ZULULAND (Yesterday) and REST DAY (Today)

Yesterday we drove to where the Battle of Isandlwana and the Battle of Rorke's Drift took place. We left a little after 6:00 a.m. and did not return until nearly 11:00 p.m. Our goal was to NOT drive after dark. Well, we missed our deadline, but what an experience. 

It was certainly worth the risk.

There are miles and miles of slums on the outskirts (as we call suburbs) of Johannesburg. 

Many of my pictures did not come out since we were driving and NOT stopping, so I found this photo on the internet. I did not take this photo, but this is an example of what we saw.

After nearly 4 hours of driving, we entered some Zulu Communities

Typical Zulu Houses

More Zulu Communities

Right in the midst of Zulu communities, we found the Visitor's Center for Isandlwana. We were the ONLY visitors. This is one of the two Zulu women who were working at the center. Isaiah tried on one of the handmade beaded necklaces. During our drive, we noticed many women cutting tall grass with machetes. We later learned that they dry it out, dye it, and cut it. 

That is how they make their beads. 

Oh, and on a side note, we used the restroom here. It was short walk from the Visitor's Center. My restroom was perfect--clean and didn't smell and even had a bar of soap and a hand towel. I would have taken a picture if I had my camera with me. The sink was like a slab of granite slanted away from me. So, when I turned on the water, it would hit the slab and run right down into the gutter like drain. Dax and Isaiah's restroom was not so good. 

It was like peeing in a gutter. Ewww. 

Reminded us of our China trip last summer. 

Inside the Visitor's Center

We are disappointed that we didn't get more pictures of what we actually saw; however we are thankful we didn't have any accidents today. It really takes 3 of us to drive in South Africa. I am not exaggerating. There are so many obstacles in the roads. I think I mentioned on Facebook that someone hit a hippo not far from here and crashed. Today, we saw someone hit a cow. Their car was destroyed. There are people in the road, along with cows, bulls, chickens, pigs, sheep, goats, etc. You name it, it's in the street. We also saw over 30 horses, a herd of what we believe were antelope, and a big flock of sandgrouse. Oh yeah, and we almost hit an owl on our way home in the dark.

After the Visitor's Center, we drove to where the Battle of Isandlwana took place on January 22, 1879. It was the first major encounter in the Anglo-Zulu War between the British Empire and the Zulu Kingdom. It was the single greatest defeat for the British Army at the hands of a native army. The following pictures are of the drive from the Visitor's Center to the battle sites. 

The piles of stones all over the place are there to mark where

 British soldiers died and were originally buried. 

In and around this area is where it "all went down"-- Zulu were victorious! 

I wish you could hear the sounds we heard while 

standing here--Zulu chants from the nearby village. 

This picture does not do the beauty of this location justice. AMAZING!

Isaiah taking a break in our rental car while Dax and I walk around some more.

Things we saw that we did not get pictures of:  1) Zulu women and children walking and balancing huge buckets on their heads.  2) Zulu face paint and authentic dress.  3) Zulus dancing/chanting with their spears.  4) Zulu children waving and smiling at us non-stop.  5) The terrible schools. 6) A baby "sitting" on a wire fence, balanced between the two wires with her mother sitting next to her on a bucket. 

This picture was taken when we had a little scare. Our gas gauge still was on FULL after hours of driving; however, our gas light was on. We were thinking, "My gosh, what in the world will we do if we run out of gas?" Well, apparently, the light that came on was not to warn us that we were out of gas--it's for something else. We did not realize that until 40-50 km later. Whew! 

We could also share all kinds of stories about learning what the road signs mean, but it would take too long to explain on here without photos. Perhaps we should take some time to take some pictures of road signs. Driving here has certainly been an experience in itself to say the very least. We were scheduled to be back here before dark, but we didn't make it until nearly 11:00 p.m. Once again, we are all alive, no car wrecks, no highjackings, or anything of that sort.

 We made it! Oh, I almost forgot to mention. The best thing about being in Zulu Communities way out in the middle of nowhere in Africa after dark, is seeing the STARS. OH MY GOSH! There is nothing like it!

Today was our resting day. After yesterday's full day of driving, we figured we need to just hang out and relax. What a beautiful day it was. Here is Isaiah training all four of his rotts. Their names are Jabby, Bush, Jokky, and George. 

This is Jefious, a member of our staff. He is from the Shona Tribe in Zimbabwe.

 He doesn't like the leader of Zimbabwe and is happy to be in South Africa. 

He is well educated--studied ecology and communication. He allowed Isaiah to fix this fence today to help keep the dogs in. 

Look what Isaiah found today! A Rhinoceros Beetle! We have better pictures of it somewhere, but I didn't want to wait to get those off our other camera. Google it if you are interested.

Isaiah took a walk with his posse' today. Jabby, Bush, Jokky, and George are so happy.

Isaiah running with his posse'.

I am so mad that I didn't get a video of what happened after our walk (right after this photo was taken). The dogs found something and tried to pounce on it in the grass by the fence. Then they jumped the fence and started chasing an ostrich. I have never seen anything more hilarious in my life. Boy that ostrich is fast! We couldn't get the dogs to stop. They just kept running and running. Later, we also found out that the dogs have eaten the sheep on previous occasions. Oh my. I sure don't want to meet the owner of this livestock while we are here. 

Tomorrow morning, we are headed up toward Mozambique (which we will not be going into). We are going to Kruger National Park. This week's posts hopefully will have some photos of a lifetime. Perhaps pictures of some of the following-- Cape buffalo, elephant, lion, leopard, rhino, baboon, bushpig, bushbuck, crocodile, genet, hedgehog, honey badger, impala, porcupine, warthog, wild dog, zebra, aardvark, black backed jackal, bushbaby, cheetah, eland, giraffe, hippopotamus, hyena, kudu, springbok, waterbuck, wildebeest, and tons of birds. 

 We are hopeful!