Alison had spotted the Dumazulu Village just beyond the turn off to the Isinkwe Bushcamp and we decided to go there after breakfast. As it turned out Jan and Yvonne who were in a rented camper van next to us were also keen to go as they had missed the Shakaland (which was created for the set of telemovie Shaka Zulu) a couple of days ago.

We were greeted by a Zulu at the entrance and what a fuss he made of us. Jan and I were in turn kitted out as a Zulu warrior but without the loin cloth of course and we had such a good laugh as Jan was quite a comedian. As were pretty early for the show we bought tickets for the reptile park and had a preview of it with the intention of coming back after the show.

At 1100 hrs sharp we were at the entrance of the Zulu village and were greeted by a Zulu warrior. The manager gave a brief instruction on how we should greet the Zulus with "Sawubona", and we were ushered into the village, men first of course. We had the opportunity to see how the warriors shape their weapons and the most interesting thing was the fire starter they had which comprised of a square hollow piece of wood with a leather bag attached at one end and this was used to blow to get the fire going.

As for the men they are allowed to marry as many women as they wished as long as he could afford it and the cost was 11 cows for each wife. I didn’t get to ask why 11cows? Traditionally the men with many wives would have is hut built in the middle surrounded by each of the wives’ huts. He would call the wife he wanted for the night and she would go to sleep on the opposite side of his tent until he touched her with a stick, the only she would go to his side. By early morning she would leave his tent.

The cultural dance was all about showmanship, how high the men could kick, jump and various other things. Jan could not contain himself and went in to kick. He did well for a man of his age! At the end of the show we were guided back to the souvenir shop and decided to have lunch at the village with some traditional food on the menu, not forgetting the braai. I was casually asked by the guide if I had a MIM T shirt to spare for the manager. He apparently spotted and liked it. I couldn’t leave without giving him the T shirt and the only blue one was on my back. I quickly changed and gave it to him which was very much appreciated. We left after visiting the reptile park.

We headed towards Drakensberg while Jan and Yvonne were just going round to the lakes nearby to spot some flamingoes. When we got to Melmoth it was nearly 1730hrs and saw a caravan park sign with a telephone number. We rang up but unfortunately the park was a small one and without any facilities available, but we were welcomed to park in their yard and use the facilities at the swimming pool. When we got to the farm, we were offered the use of an ensuite room with a fraction more to the cost of camping.

Thanks to Kukie and Leon, we were spared the night driving if we didn’t find a place to camp, and the lodges in South Africa don’t normally allow camping unless they indicate that campers were welcomed. We had a comfortable bed that we hardly slept in as we discovered there was internet wifi connection which gave us the opportunity to update the website, paid our bills and various other necessities.