Relive the battles of Isandlwana and Rorke’s Drift

People from all over the world come to Fugitives’ Drift to reimagine the Anglo-Zulu War. My husband, David Rattray, and I built the lodge in 1989 with a vision to bring the story back to life. The property overlooks the battlefields of Isandlwana and Rorke’s Drift, two locations that played a pivotal part in both South African and British military history. If you’ve seen the movie Zulu, you’ll be familiar with the spirit and drama of these encounters, but nothing illustrates these elements more beautifully than the art of storytelling.

After David’s death, our son Douglas, followed in David’s footsteps. He inherited his father’s wonderful story-telling talents and recites the stories with an equal amount of passion and unique intelligence. The two other lecturers are Zulu men, Bryan Mcube who grew up on Rorke’s Drift, and Mphiwa Ntanzi, whose great grandfather fought in this very war – both Brian and Mphiwa offer authentic and insightful perspectives from the Zulu side.

The heroic events of 1879 play out in two stages. In the early morning, guests head to the Nqutu Escarpment, the high ground from which the Zulus attacked and where you’ll begin the rerun of the battle of Isandlwana. You’ll end in a natural amphitheatre facing the Isandlwana peak where you can relive some 20,000 Zulu warriors descending on the British troop of 1,800 and killing 1,300 of them, making it one of the greatest defeats in British colonial history.

In the afternoon, guests settle under a tree at Rorke’s Drift and listen with sheer anticipation to the sequel to Isandlwana. As dusk falls and the sun slips away, you’ll listen intently to the retelling of the final attacks on the remaining 139 British soldiers by 4,000 Zulu warriors, a battle that saw the award of eleven Victoria Crosses.