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Location Date South Africa 
1397516400 Lesotho 1397430000 Swaziland 1396306800 -
Location Date Heilbron 1397516400 Soweto 1397516400 Fouriesburg 1397430000 Bethlehem 1397430000 Colesburg 1397343600 Aliwal North 1397343600 Lady Grey 1397343600 Laingsburg 1397257200 Beaufort West 1397257200 Cape Town 1397170800 Scarborough 1397084400 Sea Point 1397084400 L?agulhas 1396998000 Swartklip 1396998000 Muizenberg 1396998000 Swellendam 1396911600 Struisbaai 1396911600 Addo 1396825200 Summerstrand 1396825200 Oudtshoorn 1396825200 Uitenhage 1396738800 Grahamstown 1396652400 Port Elizabeth 1396652400 Kokstad 1396566000 Matatiele 1396566000 Elliot 1396566000 Dordrecht 1396566000 Queenstown 1396566000 Ixopo
1396479600 Ballito 1396393200 Pietermaritzburg 1396393200 Mkuze 1396306800 Nqulwane 1396306800 Eshowe 1396306800 Barberton 1396220400 Nelspruit 1396051200 Graskop 1396051200 Phalaborwa 1395964800 Seekoeigat 1395878400 Johannesburg 1395705600
2014-04-03
The land of the Zulu
Why have you come to the land of the ZULU!! (spoken with a deep voice.)
This was a question aimed at the British army before the battle at Rorke's drift in 1879. (as portrayed in the 1964 film "Zulu") 3000-4000 Zulu’s attacked a British outpost of 150 soldiers. Guns overruled spears with heavy losses on both sides. Today things are different. These warrior people are very friendly lot; they smile and greet you in the streets and along the roads. Today we were in the city of Pietermaritzburg and walked through the city centre where I only saw one other white face besides my brother’s. We often speak to people and they were always friendly and polite.
Anyway, yesterday we visited a Zulu village and could see what life is/was like in remote places . In the pictures you can see that many people live in so-called Rondavels. These are round huts. The simple variety, and I take it, used for thousands of years, are made from sticks, with a grass covered roof. Then modernization steps in. Later model are made of mud walls with grass roofs, then brick walls with grass and or metal roof, followed by concrete walls and a nice metal roof (at times covered with grass, which I guess keeps out the noise of the rain and offers some insulation from the heat of the sun)
Via the coast just north of Durban we ventured back inland through endless rolling hills covered with green sugarcane waving in the wind. All cane is still burned before harvesting and cutting is all still done by hand as machines would not be able to perform that task on the steep hills.
I still don’t know what to think of South Africa. I don’t think of it as a third world country but also cannot put on the same line as Western Europe or Australia either, so I think it is somewhere in between. The question is: Is moving up or going down. I have met many (white) South Africans in Australia who assured me that South Africa is on its way down. I suppose if you ask a local black person the same question to they may disagree. I leave it at that for the time being.
Anyway some more comments with pictures.
The land of the Zulu
Why have you come to the land of the ZULU!! (spoken with a deep voice.)
This was a question aimed at the British army before the battle at Rorke's drift in 1879. (as portrayed in the 1964 film "Zulu") 3000-4000 Zulu’s attacked a British outpost of 150 soldiers. Guns overruled spears with heavy losses on both sides. Today things are different. These warrior people are very friendly lot; they smile and greet you in the streets and along the roads. Today we were in the city of Pietermaritzburg and walked through the city centre where I only saw one other white face besides my brother’s. We often speak to people and they were always friendly and polite.
Anyway, yesterday we visited a Zulu village and could see what life is/was like in remote places . In the pictures you can see that many people live in so-called Rondavels. These are round huts. The simple variety, and I take it, used for thousands of years, are made from sticks, with a grass covered roof. Then modernization steps in. Later model are made of mud walls with grass roofs, then brick walls with grass and or metal roof, followed by concrete walls and a nice metal roof (at times covered with grass, which I guess keeps out the noise of the rain and offers some insulation from the heat of the sun)
Via the coast just north of Durban we ventured back inland through endless rolling hills covered with green sugarcane waving in the wind. All cane is still burned before harvesting and cutting is all still done by hand as machines would not be able to perform that task on the steep hills.
I still don’t know what to think of South Africa. I don’t think of it as a third world country but also cannot put on the same line as Western Europe or Australia either, so I think it is somewhere in between. The question is: Is moving up or going down. I have met many (white) South Africans in Australia who assured me that South Africa is on its way down. I suppose if you ask a local black person the same question to they may disagree. I leave it at that for the time being.
Anyway some more comments with pictures.
- comments
Ab Brielle Ronde huizen ...... Tsja, een kwestie van ronde meubels kopen of maken denk ik. Ronde tafel, ronde stoelen, ronde tv, ronde kinderen etc.
Paula Crikey Richard, I thought you would have put your zulu outfit on just for the picture!
Suzanna Hoi Richard, wat en gave reis zeg!! Ik denk dat je Afrika niet in termen als 'Westers' of 'derde wereld land' moet zien.. Maar als Afrika zelf. Veel plezier!! En geniet ervan!!