After some more boat work and lots more socilaizing… it was time to set off again since the weather was not co-operating with us and it would be another week at Richards Bay to allow for better weather to come for our passage to Cape Town….so why not…? Beez Neez and us are at it again…this time a step back into history, bird watching, and ziplines….
The Plan… 
The crew….
Day 1: Rorke’s Drift
Trust me…Trevor and I don’t know our (USA) history….even more, British or South African. However, we got a little history class on the drive to Drakensberg. But first…the drive was beautiful with a tree-lined coastal climate over green/lush mountains with tree farms, through villages to arid and rocky tundra. I enjoyed this journey through these different landscapes as we headed inland.
The Battle of Rorke’s Drift – Do you remember the 1964 film called “Zulu”…? I didn’t but it is based on the famous Battle of Rorke’s Drift here in Zululand, South Africa. In short, during the  Anglo-Zulu War fought in 1879 between the British Empire and the Zulu Kingdom on January 22-23, the Battle of Isandlwana was a massive defeat of British efforts where 20,000 Zulu warriors killed over 1,300 British troops. The remaining troops retreated to near by Rorke’s Drift. The Battle of Rorke’s Drift is the famous British victory where only 150 men (the injured and remaining soldiers from Isandlwana) defended a mass attack of over 3,000 Zulu warriors. Though armed with muskets, the British men at Rorke’s Drift, who were really just a supply outpost and hospital, found themselves fighting hand-to-hand combat in a 12 hour battle on January 22-23 that year. 11 Victoria Crosses were awarded (equivalent to the US Congressional Medal of Honour), the most ever awarded after 1 battle in British history.
We walked to the battlefield where random large white rock tombs lie. Bear told us this battle was not really in the history books when he was in school. We then drove a short distance to Rorke’s Drift where there were memorials, a museum, and a small cafe. I had read somewhere, folks thought a Zulu memorial was missing here and was finally able to fund/commemorate the Zulu warriors…hence their memorial is much more modern.
We could of drove there but we got lost… 
the battle field…graves and memorials scattered the area. 
The white stones stood out against the arid landscape. 
Many memorials to each regiment. 
At the Rorke’s Drift museum displayed the history… 
of both Zulu and Britian’s strategy and struggles. 
The “newish” Zulu memorial…. 
Explains the symbols of leopard and shields and trees.
The museum had this tiny replica of the battle of Rorke’s Drift….it was very real looking….
As the sun was going down, we headed to our accommodations with expansive farm lands and mud “mountains” of termites….
Pleasantly surprised, our 2 bedroom, 2 bath ‘home-away-from home’ was perfect with kitchen, fridge/freezer, pool, and a beautiful view. It was time for cook dinner, relax, and get ready for our next day adventure!
Day 2: Birds of Prey and Pool Time…or NOT!
No rush…waking up with “loaded cappuccinos” and breakfast, we were headed to visit the Falcon Ridge where injured birds of prey call home or are cared for and released…but first….
The roads were not bad as most of the main highways were paved but you know us…taking the road least traveled we found ourselves on gravel roads touring around…as so it was….
10:30 am the first showing of the Falcon Ridge Birds of Prey was on. Too many photos and videos but here is the best provided by Pepe, the real photographer…. just amazing creatures! Thank you Pepe for sharing your photos!
http://www.drakensbergmountains.co.za/falcon-ridge.html
Some of the feeding “flights” were right over our heads…you could barely hear them fly through the air and nobody got hurt…! (LOL). The owners/caregivers really seemed to know their stuff and knew each birds’ typical behavior. You could tell they really cared about what they are doing here at Falcon Ridge….it was so cool to see these birds just doing what they do…We were told that sometimes they don’t come back for days after a show!
After the show we headed to a local brewery..as you do…. then back to relax at the pool…however, yours truly got way to inebriated…passed out (heat?) and the night was over for me. Thankfully I was in the best company to have done this as both Bear and Pepe had been in the medical field….shame though I missed dinner!
Day 3: Zip lines
Mostly recovered, we had booked in advance this zip line tour for the morning. It was a fun to get out into nature among the trees….We had all done zip lines before but had never had to manually “slow down” by using friction from placing our hand on the cables…gloves got hot!
Pepe and Bear were naturals…and of course Trevor made every go look like “slicing butter with a hot knife” easy….I somehow was in the front of the line so had to go first the majority of the “zips”….I would of rather watch someone go ahead of me but we were all locked in to cables in order so “belay on”….
Lunch time…cute farm house serving massive pot pies….there was a winery close by but we didn’t make it there….so we did the next best thing…buy a case!
After lunch headed back to our accommodation, we stopped off at another battle site named Spion (Spioen) Kop…not to be confused with the word Spinnekop which is South African slang, used by English speakers as a derogatory term for white Afrikaans speakers, implying stupidity, poverty, yokelism or a lack of social graces according to Urban Dictionary. For all you rugby fans and/or UK stadium goers, you will be familiar with the term “kop” in reference to the stands in sporting stadiums. This term was keyed to depict the steep nature of landscape near Ladysmith, South Africa and the soldiers who fought there from the Battle of Spion Kop on January 23-24th, 1900 during the Boer War. The Boer wars (Boer is Afrikaans for “farmers” who generally represented the first Dutch settlers in South Africa) began when diamonds and gold were found in the region…and this particular battle is referenced as the “acre of massacre” and is supposedly recorded as “the battle where more men lost their lives on the smallest piece of land….the rest is history!
It was eerie to be standing among the massive grave where soldiers were buried….very different from a graveyard per say. Pepe’s son birthday was that day and she got him a present (assuming he was a rugby fan as well): The official battlefield pamphlet and the gate guard actually gave her an “old gun casing” from this time period/battle….how cool was that?!
Back home, we tried to eat up all of our leftovers and enjoyed nightcaps with the owners of the property with a deep philosophical discussion about religion…..I think I retired early : )
Day 4: Headed home
Packed up, another flat tire, we were off again back home…we of course decided to take the long route through the mountains rather than going on the main highway….
A bit whipped, we all wanted to stop off for a cup of tea/coffee. However, the “less traveled” route supplied us with smaller towns so KFC in Greytown it was. Mind you this is not a tourist place and we did receive a few funny looks being clearly “foreign” and the only Asian and 3 white people in sight… I think we saw 1 other white guy but that was it….We didn’t feel unsafe but it didn’t feel like home….just saying….
It was a perfect balance of learning, adventure, and “chill-axing”….Thanks again to our travel mates Pepe and Bear (SV Beez Neez) who endured us for 4 days!!!! Love you more : )
Nest up: Clearing out of Richards Bay and our passage to Cape Town, South Africa
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