KwaZulu-Natal has a long, proud history. It is renowned as the home of the Zulu kingdom and has a diverse racial, cultural and natural heritage, making it attractive to both domestic and foreign visitors. The English so loved it they made it a home from home and the province retains an element of its colonial charm, especially in the coastal city of Durban.
Durban is rich in culture and fashion and is one of the most popular destinations in South Africa. The beachfront offers all-year-round bathing and is a perfect setting for a host of ocean sports.
The KwaZulu-Natal North Coast stretches from Port Zimbali to Thukela river. This paradise encompasses a string of beautiful beaches and rocky outcrops against a backdrop of gently rolling hills covered in sugarcane. Here the 19th century monarch, King Shaka, consolidated his Zulu empire. His burial site is at KwaDukuza, while Chief Albert Luthuli’s grave lies in a quiet churchyard in Groutville.
The North Coast offers visitors ultra-modern facilities at sun-drenched seaside resorts such as Umhlanga and Ballito, and ancient traditions in a lush sub-tropical environment, such as at Empangeni in the Zulu heartlands.
The South Coast is one of the most popular holiday destinations in the province, with scenic drives from Durban through Margate and Port Shepstone to the Wild Coast.
Golden beaches and bays, and thick, sub-tropical bush are interrupted by small, fun-oriented holiday towns and villages. The warm ocean is ideal for bathing and other water activities, as well as dolphin and whale watching.
The South Coast boasts several great golf courses — San Lameer and the Wild Coast Sun rate among South Africa’s best. The hinterland is beautiful, with rolling hills covered in sugarcane, thatched rondavel homesteads, patches of typical African bushveld and sweeping valleys and gorges.
In the far north of KwaZulu-Natal lies the Greater St Lucia Wetlands Park. This was proclaimed South Africa’s first World Heritage Site in December 1999. The St Lucia area is situated in Maputaland, close to Zululand where King Shaka reigned, and offers superlative scenic vistas along its 280km coastline. Thickly forested coastal dunes — some of the largest in the world — separate the sea from the land. Activities include guided walks, wilderness trails, bird watching, and turtle and whale watching.
A second World Heritage site is the uKhahlamba-Drakensberg Park. This global treasure is home to more than 550 San rock-art sites and 40 000 paintings — one of the biggest rock-art sites in the world. Golf, horseriding, abseiling, paragliding and trout fishing are commonplace in this majestic paradise.
The KwaZulu-Natal Midlands is a vast country of green hills and extensive forests, swift-flowing rivers and dams. It is often compared to the midlands of England owing to its lush, well-kept pastures and plump dairy cows. Its more rugged and mountainous landscapes and typical African thornveld make it truly unique.
Tourism and hospitality in this area have thrived thanks to a world-class arts and crafts cottage industry, which has developed into a well-known, organised route known as the Midlands Meander.
The Meander boasts a fascinating array of galleries and workshops with a vast number of hospitality establishments offering accommodation from rustic to luxury.
In Zululand proper, eMakhosini — The Valley of Kings — is considered to be one of the richest cultural and historic sites in Africa. Once the stage for battles that shaped the course of Southern African history and an area that gave birth to King Shaka and the Zulu nation, eMakhosini is fast being recognised as a jewel in South Africa’s tourism crown.
It is a place of great natural beauty rich in ecological diversity, from highveld grassland to valley bushland. These habitats support a variety of wildlife, such as Mountain Reedbuck, Steenbuck, Impala and the unique Grey Duiker. Rare birds, such as the Ground Hornbill, Secretary Bird and Bald Ibis, have made their homes here.
The Battlefields is where the present meets the past. Here you can watch re-enactments of battles gone by. Spioenkop, Blood River, Majuba, Rorke’s Drift and Isandlwana represent tales of epic struggles, bravery, betrayal and triumph.
Kayaking and river rafting are popular in this area, most of it taking place on the Buffalo river. Accommodation ranges from hutted camps to luxury safari lodges.
East Griqualand, at the south-western tip of the province, comprises the towns of Matatiele, Cedarville, Swartberg, Kokstad and Franklin, one of the country’s best-kept secrets. It remained largely undiscovered until the mid-1800s, when its only permanent inhabitants were the San.
However, 1866 saw the arrival of the first permanent settlers, a group of Griquas under the leadership of Adam Kok, who had been given “No Man’s Land” by the Queen of England. They settled in what is today called Kokstad, where a memorial to Kok as well as other historical sites and buildings, like the world’s only Griqua church, are to be found. The town is now the commercial hub of East Griqualand.
Rising from an altitude of about 2 000m to more than 3 000m, East Griqualand offers spectacular peaks and grass wetlands that are home to a large variety of bird life. The area also has fishing waters where trophy-size trout and bass are landed.
For more information, contact Tourism KwaZulu-Natal