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Helpmekaar
Jamie


Joined: 01 Sep 2005
Posts: 149
Location: Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
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Hello,

Currently planning my 2nd trip to Isandlwana in 2006. Is it worth visiting Helpmekaar and is there anything to see?

Also, What kind of weather can I expect in February?

Thanks,

Jamie
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Dawn


Joined: 31 Aug 2005
Posts: 610
Location: Auckland, New Zealand
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It might be slightly different inland but from my experience February is hot and humid. Think 28 to 32 degrees C and around 80% and above humidity. A good time for thunderstorms though and you haven't lived until you've lived through an African thunderstorm.
Dawn
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Jamie


Joined: 01 Sep 2005
Posts: 149
Location: Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
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Hi Dawn,

I was there in November 2004 and the weather was great.

I have seen a few African rain storms in my travels and also in Colombia...Now that was rain!
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Alan
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Joined: 30 Aug 2005
Posts: 1530
Location: Wales
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Jamie,
You ask if there's much to see. Not a lot apart from the graveyard. But that's worth a visit on its own. It's more interesting when a guide points out what was there and your imagination does the rest.

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Peter
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Joined: 24 Mar 2005
Posts: 80
Location: Hertford, UK
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Just to add to Alan's point, it's very emotive when you have a guide telling you the tale and pointing out key areas of the battlefield..
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Mike McCabe
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If you take the Laband and Thompson field guide, then that should help with orientation. The developed military site in 1879, and the 1899 Boer War, was much bigger than most hasty visitors might appreciate. There are quite a few vestiges if you know where to look. Do, though, at least try to seek permission before going onto private land.

Fortunately, the grave site was restored for the 125th anniversary commemorations, having suffered badly before that. Though there are few clearly named graves, there must (from records) have been numerically much more extensive burials.

Should you feel adventurous, though take recent local advice, it is very atmospheric to travel up to Helpmekaar via Greytown (interesting small museum) and Tugela Ferry which would have been an active civilian pontoon site in those days (as it was for part of the 20th century). As you approach H from the south, there are also laybys and parking spots which provide panoramic views towards RD and Isandlwana. Obviously, these can be reached heading down from Dundee too. Then, the road down the Nostruper pass towards RD gives some idea of the miltary road, though parts of it have been realigned to conform with farm boundaries, and gives you an interesting first view of both the Oskarberg, Rorke's Drift crossing sites, and the Isandlwana crag. In wet weather do take care as this route gives off onto a steep downhill graded track, and a small drift over a stream, which can sometimes run deeper than most ordinary hire cars - and the track can be slippery.
The police post at Helpmekaar are mostly Zulu speakers now, but (although very busy) will usually advise on track conditions if you are in any doubt. As with all Zulus, cheerful politeness wins.
MC McC
Mike McCabe
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I've just spotted 'Dawn's' entry, which is broadly true of the coastal strip at that time of year, but high humidity is fairly rare in the Dundee area except as ground dries after rain. The Fugitives Trail and Buffalo river gorge and valley near Isandlwana, and parts of the Batshe valley, can be locally quite humid for short periods in the same conditions, as can saturated grasslands and bush everywhere.
I was last at Helpmekaar in mid/late January and early February last year. Sitting on its plateau, an extension of the Biggarsberg feature, it has slightly different weather to the areas round Dundee, Rorke's Drift, and Isandlwana at the beginning and end of the day, though may generally be the same by early afternoon.
That means you can occasionally find mists, drizzle, even fogs and hailsstones localised there for periods of time.

The weather can be very variable, as it was in 1879, and it's worth consulting somebody more local (the Vermaaks, Nicky von der Heyde, or Rorke's Drift Lodge), if the detailed weather is very significant to you - say, for example, you are hoping to take panoramic photography or video. They cannot organise the weather for you, but you'll at least be able re-arrange your day, that day, once you are there.
For more general weather advice you can also register (free) with the Natal Witness website, and thence the South African national weather website, just before you travel which will at least let you decide what to pack.
However, the battlefield area does tend to have its own microclimate every few miles - to the frustration of local farmers hoping to get their dams filled. For example, you can have rain at Helpmekaar, when RD is, and stays, dry all day.
MC McC
Jamie


Joined: 01 Sep 2005
Posts: 149
Location: Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
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Thanks guys.
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Helpmekaar
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