A Unique Cultural Experience
South Africa has a rich diversity of people and cultures, offering tourists a chance to encounter a unique cross-cultural experience. Include a visit to one of the cultural villages in the heart of Zululand to really explore the glorious diversity of the people and the country.
On your visit to a cultural village, you’ll experience a reconstruction of contemporary and/or historical dwellings and a display of artefacts. You’ll meet locals, who may or may not be in traditional dress, listen to their stories about their cultures and way of life as well as taste some traditional cuisine. Here you’ll also experience traditional dances, music and cultural rituals.
Kingdom of the Zulu People
Zululand is known as the kingdom of the Zulu people. The area is rich in tradition and culture, and the Zulu people in the region have graciously invited tourists into the heart of their villages and lifestyle.
DumaZulu Traditional Village allows visitors to experience the culture and language of the Zulu people - you can interact with the villagers and learn more about their way of life and their practices, rituals and ceremonies. Visitors will also be treated to a sample of traditional Zulu beer, which the villagers make themselves. Cultural (traditional singing and dancing) shows are performed to give visitors a glimpse into how the Zulu people celebrate their heritage. It is followed by a cooked lunch.
Exhilarating Cultural Experience
Visitors of Zululand can take a day trip to the Isibindi Zulu Lodge, where they’ll have the opportunity to experience rural Zulu life. Guests are rowed across the nearby river and treated to a tour of the traditional homestead, where they can interact with a sangoma (a traditional Zulu doctor) who will ‘throw the bones’, a traditional Zulu art of fortune-telling and rain wishing.
Many of the towns in Zululand were once homesteads of the proud Zulu nation, like Nongoma (where the current Zulu King Goodwill Zwelithini resides) and Magudu (where a Zulu Rain Queen used to live). Trips to these towns will include historical facts on the Zulu people that once thrived in the area.
Nature, History and Culture
If you arrive at Simunye Village 10 km east of Melmoth in KwaZulu-Natal on horseback or in a cart, you are moving at the appropriate pace (or you can choose a 4x4 transfer). The name means 'we are one' and it was created in the time of King Dingane for the Biyela clan, one of whose daughters he married.
It's a real Zulu village, and you share their history, culture and traditions - although you'll be suitably pampered in the modern Zulu-themed lodge. You can even arrange a wedding there, in traditional Zulu style if you like (cattle lobola optional). This is as close as you can come to experiencing the spirit of old Africa without actually marrying into the clan.