Fugitives Drift was established by David Rattray along with his wife Nicky and created an excellent lodge for holidaymakers to enjoy this renowned adventure. Tragically, in January 2007, David was murdered by an intruder but Fugitives Drift is a marvellous legacy to something he created with his wife Nicky and it still remains today. Rob Caskie has taken over as the primary historian. Like David, Rob speaks fluent Zulu, knows the history thoroughly and is quite possibly the finest orator I've ever heard.
The 2 battles I was interested by were the battle at Isandlwana where the Zulu army wiped out around 1,300 British troops on 22nd January 1879. Later on that day, a lesser force of Zulus who had missed out on the action at Isandlwana, sought their opportunity and so against orders, they assaulted Rorke's Drift. This defensive action went down in the history of the British Army as one of its most remarkable battles which saw eleven Victoria Crosses awarded. Less than 140 British troops battled with approximately 4,000 Zulus in a battle that raged all night.
My stay at Fugitives Drift started with the afternoon excursion to the Rorke's Drift site. It is a few miles from the Lodge and we started off going round the museum that was hospital building at the time of the battle. As with many battlefield museums, there are a variety of artefacts from the battle (rifles, bullets, buckles, spears etc) and yet the most striking item I saw was a model of the battleground. It depicted the latter stages of the fight when the hospital had been cleared out and the British were defending the store behind their stacks of mealie sacks. The model revealed a small number of red coated troopers surrounded on all sides by Zulus several deep and it was the very first time I'd really had the opportunity to visualise the battle properly. All the movies and pictures I've seen in the past were in most cases close ups with a few individuals yet this model gave a comprehensive image that was quite frankly, shocking.
To assist travellers and tourists imagine the layout, there are lines of stones marking where the defensive lines were placed. Rob started the tale detailing what Rorke's Drift was and the reasons why it had been assaulted. He made you realise there was clearly so much more to the battle than only a struggle between black and white, British redcoat versus Zulu warrior. Overall, the excursion was about three hours and everyone only sat listening to this excellent story teller recounting the incidents of 22nd January 1879.
Back at the lodge, I freshened up in my superb room. It really was a shame I couldn't spend longer in the room since it was so comfortable however it was time for beverages just ahead of dinner and so I made my way to the dining area. The room is much like a museum with pictures, flags, notes, firearms and a great deal more covering the walls. The dinner itself was fantastic. Everybody staying at the Lodge sat around the a single table. It had been an extremely satisfying evening but an early start the next day meant it wouldn't be a late night.
My 6:30am alarm call was a nice warm pot of tea being brought to my room (its wonderful to see a few British traditions still live on). We'd a good warm breakfast just before leaving for our morning excursion of Isandlwana. This battlefield is across the Buffalo river and the historian was a Zulu named Joseph. This is a very different battleground to Rorke's Drift. The battle took place on a massive plain in the shadow of a mountain so the orientation took a lot longer as we first went to the museum ahead of moving on to the hilltop from where the Zulu commanders were standing 129 years ago. We headed over to the battlefield itself and parked up. Now the talk was going to be a few hours hence we had deck chairs that we carried up the mountain to a vantage point which offered us a wonderful view of the battleground. Bear in mind, the elevation was around a mile above sea level thus it wasn't the easiest climb I'd ever tried.
Joseph, like Rob gave us all a compelling lecture and genuinely helped us visualise the scene. Next he said that while he was a Zulu, he wasn't there to present 'their side of the story', he wanted to provide us with the facts on what took place, at times in particularly graphic detail. At the appropriate times, he would echo the Zulu cries which were made back in 1879 and as his voice echoed about us, it added much more realism to the location. The tale was thrilling. We listened as Joseph recited what was going on and my eyes wandered around the scenery which was full of piles of white stones. These heaps of stones mark the resting places of the British troops who are buried where the fell. Each pile of stones represented 6-8 men apart from 2 sizeable piles which were for as many as 40 men. The hard African soil meant it was out of the question to dig anything but shallow graves for the soldiers and stack stones upon them.
Just after the talk was over, we had time to walk round several of the graves and memorials at Isandlwana before heading back again for lunch. This was an amazing destination and I most certainly could have done with having an extra day as there was a Zulu village to visit in addition to the walk down to the Buffalo river where Lieutenants Melvill and Coghill lost their lives saving the Queen's Colour of their regiment and years later became the very first men to be posthumously awarded the Victoria Cross.
