battlefields tour with Acacia Africa

Day 1 Johannesburg – Lesotho / Malealea
Departing Johannesburg early, crossing the farming province of the Free State, crossing the SA/Lesotho border into Maseru, the capital, we head for Malealea, a breathtakingly beautiful remote part of Lesotho. The afternoon is spent visiting a traditional local Basotho village, exploring handmade crafts and beaded jewellery, and deciding on optional activities for the next day. The evening is spent watching various Basotho children’s choirs and local Basotho music bands demonstrating their homemade instruments, entertaining us around an open fire

Day 2 Malealea
Today we saddle up on a guided pony trek following narrow trails weaving through rural mountainous terrain. The rest of the day is free to choose selected hiking trails, visiting nearby waterfalls, bushman paintings, traditional healers, or interacting with locals, visiting schools and markets. The evening brings the smell of wood fires burning and as dinner is prepared we can enjoy the serenity of Basotho land.

Day 3 Malealea –Amphitheatre / Drakensberg
We re-enter SA, travelling via Clarens and the Golden Gate NP, stopping at beautiful viewpoints. Afternoon cross into the KwaZulu-Natal, hiking and discovering Royal National Park with an informative guide, exploring ancient bushman paintings and rock art. Royal Natal boasts some of the most splendid mountain scenery in Africa, The Amphitheatre being a world famous feature, a rock wall approximately five kilometres in length, and five hundred metres high. We retire to our bush lodge in the late afternoon, in preparation for a full day hike.

Day 4 Amphitheatre – Tugela Falls
After a light breakfast and day packs ready to go, we board an all terrain vehicle carrying us over rough roads, finally reaching a spectacular altitude of 2500 meters. This is the most famous hike in South Africa, accessing the highest escarpment in one day and witnessing the highest waterfall in Africa. After absorbing the view of the crystal waters gushing miles below us, we start our two hour decent by carefully climbing down the rock face ladders and foot paths. This evening is enjoyed relaxing in the stillness of the Drakensburg sharing stories over a wholesome dinner.

Day 5 Amphitheatre – Dundee
After breakfast we continue to Dundee, and joined by a passionate local guide we visit the battlefield sites which date from colonial wars involving the British, Zulu and Afrikaner settlers, - Blood River, Talana Hill and Rorke’s Drift. This evening we return to nearby Dundee savoring the night at a quaint lodge in this agricultural town, once occupied by the British forces.

Day 6 Dundee – Durban
Departing the Battlefields, via Pietermaritzburg, arriving in Botha’s Hill overlooking the Inanda valley (valley of a thousand hills), we join a guided tour of a traditional Zulu village, including a dance show by little children and village leadersders, followed by a guided tour on a reptile farm. Lunch in a rustic restaurant in the valley. Continuing down hill, arriving in Durban we visit Ushaka Marine World hosting fascinating salt water aquariums. We are dropped off at a Durban North lodge where our tour ends.

Transport

Accommodation