Zululand Eco-Adventures | Zulu Culture Experience | Eshowe
Zulu Life…Real Close.
Zululand Eco-Adventures specializes in REAL Zulu cultural experiences.
Zululand Eco-Adventures specialises in REAL Zulu cultural experiences. Zulu Life…Real Close.We have packages that are tailor-made around you and specific events in the area. We have been doing Cultural Zulu Tours for over 20 years and are the only tour operators to offer so many varied real-life experiences in Zulu life.Our team of Graham Chennells & Joe Mdluli has a vast and intimate knowledge of KZN and the Zulu people, and with our expertise, we can make your experience the best in Southern Africa.
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WELCOME to Eshowe.com – the site that brings you all information on things to do in and around Eshowe, Zululand.
Eshowe, a town set on a hill, is situated around a 250-hectare indigenous coastal scarp forest. Eshowe offers visitors a variety of unusual attractions, the most striking being the Dlinza Forest itself, with hiking trails and picnic spots and the magnificent Dlinza Forest Aerial Boardwalk.
Dlinza forest aerial boardwalk
The Boardwalk, the first of its kind in Southern Africa and exclusive to Eshowe, is a 150-meter walkway built above the forest floor, which allows visitors to view the flora, fauna, and avifauna at a comfortable level. It ends with a 20-meter high tower, offering dramatic views of both the forest canopy and surrounding countryside. The Boardwalk employs a number of trained birding guides who are available to show visitors some of the delights of the forest.
Here one can spot the shy Narina Trogon or see Long-Crested Eagles, as well as the rare Spotted Thrush and many other forest dwellers. The Ironwoods, Wild Plums and other forest giants give shelter to orchids, clivias, bushbuck, duiker, Narina trogons, Delegorgue’s pigeon and wood owls. One hundred and eighty different wildflower species blossom in the grasslands, and Eshowe is one of the very few towns in the country which has trees in flower every day of the year!
Long Crested Eagle
Great Egret
Yellow Throated Warbler
Eshowe offers a window on history as it is the oldest town in Zululand. King Cetshwayo was born and died here and it was King Mpande who first invited the Norwegian missionary, Reverend Ommund Oftebro, to set up his mission station here in 1861, thereby forever changing the face of Eshowe.
With a rich history, Eshowe has been home to FOUR Zulu Kings: Shaka, Mpande, Cetshwayo, and Dinuzulu.
Eshowe was the British Military headquarters after the Anglo-Zulu War of 1879. During this war, a force of troops under Colonel Pearson was besieged by the Zulu forces for 10 weeks in the immediate area of the KwaMondi Mission Station around which they built the earthworks of Fort Eshowe, still to be seen today. Shortly thereafter, Eshowe was officially selected by the British as the post-war Capital of Zululand.
Fort Nongqayi
The fascinating cross-cultural history of the area is told at the Zululand Historical Museum, which is housed at Fort Nongqayi, the striking white mudbrick and three-turreted fort established in 1883 as the base for the most unusual peace-keeping Zulu force, called Nongqayi. Amongst its many displays, the Museum offers a rare look at John Dunn, South Africa’s only official white Zulu iNkosi and husband to 48 Zulu wives! Another unique attraction at the Museum Village is the Vukani Museum, housing the world’s largest collection of traditional Zulu Arts and Crafts. The Mission Museum Chapel, also on site, has Norwegian history.