South Africa - Rorke's Drift

---

South Africa - Rorkes Drift

Zulu - The Alternative Version

Rorkes Drift was the scene of the famous battle {or skirmish?} at the start of the war between the British and the Zuluswhich was the basis for the film, Zulu.

We spend a couple of hours at the site. None of the original buildings remain standing. They have burned down several times but the replacement buildings have been built on the same plots and it is possible to see where all the main events of the battle unfolded. The site where the original hospital was is now a museum and the lines where the British defences of maize bags and biscuit boxes were placed are clearly marked out.
We have an excellent Zulu guide, Tulani who has done a lot of research into Rorkes Drift and Isandlwana. He gives us a lot of background to the battle and the build up to it and takes us through the key points of the battle as they happened, acting them out {he does a better job than Michael Caine} - excellent!

I think a couple of us would have liked to have visited Isandlwana as well. I guess thats the downside of an organised tour - although you get much of the work done for you and you often get to see things you didnt even know were there, you can never get an itinerary which is perfect for everyone in the group.

---

Photos

Rorke's Drift
The museum stands on the site where the hospital was

The Church
The church stands where the storeroom was.
Lines of stones show where the defences were.

Tulani
Tulani stands by the kraal and reenacts parts of the battle.