Fugitives Drift was established by David Rattray along with his wife Nicky and built an excellent lodge for travellers and tourists to indulge in this fantastic story. Sadly, in January 2007, David was murdered by an intruder but Fugitives Drift is a fantastic legacy to something he founded with his wife Nicky and it still continues today. Rob Caskie has taken over as the lead guide. Like David, Rob speaks fluent Zulu, understands the history inside out and is perhaps the best orator I've ever heard.
The two battles that I was fascinated with were the battle at Isandlwana where the Zulu army wiped out around 1,300 British troops on 22nd January 1879. Later on that day, a lesser force of Zulus who missed out on the action at Isandlwana, wanted their chance and so against orders, they attacked Rorke's Drift. The defensive action went down in the history of the British Army as amongst it's most amazing battles which saw eleven Victoria Crosses awarded. About 140 British troops struggled with close to 4,000 Zulus in a fight that raged all night.
My stay at Fugitives Drift started with the afternoon excursion to the Rorke's Drift site. It is a few miles from the Lodge and we started off going round the museum that was hospital building at the time of the battle. As with many battlefield museums, there are a variety of artefacts from the battle (rifles, bullets, buckles, spears etc) and yet the most striking item I saw was a model of the battleground. It depicted the latter stages of the fight when the hospital had been cleared out and the British were defending the store behind their stacks of mealie sacks. The model revealed a small number of red coated troopers surrounded on all sides by Zulus several deep and it was the very first time I'd really had the opportunity to visualise the battle properly. All the movies and pictures I've seen in the past were in most cases close ups with a few individuals yet this model gave a comprehensive image that was quite frankly, shocking.
To help holidaymakers and visitors picture the layout, there are lines of stones marking where the defensive lines were. Rob started the tale explaining what Rorke's Drift was and the reasons why it was assaulted. He made you understand there was so much more to the battle than just a fight between black and white, British redcoat against Zulu warrior. In all, the tour was around 3 hours and all of us merely sat enjoying this wonderful story teller recounting the events of 22nd January 1879.
Back at the lodge, I freshened up in my superb room. It truly was a shame I couldn't spend longer there since it was so comfortable but it was time for refreshments just before dinner so I made my way to the dining room. The room is much like a museum with pictures, flags, notes, guns and a great deal more covering the walls. The meal itself was fantastic. Everyone staying at the Lodge were seated round the a single table. It had been a really satisfying night but an early start the next morning meant it wouldn't be a late night.
My early alarm call was a nice hot pot of tea being delivered to my room (its nice to find some British traditions still live on). We had a nice hot breakfast just before heading off for the morning tour of Isandlwana. This battlefield is across the Buffalo river and the guide was a Zulu named Joseph. This is a completely different battleground to Rorke's Drift. The battle occurred on a vast plain in the shadow of a mountain so the orientation took much longer as we first visited the museum before being transferred to the hill from where the Zulu commanders had stood 129 years earlier. Our group moved on to the battlefield itself and parked up. The talk was going to be a couple of hours and so we got deck chairs that we took up the mountain to a vantage point that presented us a great view of the battleground. However, the altitude was about a mile above sea level and so it wasn't the easiest climb I'd ever tried.
Joseph, like Rob offered all of us a compelling lecture and genuinely helped us visualise the scene. He also said that although he was a Zulu, he wasn't there to present 'their side of the story', he was going to give us the facts on what happened, occasionally in really graphic detail. At the appropriate times, he'd echo the Zulu cries that had been made back in 1879 and as Joseph's voice echoed around us, it added much more realism to the location. The storyline was fascinating. I listened as Joseph recited what was happening and my eyes wandered around the scenery which was littered with stacks of white stones. These piles of stones are the graves of the British troops who are buried where the died. Every heap of stones represented 6-8 men except for two large heaps which were for up to forty men. The hard African soil meant it was out of the question to dig anything but shallow graves for the soldiers and pile stones upon them.
Immediately after the talk was over, we had time to walk round many of the graves and memorials at Isandlwana before heading back for lunch. It was a fabulous destination and I almost certainly could have done with spending another day as there is a Zulu village to drop by and see as well as the walk down to the Buffalo river where Lieutenants Melvill and Coghill died saving the Queen's Colour of their regiment and years later became the very first men to be posthumously awarded the Victoria Cross.
