Wednesday, August 21. Fugitives Drift

My day started with a battlefield tour of the Ilsandwana (?) battle. This was the first battle of the war between the British and the Zulu. The British thought the Zulu would be easily beaten, but they greatly underestimated their strength and fighting ability. This battle which laster only 2 1/2 hours was the biggest defeat ever for the British forces. Only 52 Brits survived. The Zulu were great tactical fighters. They spread their men in a formation similar to the castles horns. They attacked initially from the middle of their ranks and then the flanks moved in from the sides and surrounded the enemy.

Below os the ultimatum the British gave to the Zulu.



A small museum ear the battlefield



Because this king ventured forth on the British, war was then called for. The British wanted the Zulu to start a war so that they could annilelate them










A large tapestry on the war museum. Zulu warriors are depicted along the top and British soldiers at the bottom. Notice how the Zulu assemble in the shape of bulls horns. They were very smart warriors





Typical Zulu dwellings. They were everywhere


The cows and goats were also everywhere. Each night each family rounded up their stock and had them in an enclosure over night. In the day, they roamed free.


This tree is what the Zulu consider a monument to their fighting. On the branches are thorns that point different directions. It cuts when pushed in the skin and again when pulled out.


This is the official monument to the zulu warriors. It is made of metal and is fashioned as a necklace. The curve of the necklace is more severe on one side. It represents how their formation was when they beat the Brits.





In the afternoon we visited a Zulu arts and crafts project which strives to provide employment to local people. Each of the buildings in this center are fenced with razor wire.


This is a 30+ foot long table used for silk screening


Women in the center making products for sale


This woman is spinning wool


The spinning room


In the pottery building this woman is holding two children and talking on a cell phone. There is no running water, but the cell phone has brought them far. Turns out the only pot I bought here was made by this woman


This woman is applying some texture to her pot


This artist is using a very fine tool to create a design


In the weaving building, there were two women creating a tapestry from an artists rendering. If was quite an abstract design


Their yarn stash. All the yarn is spun and dyed here


More yarn


This woman is weaving a commissioned piece.


Same lady from the working side of the loom



This weaver is wearing a dress made from schway-schway fabric. I bought quite a bit of it earlier in the trip


More schway-schway. I need to find out how to spell it.

Location:KwaZulu-Natal