in, say, Hluhluwe-iMfolozi or Phinda.
Meanwhile, away to their left once you cross the Tugela River stretches an area jampacked with a different Big Five (six, if you count the sugar cane) – epic battlefields, religious missions, different cultures, exceptional biodiversity and, as in many other places, goodly doses of political intrigue. Each is a component in a rich and complex heritage that has shaped much of present day southern Africa.
You might be thinking of the battlefields route around Ladysmith, Colenso, Dundee and Volksrust, and indeed that is part of the bigger picture.
But there’s another route, one which takes you through the heart of the Zulu Kingdom.
It’s the Zululand Heritage Route, otherwise known as Route 66 after the main road through the region, linking the towns of Gingindlovu, Eshowe, Melmoth, Ulundi, Nongoma and, eventually, Pongola.
Although not yet immortalised in song as the famous but largely defunct American Route 66 was, Zululand’s Route 66 is also studded with reminders of the past.
But whereas in the American case the reminders are largely of a benign nature – wigwam-shaped motels, drive-in theatres and the first fast-food outlets – in our Route 66’s case they’re of bloody conflict, from the tribal wars of the early 1800s to the Voortrekker-Zulu War of 1838, the Anglo-Zulu War from 1878 to 1879, and the Bhambatha Rebellion (against colonial British rule) of 1906. But there are also benign, if not downright fabulous, attractions along the way, for the violent past played out against a backdrop of outstanding natural beauty that is often still largely intact.
Route 66 begins at the Dokodweni toll plaza on the N2 north of Durban, from where it climbs up towards Zululand’s oldest town and one-time capital, Eshowe. The route is scenic and takes you past sugar cane fields and through rolling hills dotted with traditional settlements and the ubiquitous goats.
So steep are the slopes in places that you have to marvel at the fitness of the soldiers on both sides in the Anglo-Zulu War who had to tackle them on foot.
The first engagement of the war took place on this section of the Route in January 1879 when a Zulu impi ambushed a British column marching on Eshowe under Colonel Charles Pearson at the Inyezane River.
The next clash occurred at Gingingdlovu in April of the same year when the Zulus attacked a column under Lord Chemlsford on its way to relieve Colonel Pearson’s force, now besieged by the Zulu in Fort Eshowe.
The said Fort Eshowe consisted, in essence, of earthen ramparts around an abandoned Norwegian mission station, kwaMondi, founded in 1869 by the Reverend Ommund Oftebro. The story of the Norwegian missionaries, and most notably their pioneer, the stern Rev Hans Schreuder is contained within a reconstructed chapel at the Fort Nongqayi Museum Village in Eshowe.
Fort Nongqayi itself was built in 1883 to house the barefoot Nongqayi police. It’s now a museum showcasing Zululand’s past. Also in the Village is the Vukani Cultural Museum, which contains an internationally famous collection of traditional and modern Zulu craftwork, most notably exquisite basketry and pots. Forget the average bread basket or grass mat – think instead of real art. If you’re lucky, Edna Grace, an extraordinarily enthusiastic tour guide, will be on duty to help you fully appreciate the skill behind these crafts.
Dosed up on the history and cultural side of things, you might now be in need of a taste of the area’s natural heritage. You’ll find this just a stroll away in the pristine Dlinza Forest, where an aerial boardwalk allows you to be Tarzan without the swinging and hollering. If you have a head for heights, climb up to the 20-metre high observation platform for the ultimate sundowner site above the tree canopy.
Other unspoilt indigenous forests in the Eshowe region include Ntumeni Nature Reserve and Nkandla Forest, one of the most outstanding examples of surviving mist belt forest in South Africa.
In the same area is the remote Mome Gorge, scene of the massacre which precipitated the end of the Bhambatha Rebellion.
Back on Route 66, you drive through the one-time ‘gold rush’ town of Melmoth and on to Mtonjaneni, where the British troops camped before and after the Battle of Ulundi, which ended the Anglo-Zulu War At Nico Harris’s Mtonjaneni Lodge there’s a private museum containing many artefacts recovered from the battlefields.
Nico farms with, inter alia, Nguni cattle and, as an authority on these animals, contributed to Marguerite Poland’s book The Abundant Herds.
Below the lodge is Dingane’s Spring, to which young women trekked every morning before sunrise from the royal kraal at far-off Mgungundlovu to fetch the King’s water for the day. One theory is that he feared an enemy might poison rivers closer to home.
Mgungundlovu lies within the eMakhosini Ophate Heritage Park. Covering 30 000 ha of unspoilt hills and valleys rich in biodiversity the park incorporates the Ophathe Game Reserve and eMakhosini, or Valley of the Kings, the ancestral burial ground of the early Zulu rulers, including Shaka’s father, Senzangakhona, the progenitor of the Zulu nation. At the multimedia centre you’ll learn more about Zulu history through audio-visual presentations and tapestries in the Hall of Kings.
A viewing tower looks out towards Dingane’s partially rebuilt royal kraal. Turn around and you’ll see a monument to Piet Retief and his 70 followers, who were killed on Dingane’s orders after he’d signed an agreement granting the Voortrekkers land concessions.
This led ultimately to one of the most pivotal battles in South African history, the Battle of Blood River/Ncome.
It’s almost ironic that these salutes to heroes who were once bitter enemies are found within the same heritage park.
But it shows just how far we’ve come as a nation and underscores a new and, hopefully, more peaceful heritage in the making.
Next stop is Ulundi, the on-off, on-off capital of KwaZulu-Natal where the modern government building seems to be the mainstay of the local economy. An airport that in the halcyon days of the would-be ‘First City’ ferried dignitaries to and from the other capital, Pietermaritzburg, is rarely used now, but there are plans to re-establish a regular service between the two centres.
Ulundi is famous not only for political machinations but also as the scene of the final battle of the Anglo-Zulu War; when 5 000 British soldiers equipped with superior weaponry defeated 20 000 Zulus in under 45 minutes.
Another cruel battle that occurred in the vicinity took place in 1818 at Gqokli Hill, this time between Shaka and the leader of the Ndwandwe clan, Zwide. Although Shaka’s forces were heavily outnumbered, they triumphed. Years of tribal conflict followed which ultimately saw Shaka ruling over most of present-day KwaZulu-Natal and parts of the Eastern Cape.
Beyond Ulundi, Route 66 takes you to the recreated residence of King Cetshwayo at Ondini and to Nongoma, seat of the current Zulu monarch, King Goodwill Zwelethini.
If you don’t want to continue on to Pongola, where you’ll find what’s arguably the oldest game reserve in Africa and the second oldest in the world, turn right at the R618 and you’ll end up at last in Hluhluwe-iMfolozi Park It’s a superb Big Five game reserve, brimming with history too.
But, as your Route 66 detour will have revealed, game parks – along with sugar cane – aren’t all there is to the heart of Zululand.
Travel
Nkandla and Ntumeni Forests.
These are best seen with a guide.
Contact the Zulu land Birding Route 035 753 5644,
Dlinza Forest 035 474 4029, website
Nyezane Battlefield, Fort Eshowe,
Gingindlovu Battlefield and Fort Nongqayi Museum Village 035 474 2281
Mome Gorge (visits possible only with a tour guide and tribal permission) 035 474 1141
Mtonjaneni Lodge 035 450 0904, website
eMakhosini Opathe Heritage Park 035 870 5000 website
Ondini Cultural Museum 035 870 2052
Ulundi Battlefield 035 870 2052
For other attractions along Route 66 website
More info on the town of Ulundi | More info on the Zululand area |
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