Reader's World

Bike KwaZulu-Natal's battlefields for a unique history lesson

Sunday Times reader Teigue Payne saddles up for a guided cycle tour of battlegrounds and museums with pit stops at luxury bush lodges

05 November 2017 - 00:00 By Teigue Payne

Cycle touring is a rare holiday activity in South Africa despite our having near ideal conditions for it - quiet gravel roads in rural areas, excellent climate and plenty of accommodation options. One particularly good place for cycle touring is around the battlefields of KwaZulu-Natal.
In seven years of cycle touring through South Africa's rural areas, I have never had a safety problem even though I have sometimes toured alone. Still, it is obviously safer - and more sociable - to ride in a like-minded group. So it was that I joined the inaugural tour of the battlefields in August with Howick-based cycle touring company, Spekboom Tours.Riding with an experienced touring company ensures that the best back roads are chosen, that cycling distances are manageable, and that the history of the areas traversed is not missed. Spekboom's itinerary included the key battlefields of Ladysmith, Elandslaagte, Isandlwana, Rorke's Drift and Spioenkop, as well as a mid-trip overnight stay in the Nambiti big-five private nature reserve.
EVERYONE'S A GENERAL
Throughout the tour, information and opinions about the battles fought between the Boers, Zulus and British in the last quarter of the 19th century comes from museum visits and talks by professional battlefield guides. Not forgetting, of course, other party members - after all, every South African seems to be an expert in the battles of the past.
On the first full day, the six of us rode to the Ladysmith Siege Museum to learn about the bitter 118-day entrapment of the British army by Boer forces - one of the many early reversals that the British suffered and one that prolonged the war by years.
That night we slept in a bush lodge near Elandslaagte, overlooking the white gravestones of British soldiers. The Battle of Elandslaagte was one of the few clear-cut tactical victories won by the British during the war, although their force retreated afterwards, throwing away their advantage.In the morning we rode the back roads to Dundee, through tall yellow grass and flat-topped thorn trees. We paused for lunch at Maria Ratschitz Mission - a recently restored Trappist monastery with Slavic architecture - at the foot of Hlatikulu (big forest) mountain.
Our guesthouse that night was said to be the only farmhouse in the area not burned by the British during Lord Kitchener's "scorched earth" policy, but only because the British used it as their local headquarters.
The next day we spent time at the Talana Museum in Dundee - 17 buildings that contain different aspects of local history, from the early Khoi-San people who lived here to the Anglo-Zulu and Anglo-Boer wars, to coal mining. It is a compulsory stop simply because it is one of South Africa's finest museums.
Then we hit the pedals again to reach Rorke's Drift and our next homestay later that afternoon.
The next day we did a full tour of the 1879 battles of Isandlwana and Rorke's Drift with a battlefields guide. Isandlwana towered over us as he told us the gripping story of how the 20,000-strong Zulu force beat the British expeditionary force.
But that same afternoon, drunk with victory, another arm of the Zulu army could not defeat 150 Englishmen surrounded at the mission station at Rorke's Drift.
Of the defenders, 11 were awarded Victoria Crosses, among many other decorations and honours - though most of the survivors died in penury and a few committed suicide.That night, as we cooked a dinner fit for generals, we watched the no-confidence debate taking place in parliament. Perhaps the memory of the Anglo-Zulu War is still evident in South African politics.
The next morning we rode down a remote pass to the washed-out town of Wasbank - a relic of the area's coal-mining history - and then along the railway service road to Nambiti. This same railway line, joining Durban to Johannesburg, was the focus of many battles between the British and the Boers.
PAMPER SESSION
Nambiti translates into pampering with fine cuisine, luxury tented accommodation and sunset and sunrise game drives.PLAN YOUR TRIP
Participants need to be reasonably fit and have a good-quality mountain bike, preferably with front suspension. Distances ridden average around 50km per day. A back-up vehicle meets cyclists at different points on the road.
The R11,500 cost of the nine-day tour (Friday to the following Saturday) includes everything except travel to and from the start point in Ladysmith. Also excluded are two lunches and one supper.
On the last day of the tour, a cycling development workshop is held for learners from underprivileged schools in the Ladysmith area. Many of the learners have received donated bicycles to enable them to ride to school.
The workshop, which is attended with great enthusiasm by the pupils, includes instruction on basic maintenance and repairs, and a 20km ride-out.
Spekboom Tours also does slackpacking tours, and cycle tours to other parts of South Africa. For more information, visit Spekboom Tours.
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