South African Battlefields Tour

DAY 1: ARRIVE FICKSBURG, FREE STATE

Travel in your own time to Moolmanshoek, situated near Ficksburg in the Free State. Group members meet at Moolmanshoek. Arrange your programme for the day to arrive by the latest 16h00.

Upon arrival, check in at the Guest Farm and settle into your rooms. (Check-in is from 14h00)

Spend the afternoon at leisure.
Enjoy dinner at the lodge while getting acquainted with the other tour members and your Live the Journey tour leader.

O/N Moolmanshoek or similar
- Double Rooms
- Breakfast and Dinner

DAY 2: MOOLMANSHOEK

Enjoy breakfast.

The day will be spent exploring the reserve. The Moolmanshoek Private Nature Reserve lies in the Witteberg mountain range which roughly runs in a north-south direction between Ficksburg and Bethlehem. A tranquil place of endless green pastures and mountain streams cascading down rock faces, creating natural plunge pools of sparkling water.

A wide variety of wild animals roam the plains and mountain slopes of the reserve. Heards of game roaming the plains include Black Wildebeest, Springbok, Blesbuck, Onyx, Eland, Gemsbok, Red Hartebeest, Waterbuck, Letchwe, Impala, Fallow Deer, Ostrich, Duiker, Zebra, Warthog, Porcupine, Black Backed Jackal, Silver Jackals, Caracal, Serval, Meercat and ground squirrel, to name a few. The reserve was declared a National Heritage site due to the indigenous Bamboo that grows in the area.

The day will include 4x4 driving, game viewing and we learn more about the history of the historic farm. The name Moolmanshoek originated from the first owner of the Moolmanshoek Valley. His name was Mr Petrus Lafras Moolman. A Mr Thomas Mitchell, well known businessman and farmer of the area bought Moolmanshoek for his 17-year-old son Ernst in June 1905. Ernst later married Dora Musgrave. The two of them built the main sandstone house during 1928-1933 at the cost of £8 000.

Light lunch will be enjoyed.

Langersnek is an official pass located on a secondary gravel road. Although the pass itself is not particularly memorable, the road does traverse right through the middle of the Moolmanshoek Private Game Reserve, offering spectacular sandstone mountain scenery and an excellent opportunity to do some free game viewing. It has not been possible to establish the origins of the name of this pass, but it is probably derived from the original owner of the farm on the north-eastern side, or perhaps from a local hero of the Anglo-Boer War. The spelling of this pass is taken from the official government maps, but locally the name is always spelled as “Langesnek”.

Enjoy dinner and the small town, farm hospitality at the guest farm tonight.

O/N Moolmanshoek or similar
- Double Rooms
- Breakfast, Light Lunch and Dinner

DAY 3: MOOLMANSHOEK – SPIONKOP LODGE (±260 KM)

Enjoy breakfast at the Farm Lodge.

After breakfast we check-out and depart for Spionkop Lodge with its majestic backdrop of the Drakensberg Mountains.

We drive through Golden Gate, meet our battlefield guide en route and enjoy a packed picnic lunch in the veld. We stop at Kerkenberg to visit the monument of the Kaalvoet Vrou before arriving in the afternoon at the lodge for check-in.

The Voortrekkers were renowned for their free spirit of independence and for their hardy resilience. Retief’s Klip (Retief’s Stone) is where Piet Retief’s party of Voortrekkers descended the Drakensberg and entered Natal on 14th December 1837. They had decided not to proceed with the rest of the Voortrekkers to what was to become the Transvaal Republic. Retief’s group consisted of some 66 wagons, and these were the first wheeled vehicles to enter Natal. At Voortrekker Pass, near Bergville, stands a monument of a woman walking away from Natal. Known as Kaalvoet Vrou (barefoot woman), this monument is in memory of Susanna Smit, sister of Gert Maritz, who declared that she would rather trek barefoot back over the Berg than live in Natal under British rule.

After check-in, we freshen up and enjoy dinner.

O/N Spionkop Lodge or similar
- Double Rooms
- Breakfast, light packed picnic Lunch and Dinner

DAY 4: SPIONKOP

Enjoy breakfast at your lodge.

Today we visit and learn more about the famous siege of Ladysmith and the Colenso battle.

The Siege of Ladysmith was triggered when Britain dispatched a total of 15 000 troops to Natal. The Boers saw this as a thread to the Boer Republics. A total of 21 000 Boers advanced into Natal. The Boers then proceeded to surround Ladysmith. The town was besieged for 118 days from 2 November 1899 until 28 February 1900. Your guide will share interesting stories and myths about this siege.

