Discover the History of the Boer & Zulu Wars of South Africa
About the tour: Discover the History of the Boer & Zulu Wars of South Africa
Tour Introduction
Seen the iconic war movie, Zulu and want to understand more about the true story behind the motion picture? Then join us as we delve into the history of the South African Military and the legendary Boer War. We see battlefields that are rich in British history, such as Rorke’s Drift and Isandlwana. Explore Ladysmith and Colenso and experience the history around Ulundi and Zululand, all whilst we discuss the battles and learn the true history of South African Boer War.
Tour Includes
- 9 nights hotel with breakfast
- 2 breakfasts & 2 evening meals in-flight
- 7 evening meals
- Fully escorted in South Africa with a Specialist Historical Guide
- Outbound scheduled flight to Johannesburg returning from Durban via Johannesburg
- Hotel porterage for 1 bag per person
We offer flexible payment options
Once you have booked your battlefield tour either online, or by telephone (), you have the flexibility of how you pay off the remainder of your balance. You can -
- Use our balance payment facility online to make and track your card payments. You can pay as much as you want up until your final due date or pay it all, the choice is yours.
- Send payments via online banking.
- Send payments via cheque.
- Call us and make a card payment, either a small amount or as lump sum until your final due date.
Our contact and online banking payment details will be on your confirmation invoice to remind you of your choices.
Tour Itinerary
For customers living outside of the UK, if you want to make a booking you will need to provide a UK postcode on our online booking system. If you are not able to provide a relevant UK postcode then you can enter the postcode for London Victoria Coach Station – SW1W 9TP. You should then be able to proceed to complete your booking.
If you do encounter a problem then you can speak to one of our friendly advisors who will be happy to help.
Please Note : After completing your booking, a member of our Customer Service team will be in touch to make sure everything is okay.
Either e-mail our Reservations Department or call on 01709 830 333 and they will check to see whether you can visit a particular cemetery on any of our Battlefield Tours, if we are not able to fit it into our itinerary then you could take some time out of the tour and do this independently by taxi or public transport.
Day - 1
Fly overnight from Heathrow to Johannesburg.
Included meals: Dinner*
Day - 2
Morning arrival in Johannesburg where you will be met by your guide and transfered to the town of Dundee and the Royal Country Inn, our base for the next five nights.
Included meals: Breakfast, Dinner
Key Visits
- Dundee
Days 3 & 4 - Isandlwana & Rorke’s Drift
The next two days will be spent looking at the battlefields of Isandlwana and Rorke’s Drift. At Isandlwana we will see: the battlefield where 24,000 Zulu impis out-manoeuvred and wiped out almost an entire British Regiment (The 24th) in less than half an hour! This historic site of Isandlwana, KwaZulu-Natal marks the British colonial army’s biggest defeat; this was their first encounter with the warriors of the Zulu nation in 1879. The hundreds of whitewashed stone cairns scattered across the battlefield mark the graves of British troops. This was an embarrassing defeat for the British as the Zulus were armed with assegais and spears representing a technologically inferior force. The on-site museum contains all of the details and memorabilia of the battle. Rorke’s Drift is the site where 139 British soldiers, including injured men, held the re-supply depot against 4,500 Zulu warriors for 11.5 hours before managing to ward them off. Eleven Victoria Crosses were awarded for the valour displayed by the British in this battle.
Included meals: Breakfast, Dinner
Isandlwana Battlefield (4)
Key Visits
- Isandlwana Battlefield
- Zulu Memorial, Isandlwana
- Rorke's Drift Battlefield
Day - 5 - Dundee
Spend time today in and around Dundee seeing the excellent Talana Museum displaying the events of the Anglo-Boer War.
Included meals: Breakfast, Dinner
Key Visits
- Dundee
- Talana Museum
Day - 6 - Ladysmith & Colenso
We head west via Ladysmith and the Siege Museum to Colenso, one of the great battles of the Anglo-Boer War, and one of the three British defeats that made up Black Week. Make your way on foot to the summit of Spioenkop where your guide recreates the tragic battle between ‘Boer and Brit’ over nine days in January 1900.
