Vryheid

Vryheid is a fairly large town in the interior of Zululand in northern KwaZulu-Natal. It is near the site of one of the most infamous battles of the Zulu-Boer War, the Battle of Blood River. . Vryheid was also involved in the Anglo-Boer war of 1899 and prior to that war, in 1884, it had been the capital of the Nieuwe Republiek (New Republic). After the second Boer War in 1900 the town was incorporated into Natal. It is therefore one of the most interesting towns on the Battlefields Route.

The town is named after the Afrikaans word for ‘freedom’ and is home to some of the most interesting buildings in the country. The Old Raadsal (Old Council Chambers) and the Lucas Meyer House (president of the Nieuwe Republiek) are two of the most iconic buildings that remain from the Anglo-Boer War.

It is now the centre of a rich beef farming area as well as being surrounded by plantations of wattle and other timber. It is also the centre of one of the major coal mining areas in South Africa. The area is the source of four major rivers, the Pongola, the White and the Black Mfolozi and the Mkhuze and the resulting wetlands are of major importance to the ecology of the region. It is one of the best bird watching areas in the province and there are a number of nature reserves such as the Klipfontein Dam Nature Reserve (also a bird sanctuary) and the Vryheid Hill Nature Reserve surrounding the town.

Getting there: from Durban take the N3 to Ladysmith and then the R602 to Dundee where you take the R33 to Vryheid.