Touring South Africa!

This weekend was all about the battlefields. I heard about it before as an incredibly boring trip that had great food.

The food was great, I’ll give them that.

Seeing as I am a fan of history, I knew I just may like this trip more than some people who had gone before. The hard part was the driving – We drove for 5+ hours on Saturday, and drove for even longer on Sunday. The first stop was at Blood River.

Blood River was an intense place. In the battle, the Boers lagered (or circled) their wagons for defense, and waited for the Zulu force to attack. There were 20,000 or so Zulu warriors attacking these people, whose families had already been slaughtered by the Zulu. There were 470 Boers. The Boers fought with muskets, while the Zulu only had their short stabbing spears. While the muskets took a long time to reload, the Boers funneled the Zulus through certain points in their lager, causing their numbers to be worthless. 3000 Zulu were killed, and only 3 of the Afrikaners were injured, while none died. We went to the Boer site, but there was a site for the Zulu dead right across the river (There are memorials for both sides at most of the battle sites, because both people groups still inhabit the areas and they realize the importance of human life, regardless of ancestry).

We reenacted the battle. I was a Zulu. I killed a couple Boers.

After more driving, we ended up in Dundee, which is a city. We stayed overnight there, so after we pulled in at 4, we had plenty of free time. I was blessed with my own room (which at first seemed like a bad lonely thing, because I was the only guy with his own room, but after I compared our rooms, I lucked out. They didn’t even have bathrooms in their rooms), so I had that privacy for the first time in a while. When walking around the village, I found a street was called McKenzie Street. That was exciting. Then we walked a different direction and found a street called Smith Street. So we realized we had been at the intersection of McKenzie and Smith! We were so excited we walked all the way back to get a camera. Then when we went to take a picture, we realized someone had torn down the sign for Smith Street at the intersection, so while we were at McKenzie and Smith, there’s no picture to prove it. I was disappointed.

Dinner was incredible. Best meal I’ve had in South Africa. Great pork, great chicken, and the bobotie was so damn delicious. That bobotie made me fall in love with native South African food.

I turned in for an early night, finished Water for Elephants (great book), watched some Pitch Black (on the TV that I had and none of the other guys did), showered (once again, only guy with a shower), and slept. When I woke up early, I watched Cricket and showered again.

After more driving Sunday morning, we ended up at a place called Isandlwana. It was a really cool looking mountain, where a ridiculous battle took place. The British commander, Lord Chelmsford, didn’t take the Zulu seriously, and a giant Zulu force routed the British for what was known as the worst loss in battle by the British up to WWII. We got to enjoy that place a little, and then drove to Rorke’s Drift, which was also intense. I think this was my favorite site, just from the imagery I got and the camaraderie I know the men must have experienced. After running from Isandlwana, the 150 troops that made it the many miles to this point fortified their defenses at this two-building area. They defended the garrison during a 12 hour attack that was a constant barrage of the 3,000 to 4,000 Zulu soldiers who followed them. There were some incredible stories of valor from this one, and 11 Victoria Crosses were awarded at this battle (more by a single regiment for one action than any other battle in England’s history). It was really interesting to hear the stories. When the Zulus finally ceased their attack and returned to their lands, the British soldiers only had 900 of their 20,000 rounds remaining after the mission.

It was really moving and interesting to hear all these different battles, from points of view from all these different warriors. We heard one focused on the Boers, one on the Zulus, and one on the British. It was a refreshing way to see all of the members in the war as equals, and not “good guys” or “bad guys.”

We drove back on Sunday, and that took probably 4 hours from Dundee where we had lunch. I spent over 10 hours on a bus this weekend for sure. We watched Remember the Titans, Peter Pan, The Blind Side, and the beginning of Mulan this weekend.

It was great to spend time and talk to people on the bus, but as soon as I got back I was ready to be done. I spent a solid 3+ hours working on journals I should have been doing weekly for service sites, and finished most of those before going to bed.

Today was a day filled with class. Nothing significant, just class. There is literally nothing noteworthy that happened today. I played with paper dolls with Shelli. I listened to what all the other service sites are doing. I talked to Francis and I think he likes me (Francis is our awesome teacher).

Tonight will consist of plenty: hopefully a movie will be on that list. I have a reflection paper to write that will be easy because I've already written this blog. I have plenty of other little things to do, but I think I'll have time after dinner to just hang out. I need a rest before we're back at it at service sites tomorrow.