There was a time that when a white man in car was seen in this region, it usually meant these folks were lost. Today, there is an industry based on the work David and Nicky Rattray started meaning there's a large desire for those battles between the army of the biggest Empire the world has ever seen and the best warriors Africa has ever produced.
The 2 battles I was interested by were the battle at Isandlwana where the Zulu army wiped out around 1,300 British troops on 22nd January 1879. Later on that day, a lesser force of Zulus who had missed out on the action at Isandlwana, sought their opportunity and so against orders, they assaulted Rorke's Drift. This defensive action went down in the history of the British Army as one of its most remarkable battles which saw eleven Victoria Crosses awarded. Less than 140 British troops battled with approximately 4,000 Zulus in a battle that raged all night.
My stay at Fugitives Drift started with the afternoon excursion to the Rorke's Drift site. It is a few miles from the Lodge and we started off going round the museum that was hospital building at the time of the battle. As with many battlefield museums, there are a variety of artefacts from the battle (rifles, bullets, buckles, spears etc) and yet the most striking item I saw was a model of the battleground. It depicted the latter stages of the fight when the hospital had been cleared out and the British were defending the store behind their stacks of mealie sacks. The model revealed a small number of red coated troopers surrounded on all sides by Zulus several deep and it was the very first time I'd really had the opportunity to visualise the battle properly. All the movies and pictures I've seen in the past were in most cases close ups with a few individuals yet this model gave a comprehensive image that was quite frankly, shocking.
To assist travellers and tourists imagine the layout, there are lines of stones marking where the defensive lines were placed. Rob started the tale detailing what Rorke's Drift was and the reasons why it had been assaulted. He made you realise there was clearly so much more to the battle than only a struggle between black and white, British redcoat versus Zulu warrior. Overall, the excursion was about three hours and everyone only sat listening to this excellent story teller recounting the incidents of 22nd January 1879.
Back at the lodge, I freshened up in my superb room. It really was a shame I couldn't spend longer in the room since it was so comfortable however it was time for beverages just ahead of dinner and so I made my way to the dining area. The room is much like a museum with pictures, flags, notes, firearms and a great deal more covering the walls. The dinner itself was fantastic. Everybody staying at the Lodge sat around the a single table. It had been an extremely satisfying evening but an early start the next day meant it wouldn't be a late night.
My 6:30am alarm call was a nice warm pot of tea being brought to my room (its wonderful to see a few British traditions still live on). We'd a good warm breakfast just before leaving for our morning excursion of Isandlwana. This battlefield is across the Buffalo river and the historian was a Zulu named Joseph. This is a very different battleground to Rorke's Drift. The battle took place on a massive plain in the shadow of a mountain so the orientation took a lot longer as we first went to the museum ahead of moving on to the hilltop from where the Zulu commanders were standing 129 years ago. We headed over to the battlefield itself and parked up. Now the talk was going to be a few hours hence we had deck chairs that we carried up the mountain to a vantage point which offered us a wonderful view of the battleground. Bear in mind, the elevation was around a mile above sea level thus it wasn't the easiest climb I'd ever tried.
Joseph, like Rob gave us all a compelling lecture and genuinely helped us visualise the scene. Next he said that while he was a Zulu, he wasn't there to present 'their side of the story', he wanted to provide us with the facts on what took place, at times in particularly graphic detail. At the appropriate times, he would echo the Zulu cries which were made back in 1879 and as his voice echoed about us, it added much more realism to the location. The tale was thrilling. We listened as Joseph recited what was going on and my eyes wandered around the scenery which was full of piles of white stones. These heaps of stones mark the resting places of the British troops who are buried where the fell. Each pile of stones represented 6-8 men apart from 2 sizeable piles which were for as many as 40 men. The hard African soil meant it was out of the question to dig anything but shallow graves for the soldiers and stack stones upon them.
Just after the talk was over, we had time to walk round several of the graves and memorials at Isandlwana before heading back again for lunch. This was an amazing destination and I most certainly could have done with having an extra day as there was a Zulu village to visit in addition to the walk down to the Buffalo river where Lieutenants Melvill and Coghill lost their lives saving the Queen's Colour of their regiment and years later became the very first men to be posthumously awarded the Victoria Cross.
There was a time that when a white man in car was seen in this region, it usually meant these folks were lost. Today, there is an industry based on the work David and Nicky Rattray started meaning there's a large desire for those battles between the army of the biggest Empire the world has ever seen and the best warriors Africa has ever produced.
About the Author:
The Anglo Zulu War of 1879 last only six months but had a major effect on the Zulu Kingdom and the Disraeli government.
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