Beauty and ghostly laughter
ZULULAND is at its best following the recent rains. It's like an emerald tapestry of grassland, interspersed with forest, gorges so deep the full sunlight gets there only fleetingly and dispersed human settlement. Pretty empty, the way it was 50-odd years ago.
This is, of course, the remote hill country of Zululand, not the lowveld/sandveld to which tourists are accustomed. Events last week took me to Eshowe, Nkandla and Babanango, places I knew in my distant youth.
At Eshowe, the old colonial capital – the name comes from the wind soughing up the valley – the past is evoked in the George Hotel which has been revamped and decorated with a fascinating collection of old photographs and paintings from the colonial era – Zulu kings and dignitaries, administrators and military people. You can feel the 19th century at your elbow.
Outside the George a harpoon gun is mounted, presumably recognition of the strong contribution made in the past by the Norwegian community. Inside, they're making more noise than the Zulu War with a saxophone, tuba and electric guitar. It's party night and the young folk of the town are there enjoying themselves – all races, all hues, all ethnicities. There's absolutely no chance of the Zulu War breaking out again.
I ask for a Zulu Blonde. This, I hasten to add, is a beer brewed on the premises by Richard Chennels (son of the owner, Graham Chennels), which recently won a real ale brewing competition in Britain.
The Zulu Blonde is excellent, a pale ale not a lager. Another brew produced by Chennels is a bitter ale called Jantoni (John Dunn) named after John Dunn the Scottish adventurer who befriended Cetshwayo, was made a chief, took 48 Zulu wives and sired a vast number of children whose descendants still live at Mangete, near Tugela Mouth. It's not everywhere you can drink history.
The road from Eshowe to Nkandla is a drive through stupendous scenery – rolling hills, dizzy drops, the high point of Qudeni hill lost in clouds which, at another time of year, would leave behind snow. Then you enter Nkandla through the forest. This is real forest – huge trees, lianas - Robin Hood and his merry men would not be out of place.
President Zuma of course lives at Nkandla, but not in the village. His residency is in the Nkandla district, the other side of the forest, down a steep drop into the Tugela Valley. Some people seem to disparage the president's rural origins at Nkandla. They never mention that he lives in possibly the most beautiful part of South Africa.
Two days in this part of Zululand are a tonic. The Ntsuze River flowing green at the bottom of an impossibly deep valley – green because of the rain. Normally it's a pellucid blue, the cleanest river I have ever known in Africa apart from the Zambesi. The village of Babanango, where the legendary Stan Wintgen used to hold court in his tiny bar, festooned with women's bras and knickers, along with British uniforms and Zulu regalia of the Anglo-Zulu War (obtained from the film set of Zulu Dawn).
Stan died years ago and the hotel closed. But I'm glad to say it's re-opened under the ownership of one Clive Ngcobo. It was early when I went to take a look but the new folk showed me around. Stan's Bar is still there but looking more decorous - the bras and knickers are gone, the uniforms and regalia remain. One senses ghostly laughter. A whole lot of bed and breakfast places and tourist lodges also seem to have sprung up in and around Babanango.
It's tempting to describe this Zululand hill country as the province's best-kept secret. But actually it's not a secret at all. Eshowe has made a good job of setting up a cultural/historical centre. It actively promotes tourism. It's just that what is on offer is so very different from elsewhere. It's a different natural beauty, it's full of echoes from the past. And, of course, it's very much in the present as far as the political tide goes.
It's worth a visit.
Tailpiece
I USED to be able to clap with just one hand. But that was Zen, this is Tao.
Last word
In physics, you don't have to go around making trouble for yourself - nature does it for you.
GRAHAM LINSCOTT
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