About Mthunzini
The Zulu word emthunzini means "a place in the shade" but in the history of this beautiful small coastal town it refers specifically to the place under the milkwood trees near the Umlalazi River where the White Zulu chief, John Dunn, would meet with the tribal elders of the area.Visiting the town today gives exactly that feeling - a place in the shade.
Blessed with a sub-tropical climate (humid summers and mild winters) and a high annual rainfall, Mtunzini - or The Village, as the locals often refer to it - boasts a clean, safe, peaceful and abundant environment with a stunning outlook over the Umlalazi Nature Reserve and the sea.
Mtunzini was declared a Conservancy in 1995 and has also been awarded for its commitment to the preservation of its natural heritage. A grove of raphia palms beside the railway line is one of the few declared natural monuments in the country and is the best place to spot the rare Palmnut Vulture which nests close to the top of the palm.
The town boasts a variety of leisure activities - including a challenging nine-hole 71 par golf course, fishing, waterskiing, tennis, bowls and horse riding - as well as a range of accommodation establishments and restaurants, making Mtunzini the ideal coastal base for exploring the nearby game reserves and surrounding cultural and historical attractions.
Mtunzini's 'sense of place' stems from the community's recognition that it is an integral part of an ecosystem and that, as inhabitants, they will have an impact on the environment. Finding a way of minimising this impact, is what forms the basis of much heated debate amongst Mtunzini residents. As pressure for coastal real estate intensifies, Mtunzini is determined to focus on its natural heritage and to promote conservation - rather than the type of development which has marred much of KwaZulu-Natal's coastline.
There are many differences of opinion in this ongoing debate but all residents agree that the 'sense of place' is what has drawn them to Mtunzini and that it is worth protecting.Mtunzini's streets and gardens are graced by an enormous variety of sub-tropical palms but only four species occur naturally on the east coast of South Africa - and if one is prepared to do some hunting, one can find examples of all four in and around Mtunzini.
Two of these - the Wild date palm (Phoenix reclinata) and the Lala palm (Hyphaene coriacea) - occur here naturally and are fairly easy to spot. The Raphia palm (Raphia australis), which has been introduced from Kosi Bay (near the border with Mozambique) prefers swamp conditions and a large colony of these grows beside the railway line near the entrance to the Umlalazi Nature Reserve. The Pondo coconut palm (Jubaeopsis caffra) only grows on two river banks in the Eastern Cape and was introduced to an arboretum established by Dr Ian Garland at Twinstreams, south of Mtunzini. It can be seen on trails around the Twinstreams Environmental Education Centre.
It is, however, the colony of raphia palms to which Mtunzini owes its fame. The original colony was established in the early 1900's as a trial to produce fibre for a broom-making industry. The palms flourished beyond expectation but the leaf fibre proved unsatisfactory and the commercial interest in them faded.
However, the townsfolk remained enthusiastic about 'their' raphia palm and have adopted it and the Palmnut Vulture, which have subsequently begun nesting here, as symbols of the town.
This magnificent palm can grow to a height of 25m and its leaves are amongst the largest in the entire plant kingdom. Their fronds can be seen emerging majestically above the canopy of forests around Mtunzini like plumes of ostrich feathers. Their life cycle is short and the palm dies after flowering and fruiting at about 25 years.
Within each fruit a thin layer of orange flesh covers the seed and this forms an essential part of the diet of the Palmnut Vulture. A wooden boardwalk allows visitors easy access to the heart of the raphia palm grove where the prime specimens create an awesome cathedral-like effect.
Mtunzini Surrounds
ESHOWE
It's cool, elevated position on a hilltop overlooking the hot and humid coastal plain gives Eshowe its serenity but the Dlinza Forest around which the town wraps itself, gives Eshowe its spirit.No other town in South Africa has blended so organically into its environment as Eshowe. The core of the 250-hectare coastal scarp forest is a declared nature reserve but tracts of the beautiful, high forest as well as patches of wild flowers and grassland are dispersed throughout the leafy avenues of the town.
Blessed with this abundant natural diversity, Eshowe residents boast that that there is a tree in flower every day of the year in their town.This lush environment and refreshing climate has always attracted human habitation and no less than four Zulu kings have at some stage lived here though it probably owes its modern beginnings to the Norwegian missionaries who established a station here in the mid-19th century.During the Anglo Zulu War of 1879 British soldiers used the mission as a fort and were besieged by the Zulu army for 10 weeks.
During the Zulu Civil War a few years later, Eshowe became the British military headquarters and a large peacekeeping force of 3 000 British troops was encamped in tents at Fort Curtis for about 16 years.There was a rush of trading ventures to cater to the needs of such a large garrison and during this period it was made the capital of the colony of Zululand.No evidence of Fort Curtis remains - it occupied a large area in the vicinity of the present Eshowe Sports Club - but the town remains a busy commercial hub long after the departure of the last British soldier.
Today it continues to charm visitors and was recently voted amongst the top 10 towns of South Africa by a popular travel magazine.
Eshowe offers a variety of unusual attractions. Beside the forest itself with its hiking trails, fern-covered glades and rich diversity, visitors can now get a new perspective on the forest - a bird's eyeview - from the recently-built Dlinza Forest Aerial Boardwalk.
The boardwalk - the first in South Africa - is a 125m-walkway which takes visitors from the forest understorey into its leafy canopy giving a close glimpse of life high above the forest floor - birds nesting and feeding, epiphytic orchids flowering in dappled light and giant trees competing for light and space.
At the end of the walkway, visitors can climb the 20m-high viewing tower which emerges above the canopy of the trees and has magnificent views over the forest and of the countryside leading down to the coast.
Spectacular views can be enjoyed from Martyr's Cross on the outskirts of Eshowe. The simple cross on a high bluff overlooking the deep uMlalazi river valley below marks the burial site of the first Zulu Christian martyr, Maqhamusela Khanyile, a convert who was executed in 1877 for refusing to serve in King Cetshwayo's army.
The site of the original Norwegian Lutheran Church mission station kwaMondi - known as the place of 'Mondi' which was Rev Ommund Oftebro's Zulu name - is nearby but all that remains of this historic site is the Norwegian cemetery.
During the Anglo Zulu War the British forces were surrounded by Zulu warriors for 10 weeks at kwaMondi. By the time relief arrived 25 British officers and soldiers had died due to the lack of adequate medical provisions and they are buried in the nearby British Military Cemetery.
Just a little further south east from this site is Mbomboshana - the highest point in the area - where the besieged soldiers, using shaving mirrors, heliographed messages to their comrades based at Fort Pearson near the mouth of uThukela river.
Visitors wishing to experience Zulu culture at first hand have several options, they can go on one of several tours into the surrounding rural areas or they can visit Shakaland or kwaBhekithunga in the Nkwalini Valley just north of Eshowe.
Both cultural villages offer a fascinating few hours of learning about Zulu customs, tasting traditional Zulu beer and cuisine as well as watching a splendid display of Zulu dancing. Visitors wishing to stay over are accommodated in traditional Zulu grass huts.
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