Included meals: Breakfast, Dinner
Spioenkop (3)
Key Visits
- Colenso
- Spioenkop
- Ladysmith
Day - 7 - Voortrekkers
We leave Dundee and visit the monument dedicated to the ‘Voortrekkers’ who, vastly outnumbered, heroically defended themselves against a Zulu attack. Visit Lancaster Hill, scene of an engagement between the Lancaster Regiment and the Boers after the relief of Ladysmith. Continue to Natal Spa Hot Springs and Leisure Resort in the Zululand for two nights. Tonight we will have a barbecue (Braai) dinner.
Included meals: Breakfast, Dinner
Voortrekkers Monument (2)
Key Visits
- Voortrekkers Monument
- Lancaster Hill
Day - 8 - Hlobane
Re-live the route of the British forces at Hlobane by the Zulus where the British once again underestimated the enemy and paid a heavy price. However, the situation was quickly reversed by the British the next day, as we will hear when we visit Kambula.
Included meals: Breakfast, Dinner
Key Visits
- Hlobane
- Kambula
Day - 9 - Zululand
Today we travel deep into the heart of Zululand seeing where the Prince Imperial of France was killed in a Zulu ambush. We continue to the famed valley of the Zulu Kings and to the Mtonjaneni Lodge in Ulundi for two nights. Mtonjaneni Lodge is a 3-star graded country-style lodge situated overlooking the Emakhosini Valley of the Kings. The lodge has an Anglo-Zulu Museum on the premises.
Included meals: Breakfast, Dinner
Zululand (2)
Key Visits
- Zululand
- Zulu kings Valley
Day - 10 - Ulundi
We will see the battlefields and experience the history around Ulundi. July 4th 1879 was to be a significant date for the Zulu nation. The battle at Ulundi was to be short lived, not only was it to be the final battle for Chief Cetewayo and his warriors but was also the break up of the Zulu nation.
Included meals: Breakfast, Dinner
Key Visits
- Ulundi
Day -11
We travel to Durban to take an afternoon flight to Johannesburg and connect with the evening overnight South African Airways flight to London.
Included meals: Dinner*
Day -12
Morning arrival at London Heathrow Airport.
Included meals: Breakfast*
*Meals marked with an asterisk are taken in flight.
Specialist Battlefield Guides
All of Leger’s battlefield tours are accompanied by specialist guides. Their individual in-depth knowledge of warfare will be informative, as well as enhance your overall experience, as they recreate a fascinating perception of the history and factual events of each battle. Discover the actual catalysts for war, the strategies employed and the final, inevitable outcomes, as well as experiencing the emotional human side of the front line.
Please note: On certain tours, you may get tour guides other that the ones listed below.
Hotel
If you prefer, then you can join the tour at the hotel. To do this, we will require a copy of your passport for identification purposes and you must advise us at the time of booking.
No reduction will be given if you should choose to do this.
All hotel rooms benefit from private bathroom facilities.
Some hotels have tea and coffee making facilities. Please check the tour pages for more information or call our Customer Service Department on 01709 830333
Most hotels have a lift, please call our Customer Service Department on 01709 830333 for more information.
Some hotels have ground floor rooms. Please email for information on individual hotels or call our Customer Service Department on 01709 830333.
Your hotels will supply towels in your room.
We are unable to guarantee that the hotel will be able to meet your dietary requirements. We find that the majority of European countries do not generally cater for vegetarians and that the meal supplied may well be what everyone else is having minus the meat.
We will of course endeavour to arrange for a vegetarian meal at the hotel. We do however suggest that you advise us of your dietary requests at the time of booking and recommend that you speak to the receptionist on arrival with regard to your request.
All hotels are of a minimum European 3-star standard and have a restaurant or bar on site or nearby.
Battlefields Country Lodge & Sports Resort, Dundee (nights 2-6), or similar.
Natal Spa Hot Springs and Leisure Resort in the Zululand (nights 7-8), or similar.
