Woke up pretty early today. I thought it was 7:30am but it turned out to be 6:30am. We went for breakfast and the restaurant server looked at me with a "what the heck do you want " look. I checked my watch and discovered the restaurant wasn't even open yet. So we cooled our heels for 15 minutes. After breakfast, we packed up and headed for the park gates. I could buy gas at the gate so we filled up and then headed for Rorkes Drift. We drove the N3 again which is a toll highway. Wherever you join the highway, they have a toll booth and they charge you a prorated amount depending on where you join the highway. We exited at the Ladysmith turnoff and drove to Ladysmith. We were going to visit the Seige Museum but it was closed because it is Saturday. So, we found a shopping centre and added data to our phones as the data plan we were on expires at midnight tonight. We need it to be able to check in on our flights from Durban to Jo'berg and also our flight to Hong Kong. We only have 7 more nights in South Africa. The time seems to have flown by, especially the last 2 weeks. We had to drive down a 30 km dirt road to get to the town of Rorkes Drift and then another 5km over a goat trail to get to the lodge. It was like a roller coaster ride with all the mounds on the road. The owner of the lodge explained to us that the mounds were all made by him and his workers to control the water flow when it rains. The low part between each mound serves to funnel the water away. He told us that the province has not had rain for several months and the drought is the worst experienced in many many years. His lodge is served by 7 streams and 3 of them are now dried up and another is close to going dry. He says if it continues he will have to cancel all his bookings and shut down. Pretty sad if that happens as his busy time is really just starting. When we arrived, he had a little Jack Russell terrier with him. One of the dog's eyes was quite swollen. He explained that a Mosambique spitting cobra had entered their house this morning and the dog had been barking at it when the snake spit venom into the dogs eye. He said the cobra could spit with accuracy from 2 meters and usually spit at the eyes to blind its prey. Most of his clientele are from the UK who come to see where the English/Zulu battles took place. Rorkes Drift is the site where 110 British soldiers held off 4,000 Zulu warriors. This was after a column of British soldiers were massacred at Isandlwana by 25,000 Zulu warriors. 1329 of 1700 British soldiers died there. The massive defeat by the British was largely the result of very poor decisions made by the commanding officer who had moved the majority of troops away from where the Zulu army was located. Rorkes Drift was a Swedish mission with 2 small stone buildings; a house and a storeroom which also served as a church. On the 23d of January, 1879, the Zulu attacked for 12 hours but after losing 400 Impi as the Zulu warriors were called, they withdrew. Most of the Zulus were young warriors who disobeyed their kings instructions not to do battle against fortified forces. 17 British soldiers were killed. 11 Victoria Crosses (the highest British award for bravery) and 4 Medals of Valour were awarded after this battle to the soldiers. Nearby the Battle of Blood River was fought between the Zulu and the Boer Voortreckers in 1838. The Voortreckers encircled their wagons ( just like in the western movies) and were attacked by 10,000 Zulus. The Voortreckers had cannons shooting grapeshot and used rifles. The Impi were limited to their short spears and were slaughtered. They retreated but were followed by the Voortreckers who killed so many, the river ran red with blood hence the name Blood River. Tomorrow, Jean and I will meet with our Zulu guide Thulani, who will take us to these battle sites and will give us a unique Zulu viewpoint of the battles. It will be an all day experience and we are both excited to see the sites. Not many pictures today as the trip was through farm country, mostly flat ground. I do have some pics as we approached the Lodge and of the Lodge accommodations we have. More tomorrow.