Take a closer look at KwaZulu-Natal

KwaZulu-Natal, often referred to as "KZN", is a province of South Africa. The area offers visitors the best of natural wonders and modern facilities, culture and a rich history. All of this is set within a breathtaking landscape which encompasses both coastal and mountain scenery. If this has whetted your appetite, here are 10 more things you probably didn’t know about KwaZulu-Natal…

1. KwaZulu-Natal boasts its own version of the ‘big 5’ including:
- the largest sea mammal (the whale),
- the largest land mammal (the elephant),
- the oldest sea creature (the ceolocanth),
- the biggest fish (the whale shark)
- the greatest ‘shoal on earth’ – the Sardine run!

2. Two of Africa’s oldest game reserves are to be found in KwaZulu-Natal - namely the Phongola Game Reserve (proclaimed 1894) and Hluhluwe-Imfolozi, proclaimed in 1895, previously the old hunting grounds of the Zulu Kings who first introduced conservation laws, long before any formal protection. The white rhino was saved from extinction in Hluhluwe-Imfolozi in the 50’s and 60’s. Numerous other game reserves can also be experienced, many boasting the Big 5 game.

3. It also boasts prolific birdlife – with the greatest density of birds in South Africa. 470 species are regularly recorded, with another almost 200 less regularly.

4. The KwaZulu-Natal coastline boasts some of the world’s best beaches – including 9 of South Africa’s 20 Blue Flag beaches. It also offers the warmest sea temperature in South Africa (seldom dropping below 20 degrees - even in winter) … perfect for swimming and surfing. Leatherback and loggerhead turtles breed on the Maputaland beaches from October to March.

5. The Zulu Kingdom has diving sites to rival any in the world including Sodwana, one of the world’s top ten dive sites - and the number one shark diving area in the world. Aliwal Shoal and Protea Banks are also world-renowned sites.

6. The province boasts 2 World Heritage Sites- the Ukhahlamba Drakensberg Park and the Greater St Lucia Wetland park (now known as Isimangaliso)

7. The Zulu Kingdom is home to probably the most famous tribes in Africa – the Zulus. The Zulus are the largest ethnic group in South Africa, and are well known for their beautiful brightly coloured beads and baskets as well as other small carvings. The Zulu Kingdom is also home to the largest Indian population to be found outside of India – and their famous ‘bunny chow’.

8. KwaZulu-Natal is home to South Africa’s highest and largest Mountain range – the Drakensberg Range.

9. It boasts South Africa’s most famous Battlefields at Rorkes Drift, Isandlwana and Spionkop where Boers, Brits and Zulu’s fought so bravely. Famous characters on these battlefields included Ghandi, Shaka and Churchill!

10. It is a place of great historical and cultural significance:
- Some 20 000 individual rock paintings by the San Bushmen have been recorded at 500 different cave and overhang sites between Royal Natal National Park and Bushman's Neck. This includes the famous "Rosetta Stone" of San art that first provided archaeologists with the key to interpreting the symbolism of the paintings.
- More than a million Stone Age artefacts have been recovered along with some of the earliest anatomically modern Homosapiens remains ever discovered at Border Cave, in the Lebombo Mountains. The cave has been a shelter for more 200000 years is also where the body of an infant, dating back 100,000 years, was discovered, painted with red ochre and buried together with a shell ornament. This makes it the oldest known deliberate burial in Africa and, if such burial can be taken to mean a concern with the afterlife, it would be the earliest evidence of the emergence of religion as well.

For more information, visit Zulu.org.za.