Lush indigenous forests, sugar plantations and orchards surround Eshowe, a town steeped in both Zulu and colonial history. Perched atop a rugged hill, it certainly is a village fit for kings, as its location ensures that it escapes the worst of the subtropical humidity and heat prevalent at the coast, only 25 kilometres away.
Originally established as a mission station by a Norwegian missionary - Ommund Oftebro first came here in 1860 after being granted permission by King Cetshwayo - Zulu people referred to the dorp as kwaMondi, after Oftebro’s first name. The name Eshowe is said to possibly come from the gentle noise of the wind through the trees.
At the start of Lord Chelmsford's Zulu campaign, he sent Colonel Pearson to establish an advanced base for the final push on the Zulu capita...
See trees the way birds do at Dlinza Forest in Eshowe, KwaZulu-Natal, where a 150-metre-long aerial boardwalk has been built through the tre...