The Zulu word emthunzini means "a place in the shade" but in the history of this beautiful small coastal town it refers specifically to the place under the milkwood trees near the Umlalazi River where the White Zulu chief, John Dunn, would meet with the tribal elders of the area.
Visiting the town today gives exactly that feeling - a place in the shade.
Blessed with a sub-tropical climate (humid summers and mild winters) and a high annual rainfall, Mtunzini - or The Village, as the locals often refer to it - boasts a clean, safe, peaceful and abundant environment with a stunning outlook over the Umlalazi Nature Reserve and the sea.
Mtunzini was declared a Conservancy in 1995 and has also been awarded for its commitment to the preservation of its natural heritage. A grove of raphia palms beside the railway line is one of the few declared natural monuments in the country and is the best place to spot the rare Palmnut Vulture which nests close to the top of the palm.
The town boasts a variety of leisure activities - including a challenging nine-hole 71 par golf course, fishing, waterskiing, tennis, bowls and horse riding - as well as a range of accommodation establishments and restaurants, making Mtunzini the ideal coastal base for exploring the nearby game reserves and surrounding cultural and historical attractions.

Mtunzini's streets and gardens are graced by an enormous variety of sub-tropical palms but only four species occur naturally on the east coast of South Africa - and if one is prepared to do some hunting, one can find examples of all four in and around Mtunzini.

Young raphia palms line the road to the Raphia Palm Nature Monument.

Two of these - the Wild date palm (Phoenix reclinata) and the Lala palm (Hyphaene coriacea) - occur here naturally and are fairly easy to spot. The Raphia palm (Raphia australis), which has been introduced from Kosi Bay (near the border with Mozambique) prefers swamp conditions and a large colony of these grows beside the railway line near the entrance to the Umlalazi Nature Reserve. The Pondo coconut palm (Jubaeopsis caffra) only grows on two river banks in the Eastern Cape and was introduced to an arboretum established by Dr Ian Garland at Twinstreams, south of Mtunzini. It can be seen on trails around the Twinstreams Environmental Education Centre.
It is, however, the colony of raphia palms to which Mtunzini owes its fame. The original colony was established in the early 1900's as a trial to produce fibre for a broom-making industry. The palms flourished beyond expectation but the leaf fibre proved unsatisfactory and the commercial interest in them faded.
However, the townsfolk remained enthusiastic about 'their' raphia palm and have adopted it and the Palmnut Vulture, which have subsequently begun nesting here, as symbols of the town.
This magnificent palm can grow to a height of 25m and its leaves are amongst the largest in the entire plant kingdom. Their fronds can be seen emerging majestically above the canopy of forests around Mtunzini like plumes of ostrich feathers. Their life cycle is short and the palm dies after flowering and fruiting at about 25 years.
Within each fruit a thin layer of orange flesh covers the seed and this forms an essential part of the diet of the Palmnut Vulture.
A wooden boardwalk allows visitors easy access to the heart of the raphia palm grove where the prime specimens create an awesome cathedral-like effect.