There was a time that when a white man in car was seen in this area, it typically meant they were lost. Nowadays, it has an industry based on the work David and Nicky Rattray began meaning there's a massive fascination with those battles involving the army of the biggest Empire the planet has ever seen and the very best warriors Africa has ever produced.
The two battles that I was fascinated with were the battle at Isandlwana where the Zulu army wiped out around 1,300 British troops on 22nd January 1879. Later on that day, a lesser force of Zulus who missed out on the action at Isandlwana, wanted their chance and so against orders, they attacked Rorke's Drift. The defensive action went down in the history of the British Army as amongst it's most amazing battles which saw eleven Victoria Crosses awarded. About 140 British troops struggled with close to 4,000 Zulus in a fight that raged all night.
My stay at Fugitives Drift started with the afternoon excursion to the Rorke's Drift site. It is a few miles from the Lodge and we started off going round the museum that was hospital building at the time of the battle. As with many battlefield museums, there are a variety of artefacts from the battle (rifles, bullets, buckles, spears etc) and yet the most striking item I saw was a model of the battleground. It depicted the latter stages of the fight when the hospital had been cleared out and the British were defending the store behind their stacks of mealie sacks. The model revealed a small number of red coated troopers surrounded on all sides by Zulus several deep and it was the very first time I'd really had the opportunity to visualise the battle properly. All the movies and pictures I've seen in the past were in most cases close ups with a few individuals yet this model gave a comprehensive image that was quite frankly, shocking.
To help holidaymakers and visitors picture the layout, there are lines of stones marking where the defensive lines were. Rob started the tale explaining what Rorke's Drift was and the reasons why it was assaulted. He made you understand there was so much more to the battle than just a fight between black and white, British redcoat against Zulu warrior. In all, the tour was around 3 hours and all of us merely sat enjoying this wonderful story teller recounting the events of 22nd January 1879.
Back at the lodge, I freshened up in my superb room. It truly was a shame I couldn't spend longer there since it was so comfortable but it was time for refreshments just before dinner so I made my way to the dining room. The room is much like a museum with pictures, flags, notes, guns and a great deal more covering the walls. The meal itself was fantastic. Everyone staying at the Lodge were seated round the a single table. It had been a really satisfying night but an early start the next morning meant it wouldn't be a late night.
My early alarm call was a nice hot pot of tea being delivered to my room (its nice to find some British traditions still live on). We had a nice hot breakfast just before heading off for the morning tour of Isandlwana. This battlefield is across the Buffalo river and the guide was a Zulu named Joseph. This is a completely different battleground to Rorke's Drift. The battle occurred on a vast plain in the shadow of a mountain so the orientation took much longer as we first visited the museum before being transferred to the hill from where the Zulu commanders had stood 129 years earlier. Our group moved on to the battlefield itself and parked up. The talk was going to be a couple of hours and so we got deck chairs that we took up the mountain to a vantage point that presented us a great view of the battleground. However, the altitude was about a mile above sea level and so it wasn't the easiest climb I'd ever tried.
Joseph, like Rob offered all of us a compelling lecture and genuinely helped us visualise the scene. He also said that although he was a Zulu, he wasn't there to present 'their side of the story', he was going to give us the facts on what happened, occasionally in really graphic detail. At the appropriate times, he'd echo the Zulu cries that had been made back in 1879 and as Joseph's voice echoed around us, it added much more realism to the location. The storyline was fascinating. I listened as Joseph recited what was happening and my eyes wandered around the scenery which was littered with stacks of white stones. These piles of stones are the graves of the British troops who are buried where the died. Every heap of stones represented 6-8 men except for two large heaps which were for up to forty men. The hard African soil meant it was out of the question to dig anything but shallow graves for the soldiers and pile stones upon them.
Immediately after the talk was over, we had time to walk round many of the graves and memorials at Isandlwana before heading back for lunch. It was a fabulous destination and I almost certainly could have done with spending another day as there is a Zulu village to drop by and see as well as the walk down to the Buffalo river where Lieutenants Melvill and Coghill died saving the Queen's Colour of their regiment and years later became the very first men to be posthumously awarded the Victoria Cross.
There was a time that when a white man in car was seen in this area, it typically meant they were lost. Nowadays, it has an industry based on the work David and Nicky Rattray began meaning there's a massive fascination with those battles involving the army of the biggest Empire the planet has ever seen and the very best warriors Africa has ever produced.
About the Author:
The Anglo Zulu War of 1879 lasted just 6 months but had a major impact on both the Zulu Kingdom and the British government.
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