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| uMlalazi
Municipality |
Contact:
Tel: 035 474 1141
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District Municipality
Contact:
Tel: 035
799 2500
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Prince
Ndabuko
Zulu Experience
Enjoy a traditional Zulu meal and an evening of folklore and story-telling
Contact:
Cynthia Kabanyane
Tel: 035 474 5662
Cell: 083 301 2470
email: cysk1@worldonline.co.za |
COMFORT
TOURS
Reliable
transport in a 22-seater or 13-seater mini-bus
•Airport shuttle
•Battlefield Tours
•Cultural Tours
•Township Tours
•Birding
Contact:
Tel: 035 474 4684
Fax : 035 474 4685
email:
inhlanzeko@telkomsa.net
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HENRY
BIRD
Registered
Tour Guide |
| • Battlefields
• Shaka
Country
• Martyr's
Cross
•
KwaMondi
•
Museum Village |
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A
trip through uThukela Valley and Nkandla
Forest will take you way off the Beaten
Track but it will reward the adventurous
with the most spectacular scenery. The valley
is densely inhabited and its profusion of
traditional Zulu homesteads gives a completely
African touch to the landscape.
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| Often
shrouded in mist, Nkandla Forest with its
deep gorges and steep ridges has always
been a place of mystery, legend and final
refuge. It is one of the most outstanding
examples of surviving mistbelt forest in
South Africa.
It strides the ridge between uThukela and
uMhlatuze rivers at a height of between
1 100 and 1 300 metres above sea level and
the moisture of perpetually drifting mists
maintain the lush understorey of tree ferns
and cycads.
Streams rising in the forest form deep gorges
and there is a waterfall in the Mome Gorge
The Zululand Birding Route links the top
70 birding spots in Zululand into 14 local
routes in three regions. The routes in the
vicinity of Eshowe and Mtunzini form the
southern region.
The Zululand Birding Route also offers an
experienced network of local guides available
for birders to use at very affordable rates.
Not only do these guides assist you with
their excellent observation skills and finding
the 'specials' but also add great value
to any birding outing as well as providing
security and peace of mind when birding
in some more out of the way areas.
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Nkandla Forest
Alberta magna |
King
Cetshwayo's grave near Mome
Gorge |
The
Bhambatha Rebellion
In 1905 the British colonial
authorities imposed a poll
tax of £1 on all adults
in an attempt to boost state
coffers. The Zulu people particulary
resented the move, which they
considered unjust and under
the leadership of Chief Bhambhata
of the Greytown district,
refused to collect or pay
the tax.
When a warrant for his arrest
was issued, he fled and took
refuge in Nkandla Forest.
Colonial regiments pursued
Bhambatha and his followers
and fired shells into the
forest to try and force them
out.
On 10 June 1906 at the Battle
of Mome Gorge about 575 rebels
were killed in a massacre,
including Bhambatha, whose
body was decapitated and his
head taken to Nkandla town
for identification.
The Bhambatha uprising is
considered a forefunner of
the freedom struggle in South
Africa. |
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| To
get to Nkandla travel from the Dlinza Aerial
Boardwalk for |
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The
tracks leading to Ongoye.
The mix of grassland
and forest make Ongoye a top birding and
botanical outing.
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The
beauty of Ongoye Forest is its combination
of textures - the velvet-like grassy hills
fringed by tall dense forest with great granite
domes emerging at random along the ridges.
The 3 900-hectare forest runs for about 10kms
on a high ridge parallel to the ocean and
is about 4kms wide.
Botanically rich as it contains plants from
both the temperate Eastern Cape forests as
well as forests of tropical Africa, Ongoye
is a 'must' for the discerning nature lover.
is best to park outside the forest and walk
along the tracks through the forest.
There are also plans to introduce visitor
facilities and open more hiking trails.
The completion of these projects will make
this beautiful sanctuary a lot more accessible
to visitors. |
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