Cetshwayo's grave |
Keith Smith
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AG
Yes it is quite permissable to visit the grave but it is rather difficult to find it and it is a long drive over sometimes difficult roads. Not a venture to be attempted lightly after rain. I would recommend the use of a local guide, which would not be a great expense, relatively speaking. This is definitely 4WD territory. KIS |
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Keith Smith
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AG
I should add that if you manage to get there, you will probably be greetd by a 'caretaker' and may be asked to sign the visitors' book. I shouldn't need to suggest that the appropriate level of decorum is required during the visit. KIS |
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AG
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KIS
Many thanks for your comments, the vehicle we intend use should cope with difficult roads, but are there any sign posts to indicate the correct turning off the main road ? It is something we would like to do ourselves, if it could be done. AG |
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Alan
Site Admin
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Anyone know the Google Earth co-ordinates?
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Keith Smith
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AG
No, there are no signposts in the Nkandla Forest and precious little habitation. To give you some idea, you will begin the journey at the little town of Nkandla and end up not far from the Thukela River and Kranskop. Alan, I don't have the co-ordinates of the site - I tried to look at Google Earth yesterday but couldn't locate the place because the tracks are difficult to follow. I do know that at one point you can look across the valley and see a white building which is next to the grave site. The grave itself is still within a small grove of trees. KIS |
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Keith Smith
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AG
Just to add a little more substance to what I wrote a little earlier: 1. There is a very good map of the Nkandla Forest produced by the SA Surveys and Mapping Department. If you live in SA, then you should be able to buy map 2831CC Mbongolwane in the 1:50,000 series. This shows the major and minor roads and tracks and the grave site is on there (somewhere). 2. There is an interesting journal article of Ken Gillings' visit to the site in 1972. You can read and/or download the artilce at http://samilitaryhistory.org/journal.html. The edition is Vol. 2 No. 4 published in December 1972. 3. If you want to find out more precisely where the grave is located, or would like to have a guide, contact Rex Duke, who took me there some years ago. He and I also managed to locate Fort Evelyn on the way home. His email address is (or was) [email protected]. Good luck with your trip. KIS |
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Sawubona
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Never been there, but perhaps the "white building" is at 28.43.40 S/ 31.07.55 E? That's the only building I can see in the Nkandla Forest and it certainly appears to be white.
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Sawubona
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Zooming in closer leads me to think that that's not a building at all, although there appear to be at least three vehicles parked next to it. Could that be the actual gravesite, Keith?
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AG
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KIS
All comments have been taken on board, and it has given us something to think about. At the moment we're leaning towards having a go on our own, but no signposts is a bit deterring. We will look in to it a bit more, and think carefully before we decide. Anyway thanks again. AG |
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Martin Everett
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Why do you not send a private message to Ken Gillings?
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_________________ Martin Everett Brecon, Powys |
Alan
Site Admin
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I have just spoken to Ken and he has given a different set of co-ordinates if you would like to check. The image is not too clear.
28� 45.457'S 31� 04.804'E He tells me that on the weekend of the 27th / 28th October 2012, he's leading a SA Military History Society tour to the 1906 / Bhambatha Rebellion sites, including Mpanza, Cetshwayo's Grave and Mome Gorge. Would those dates coincide with anyone? Ken is based in Pinetown. |
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Keith Smith
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Alan
Thank you for the new reference - I was about to tell Saw that his reference was too far from the Thukela and Middle Drift but this one is almost spot on. How he found what he did must have taken a huge effort and I'm sorry he was somewhat out. The co-ordinates that I have found for the 'rough' site of the grave are 20 45 21.82S 31 04 43.83E. You can see the white building to which I referred just to the north of the grave, as far as I can remember. I am sending you an email with a photo of the white building across the valley - perhaps you would be kind enough to put it up for me. If you follow the track south-east and then sort of north-east from the grave site, you will come to the spot from where the photo was taken, across the valley. You will also see that it is about 16 km from Middle Drift on the Thukela. KIS |
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Last edited by Keith Smith on Fri Aug 24, 2012 1:34 pm; edited 1 time in total |
Keith Smith
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AG
Having located the actual site of the grave on Google Earth, I can now give you directions to get there. Follow these directions first on Google Earth, then you will see the whole of the trip. 1. Get yourself to Nkandla township. 2. Continue on the (yellow) road by which you entered the town, going roughly south. Travel for about 14.5km (as the crow flies) slightly E of south, where you will find a track junction on your right at 28 44 39.04S 31 08 24.88E. The track begins as a white line, which peters out, but follows the ridge tops more or less west. 3. Follow this track roughly 6km slightly south of west (again as the crow flies), keeping right at two intersections. When you have a valley on your right, look across and see if you can spot the white building, as in the photograph I have asked Alan to put up for me. That is where you need to get to. Having done the journey on GE, decide whether or not it is feasible without a guide. Whatever you do, identify way points on GE and use them with a GPS to find your way. KIS |
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AG
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KIS
I really appreciate your perseverance on this. I am now trying to do the journey on GE, and it is difficult. I think I'm on the ridge after the white track peters out, but it is all a bit vague along this way. Is the white building you speak of , a long white building ? AG |
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Cetshwayo's grave |
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