Isandlwana and Rorke's Drift

On 22 January 1879, below a hill shaped like a crouching sphinx, the army of the Zulu kingdom fell on a British camp and destroyed it. That afternoon and through the night, not far away at a mission station on the Buffalo River, a small garrison held off a Zulu force many times its size. Isandlwana and Rorke’s Drift are two halves of the same day, and this is a long day out to stand on both.

It is a long way from Durban, inland through the hills of KwaZulu-Natal to open, rolling country, with homesteads on the slopes and cattle on the roads. The drive is part of it: by the time you arrive, you have a feel for the land the war was fought over.

At Isandlwana the guide stands you on the saddle below the hill and walks you through the battle: the camp laid out beneath you, the Zulu regiments coming over the plateau in the horns of the buffalo, the line that broke. White cairns mark where British soldiers were buried where they fell, and there are far more of them than you expect. Nearby, a bronze memorial honours the Zulu dead in the form of the necklace of valour their warriors were given.

Rorke’s Drift is a smaller, closer story. The mission buildings are still there, with a museum in the rebuilt hospital, and the guide walks you round the line the defenders made from mealie bags and biscuit boxes. Eleven Victoria Crosses were awarded for that night, and the defence has been a legend in Britain ever since, helped along by the 1964 film Zulu.

Lunch is on the way, and it is evening by the time you are back in Durban. If you can, take the specialist battlefield guide: someone who has spent years with this ground and tells it from both sides, which is the only honest way to tell it.

Put a Durban morning on the day before. You will want an easy one either side of this.

Good to know

• It runs on set days only, and it is a very long day. Plan an easy day after it.
• Open ground, sun and wind on the battlefields. Hat, water and sturdy shoes.
• A specialist battlefield guide can be arranged on request. Ask when you book.
• A little reading before you go helps. The guide does the rest.
• If one day is too long, we can arrange a night near the battlefields instead.