Pre Holiday - Great service from TCE and we received a fantastic holiday itinerary booklet which contains a very in depth guide to the Zulu war by Ian Knight containg some nice maps .
Flights - the flights from and to the UK as well as the internal flight to Durban were all BA and included meals and drinks , a very long flight I don't fly very well but others were snoring away for most of the 12 hours .
The Guide -What can I say Ian Knight is a fantastic guy ,not only full of expert knowledge but has areal passion for his subject ,his talks were informative and funny at the right points and he was excellent company during our down time , Paul the tour manager teeamed up with us at Durban and again was abrilliant guy , ex SA army and an architect by trade who only does the tours because of his love of the subject and his friendship with Ian ,again a great man to talk with full of amazing stories and again a brilliant sense of humour .Our driver April was a very intelligent guy speaking 11 languages and was full of fun and soon like one of the gang .
Hotels - all amazing ,the staff ,food and accomodation all top rate ,first we stopped at Princes Grant a very upmarket golfing hotel set on the Indian Ocean , next Shakaland the cultural village built for the TV series Shaka Zulu set in the area were Shaka ruled ,then Itahla game reserve it was amazing waking up with the wildlife outside your doors to greet you and finally Isandlwana lodge where you were made to feel like part of the family and again 5 star service .Remeber though that this is Africa nd we did have afew power cuts ,internet is almost non existent and there are bugs,retiles and animals which are frequent visitors to the rooms . Rooms ,all meals ( which were superb) and drinks with meals are included .
The Tours - Amazing , we saw all the big battle sites and places of interest plus almost every day we took short detours to take in remote graves or vantage points used by the armies and Ians stories just brought it all together superbly .All museum and entrance fees are included .We also saw alot of modern Zulu life which has not changed much in the last 100 years and we had am amazing evening safari included as well .
At Rorkes Drift I sat and listened to another companies tour guide give a full description of the war from start to finish ,it took him 22 minutes ,answered no questions and included some real school boy errors so beware other trips?
Africa is wonderful ,the scenery the people ,the animals ,each night we sat and watched electrical storms light up the night sky ,really beautiful ,BUT the trip does have adown side ,its very energetic dont attempt it if you cant walk far or over very rugged ground , you need to take good wide brimmed hats ,lots of factor 50 sun screen and bug repellent ,long trousers and long socks with good walking boots .
I can only say do this trip if you have a serious interest in the AZW ,save up for it you wont regret it at all .
the link to the 2020 tour
https://www.theculturalexperience.com/tours/the-zulu-war-battlefield-tour/?sid=1cd9f5313ac9718d7070a8c50da62d16
