Shakaland day tour from Richards Bay 27th December 2014
We began in Richards Bay were I my clients off the Ocean Nautica cruise ship and we headed up to Shakaland for a Day tour.
It was to be a great day tour and we enjoyed the whole experience of Zulu culture, dancing, singing and tribal dress.
Shakaland Day Tour entrance
Shakaland Day Tour entrance
After entering this Zulu cultural village where the movie Shaka Zulu was filmed in the 1980’s we had a quick look around the curio craft shops before the tour began at 11am.
We started by entering the village and came back to the briefing and video clip which is usually show first but due to the ships being in this meant we had to beat the crowds so to speak!
We began with learning how how King Shaka changed the face of the Zulu nation tactically and practically. We were shown by a Zulu Impi(soldier) how the spears were thrown and the structure of attack.
Shakaland day tour, Zulu man with one of my clients
Shakaland day tour, Zulu man with one of my clients
As we continued we got to watch the display of this Zulu warrior showing us how the Zulus killed the British at the battle of Isandlwana fought on the 22nd of January 1879.
Zulu man demonstrates how the Zulus killed the British
Zulu man demonstrates how the Zulus killed the British
We then moved on to the cooking hut which is only for the ladies as the men do not cook in Zulu culture. We watched outside the hut as a Zulu lady strained the Zulu beer in a grass strainer before throwing the remains to the chicken to feed off. The beer itself we would sample later with the chief at a gathering.
Zulu woman strains the Zulu beer
Zulu woman strains the Zulu beer
At this point we were invited into the Inyanga and Sangomas hut this is the Medicine man and the fortune teller. We entered in learned more about what they do for their people. A common misinterpretation is that a Sangoma is a witch doctor which is false as they are fortune tellers.
We always greet them by saying “Makhosi”
Zulu Inyanga and Zulu Sangoma
Zulu Inyanga and Zulu Sangoma
At this point we headed out to meet with the chief for the tasting of Zulu beer which is only about 2 percent alcohol and brewed in 2-3 days. The beer is always a special touch to be able to taste it and be able to have western people learn more about this amazing Zulu Culture. It was amazing to see all those people there all to learn about the Zulu Culture at Shakaland.
Zulu Chief samples the Zulu beer
Zulu Chief samples the Zulu beer
It was at this point we made our way down to do a spot of shopping before visiting the hut where we watch a 15min video clip from the moving Shaka Zulu which gives a basic run down as to how Shaka grew to be the King of the Zulu nation.
We them moved on to the Umuzi structural model so that we could view from the top the structure of the traditional Zulu village. This is always amazing and very interesting as Zulus can have any number of wived they want!
This was great to see and then we moved on to enjoy some Zulu dancing with was hard to photograph as they move so fast!
Traditional Zulu dancing
Traditional Zulu dancing
Zulu dancing Video:
We then sat down to a lovely lunch of traditional Zulu foods and some western food for those who were not so keen on the traditional stuff. It was very tasty and after this we enjoyed some of the views over the dam before slowly making our way back to Richard Bay to catch the ship before it headed to Durban.
It had been a lovely Durban day safari and tour of Shakaland.
