FEELING GO - THE BATTLEFIELDS
(REMEMBER: IF YOU'RE MENTIONED
BY NAME ITS COS I LOVE YOU DEARLY. IF YOU'RE NOT, ITS ONLY TO PROTECT MYSELF IN
THE LIBEL COURT)
"DON'T THROW. THOSE BLADDY SPEARS. AT ME." A famous and often misquoted line from the film "Zulu" starring Michael Caine. The film is based on the true story of how 100 British soldiers held out against 4,500 zulus during the Zulu Wars. I wanted to take a trip to the battlefields where all this took place, but I didn't really know how to get there other than to head south out of Johanneburg. It therefore seemed like fate to me that the guy sat next to me on the bus called Nick was also heading that way. Whats more, he seemed to know where he was going. We ended up joining forces and bailing off the bus in the town of Harrismith in Natal.
That was the first mistake. As we gathered our bags together at the bus stop of this one horse town, the music from "The Good, The Bad And The Ugly" blared out of a nearby shop, where we were shortly informed by the shop keeper that there were no more buses that day out toward Ladysmith and the Battlefields.
Plan B: to find somewhere that hired a car and drive out there ourselves. We did find a small travel agents that sorted us out with a motor and a vague map, and we headed out toward Ladysmith.
Ladysmith has three claims to fame. Firstly, Ghandi used to live there. Secondly the world famous singing group Ladysmith Black Mambazo are from there. Thirdly, the KOP at Liverpool and other football grounds in Blighty is named after the nearby steep hill known as Spion Kop, which was a prominent landmark in the Boer War. But enough of the trivia.
We checked into a "hostel" which turned out to be no more than a well kept garden, though it did have the best showers in the world. The proprietor Lawrence fixed us up with a tour guide for the Battlefields for the next day.
LSANDLWANA
Our tour guide Pat took, Nick, Me and a South African couple off to the Battlefields. Our first stop was Lsandlwana. This was a prominent battlefield too, only its not mentioned as much as Rourke's Drift where "Zulu" happened, on account of the British totalling 4,000 well armed soldiers getting massacered by 20,000 zulu warriors in about 50 minutes. Pat was extremely knowledgable and brought the whole battle scene to life.
RORKE'S DRIFT
This was the highlight of the trip for me, not for the history or the patriotism but for the comedy magic of an old joke. So just for those in the know, here's a photograph of me at Rorke's Drift doing THE HORNS OF THE BUFFALO.
The legend of Rorke's Drift is well established in people's minds as being a great British victory in the face of adversity. However its not until you see what odds of 40:1 actually look like that you begin to question if there is any truth in the Rorke's Drift story.
Rorke's Drift model.
Once again Pat put an interesting and thought provoking spin on the story, but being a true patriot I'll say no more.
BLOOD RIVER
The final battlefield we visited was Blood River, site of a famous victory of the Boers whilst heavily outnumbered by the Zulu. Or were they? Again, Pat put an interesting spin on the story. But then he spoilt everything he had said so far by going off on an almost neo-facist rant. But here's a couple of pretty pictures anyway.
Scenes from the Blood River memorial.
On our way back from the Battlefields, Nick and I stumbled accross the world's smallest church. Here I am stood in the doorway.
My travels were now to take me further south and into the Drakensberg Mountains.
BACK TO THE TOP OF FEELING
GO?