The Battle of Colenso, which took place on 15 December 1899, was the third main British defeat by the Boers in five days and the culmination of a period known as 'Black Week'. This was from 10 to 17 December 1899 when the British Army suffered devasting defeats by die Boer Republics at the battles of Stormberg, Magersfontein, and Colenso. Our focus will be on the Battle of Colenso.

Enjoy a light Picnic lunch.

We end the day with a sunset cruise.

O/N Spionkop Lodge or similar
- Double Rooms
- Breakfast, light packed picnic Lunch and Dinner

DAY 5: SPIONKOP

Enjoy breakfast at your lodge.

Today we will take a break from war stories and history and visit the Royal Natal National Park to enjoy nature. Park entry fees are included.

This leading KwaZulu-Natal nature reserve offers wonderful scenic views, lofty mountains, and waterfalls in a prime location within the uKhahlamba Drakensberg Park. The main feature of this nature reserve is the world-famous Drakensberg Amphitheatre, a rock wall 5 km long and 500 metres high. Standing above the rock face is Mont-aux-Sources peak where the Orange River starts its incredible journey west across South Africa to the Atlantic Ocean. The Thukela (Tugela) River cascades down the face of the Amphitheatre, forming one of the highest waterfalls in the world as it travels east to the Indian Ocean.

You are also welcome to just relax and spent the day at the lodge.

O/N Spionkop Lodge or similar
- Double Rooms
- Breakfast and Dinner

DAY 6: SPIONKOP

Enjoy breakfast at your lodge.

Our focus this morning is the history of the battle of Spionkop. It was a military engagement between the British forces and two Boer Republics.

The Battle of Spionkop, was the second of four attempts, by British forces against the two Boer Republics, the South African Republic and the Orange Free State, during a campaign to relieve the besieged Ladysmith during the initial months of the Second Boer War. The battle was fought 23 to 24 January 1900 on the hilltop of Spionkop, about 38 km west-southwest of Ladysmith. It resulted in a famous Boer victory.

Enjoy a light Picnic lunch.

This afternoon we will visit the Drakensberg Boys Choir for an afternoon concert. The school was established in 1967 by John Tungay. Typically, enrolment is about 120 boys, all aged 9 to 15. The school is located near Winterton in KwaZulu-Natal at the foot of the Central Drakensberg Mountain range. The choir performs in a variety of genres such as jazz, pop, and African music.

O/N Spionkop Lodge or similar
- Double Rooms
- Breakfast, light packed picnic Lunch and Dinner

DAY 7: SPIONKOP – DUNDEE (±110 KM)

Breakfast and then time to sadly bid our hosts at Spionkop farewell as we depart for Dundee.

We will meet our local guide who will accompany us to the Isandlwana and Rorke’s Drift battle sites.

The Battle of Isandlwana in January 1879 was the first major encounter in the Anglo-Zulu War between the British Empire and the Zulu Kingdom. The British troops were armed with modern weapons. The Zulu had a vast disadvantage, but the Zulu greatly outnumbered the British and ultimately overwhelmed them. The battle was a decisive victory for the Zulus and caused the defeat of the first British invasion of Zululand. The British Army had suffered its worst defeat against an indigenous foe equipped with vastly inferior military technology.

We will enjoy a picnic lunch en route.

The Battle of Rorke’s Drift took place a few hours later. The victorious Zulus marched on the tiny garrison at a mission station, and this was where the British redeemed their honour. The tiny British garrison of 140 men – many of them sick and wounded – fought for 12 hours to repel repeated attacks by up to 3 000 Zulu warriors.

Arrive late afternoon at the lodge for check-in.

O/N Battlefields Country Lodge
- Double Rooms
- Breakfast, light packed picnic Lunch and Dinner

DAY 8: DUNDEE – DEPARTURE

Enjoy breakfast this morning and check-out.

Sadly, today marks the end of our incredible journey. After a leisurely breakfast and hotel check-out, we visit one last battle site ... Blood River.

The Battle of Blood River (16 December 1838) was fought on the bank of the Ncome River, in KwaZulu-Natal between 464 Voortrekkers, led by Andries Pretorius, and an estimated 10,000 to 15,000 Zulu. Estimations of casualties amounted to over 3,000 of King Dingane's soldiers dead. Three Voortrekker commando members were lightly wounded, including Pretorius. Today two complexes mark the battle site: the Ncome Monument and Museum Complex east of the Ncome River, and the Blood River Monument and Museum Complex to the west.

The tour will end at midday.

It is then time for sad farewells as the tour officially comes to an end and everybody say goodbye and depart home in their own time.

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