Berg, Battlefields and Bush. Escort to Thukela - 240km

ESTCOURT

Estcourt, an important industrial town, also serves a prosperous stock breeding and agricultural area. It is a convenient gateway to some of the Battlefields Route sites. Estcourt , on the banks of the Bushman’s River,  was first named Bushmans River Post, or Bushmans Drift. In 1863, it was renamed after Thomas HS Estcourt, who had sponsored a number of British settlers under the Byrne immigration scheme. The town’s historic buildings include the Powder Magazine (1859), first Government School (1876) and Railway Bridge (1885).

GIANT’S CASTLE GAME RESERVE

...lies on a grassy plateau amid the deep valleys of the Bushman’s and Little Thukela rivers, with the Drakensberg forming an impressive backdrop. Proclaimed in 1904, the 34 000-ha reserve forms part of the Natal Drakensberg Park, and is home to herds of eland, as well as grey rhebok, mountain reedbuck, common duiker and oribi. It is also a sanctuary for the endangered bearded vulture (Gypaetus barbatus), which can be seen gliding overhead or from the hide where carcasses are put during the winter months to supplement the birds’ diet.

Giant’s Castle is renowned for its rock paintings, and these can be viewed on a guided tour of the Main Caves, which contain over 540 individual paintings. Visitors can explore the valleys and undulating grassy hills along a network of trails covering 285 km. These range from under 2 km to self-guided overnight trails and guided wilderness trails in the reserve’s Injasuti section. The Hillside section of the reserve is the base for daily horse rides and overnight horseback trails. A variety of accommodation types are available for overnight visitors.

THE MOOR PARK NATURE RESERVE

...covers 264 ha of grassland, thornveld, valley bushveld and sandstone cliffs at the head of the Wagendrift Dam. Among the species of game to be seen are black wildebeest, blesbok, Burchell’s zebra, mountain reedbuck and impala, while some 190 bird species have been recorded to date. Picnic facilities are provided and visitors can set off on the Old Furrow Trail, a 6-km-long self-guided interpretive trail. Veglaer, where the Voortrekkers fought a three-day battle against a large Zulu force from 13 to 15 August 1838, has been inundated by the Wagendrift Dam. The dam is a popular destination with boating, yachting, canoeing and angling enthusiasts.

FORT DURNFORD

Situated on the crest of a hill overlooking the Bushman’s River, Fort Durnford was built on the site of a post established in 1847 against San raiders. Originally named the Ordnance Reserve, the post provided an excellent vantage point over the area and the two drifts over the river. A detachment of the 45th Regiment was stationed here, and various rough walls were built. Following the Langalibalele Rebellion of 1873, a sturdy stone fort was built in 1874–75 to protect the town from a possible attack by the Zulu.

It was named after Major Anthony Durnford who commanded the Natal Carbineers during the ill-fated attack on Langalibalele in which three carbineers and two black auxiliaries were killed. Durnford, who commanded the Number 2 Column when British forces invaded Zululand, was killed during the heroic last stand at Isandlwana. The fort is now a museum, with interesting defence mechanisms and a reconstructed Amangwane homestead in the grounds.

SAAILAAGER

...was the site where Voortrekker leader Gert Maritz formed a laager on the banks of the Bushman’s River in early 1838 to guard against a possible Zulu attack. While the trekkers were encamped here, plots were laid out for cultivation and irrigated with water from the river. Following the murder of Piet Retief on 6 February 1838, Zulu forces attacked the Voortrekker laagers and camps in the Bloukrans and Bushman’s river valleys on 16 and 17 February. Since Saailaager was off the line of attack of the main force, it was not attacked until later in the day, giving Maritz time to prepare. Another factor in the trekkers’ favour was that the Bushman’s River was in flood, and the Zulu strategy of crossing the river by forming a human chain could be thwarted by shooting the anchor men on the banks. As a result, Maritz and his party were able to repel the attack successfully.

ARMOURED TRAIN CEMETERY AND MEMORIAL

A plaque and the graves of four British soldiers mark the site where Winston Churchill, war correspondent for the London Morning Post, was captured on 15 November 1899. The 25-year-old Churchill was one of 164 people aboard an armoured train that came under Boer fire as it approached a bend in the railway line near the Bloukrans River. The driver increased speed, and as the train rounded a bend it crashed into rocks which had been placed on the line. The three trucks were derailed, but the locomotive managed to break through and continue on to Frere. Losses to the British totalled seven dead (three died of wounds), 45 wounded and 74 taken prisoner.