Mtonjaneni Lodge in Ulundi (nights 9-10), or similar.
Travel Options
Departure times given for each region are approximate. Please check your travel documents to confirm the actual timings.
Front row seats can be reserved for £14pp (up to 6 days duration), £22pp (7 & 8 days duration) and £25pp (9 days duration and over) on all European tours. In addition to this seats on the second row can be reserved for £7pp (up to 6 days duration), £14pp (7 & 8 days duration) and £15pp (9 days duration and over). This offer is only available for bookings of two or four persons on the front row and is subject to availability. Guaranteed front/second row seats cannot be reserved on feeder journeys to/from the U.K. port. Children under 15 years cannot occupy a front row seat due to French Law. Central view seats are free.
Please note: On some coaches the legroom on front seats may be slightly less than that available on other seats due to the presence of a modesty board in front.
If your tour is cancelled for any reason and front/second row seats are not available on your new tour you will be refunded the supplement. No other compensation will be payable.
Alternatively, we can take seating requests on your booking. However, requests are not guaranteed. All seat numbers are confirmed on travel documents approximately 7-10 days prior to departure.
We guarantee that all passengers on the same booking will be seated together on the main tour coach. Seats on the transfer coaches to and from the U.K. port are not allocated.
Hot and cold drinks are served on the main tour coaches. Prices are approximately £1 or 1.25 Euro per drink. Prices will be confirmed by the driver. Drinks may also be served on the transfer coaches but this is not guaranteed.
Transfer vehicles are routed approximately 2-3 weeks before departure and will depend on where passengers are booked to travel from on any particular date as to which route is taken. If you require further detailed information regarding the route to the port you can contact our Customer Service Department on 01709 830333 two weeks before you are due to travel.
With regard to the route taken by the main tour coach, this is determined by the driver.
All main tour coaches have on-board toilets. Transfer vehicles to and from the U.K. port may not have on-board toilets. When non-British coaches are used on transfers and tours (air holidays only) an on-board toilet may not be available. However, comfort stops will be made during long journeys.
All coaches feature air-conditioning. Should the air-conditioning system break down for a period exceeding 12 hours, compensation will be awarded up to a maximum of £10 per fare-paying passenger per tour.
Depending on the location of your pickup point, you may be picked up by coach (not necessarily the on you are touring on), minibus, taxi, National Express or Megabus service. You may then be taken to another centralised pickup location or service station. We operate a passenger interchange at Stop 24 Services, where you will meet the tour coach you are holidaying on and then continue on with your outbound journey. Similarly, on the way home, you may also change transfer vehicles at another location, to take you to your final drop off point.
One medium sized suitcase per person, which should weigh no more than 20kg when full. We may refuse to carry larger or heavier cases. Hand luggage can be stored in the overhead racks aboard the coach.
It could be either - This will be confirmed in your travel documents.
When it comes to getting to the Battlefields, Leger Holidays make it easy, with a selection of travel options for you choose from.
Travel Extras
With an overnight stay, a Door-to-Door pick up or the option to meet us at the interchange, our travel extras allow you to create a travel experience to suit your needs...
Join coach at Interchange
+ Find out moreJoin your tour coach at the interchange.
On most tours if you’d prefer to join your tour coach at Stop 24 services, you can park your car in the car park which is accredited by the Park Mark safer parking scheme and is monitored 24 hours a day by CCTV. Payment for the parking is made on arrival using the self-service machines.
Excludes tours to Ireland and the U.K. and tours travelling via Brittany Ferries.
Door-to-Door service
+ Find out moreOn Battlefield tours of 7 days’ duration or more, you don’t even have to think about getting to your local joining point. Our Door-to-Door Service collects you from your home and takes you to meet your transfer vehicile, then brings you back at the end of the holiday. Door-to-Door Service is available within a 20-mile radius of one of our free joining points and is from £90 per car, return (up to 4 passengers per vehicle).
If you live a little further afield, you can also take advantage of this convenient option for an additional charge – please enquire at the time of booking.
