Sunway Safaris guide Matthew O'Brien, recounts his experiences on the Zululand Battlefields...

On the Walking South Africa (JJa14) tour, you get the opportunity to relive of of the most famous battles in South African military history- the Battle of Isandlwana. If you are not from South Africa, chances are that you haven’t heard of them, but they are fascinating. Before South Africa was South Africa as you see it on the maps today, it was a series of independent colonies and countries, two of them governed by the British, two governed by the Boers, and one, Zululand, which was governed by, you guessed it, the Zulus...

 

 

 

The British did not like this arrangement. It was geopolitically untidy and they sought to rectify it. To do this, they decided to declare war on Zululand, in the belief that it would be a quick and easy victory, what with their fancy guns against the Zulu spears and shields.

 

On 22 January, 1878, the British invaded Zululand and set up camp at the bottom of a prominent hill called Isandlwana, but they neglected to fortify their camp. Why should they, what could possibly happen against a tribe of uncivilised savages? Well, it turns out that they would regret that decision. The next morning, 23 January, a force 0f 20 000 Zulu Impi(battle-hardened warriors) descended on the British camp at Isandlwana, catching the British completely by surprise. There were only 1350 British soldiers manning the camp at the time, so in the end it was an easy, and bloody victory for the Zulus.

The handful of British soldiers that managed to survive fled back towards British territory. It was an 8km journey over harsh and rugged terrain, being pursued the entire way by the Zulu Impi who were intent on teaching them a lesson. When they reached the Buffalo River, which formed the border between Zululand and Natal, it was in full spate. But they had no choice but to try swim across it. It was either risk drowning or risk being stabbed by a Zulu. Many British soldiers drowned and got washed away as they attempted to swim across the river.

The name of the passage that the fearful and retreating British soldiers took from Isandlwana back to Natal is now known as the Fugitive’s Trail, and on the JJa14 tour, we follow this trail, imagining what must it have been like to have been a terrified British soldier running for your life across this unforgiving terrain, with a force of marauding Zulu Impi following you every step of the way.