Dundee, a coal-mining center in KwaZulu/Natal, lies in the Midlands, the hilly region between the Drakensberg and the Natal coast on the Indian Ocean. The area was occupied by man in the Stone and Iron Ages. In more recent times voortrekkers and Zulus, Boers and the British, and the British and Zulus came into conflict with one another here, and a number of bitter battles were fought in the area.
27km/17mi northeast of Dundee a road goes off R 33 and comes in 20km/12.5mi to the Blood River Monument. It stands in a wide plain, now peaceful farming country, which was the scene of a bloody battle on December 16th 1838, when a massive army of Zulus attacked a party of 464 voortrekkers who had set up their laager here. More than 3,000 Zulus were killed in the slaughter, and their blood stained the water of the river, now called Blood River. No voortrekkers were killed.
35km/22mi northwest of Dundee on R 621 is Chelmsford Nature Reserve (area 6,015ha/14,857 ac). Within the reserve is a reservoir with facilities for a variety of water sports, as well as holiday chalets for hire and a camping site. Among the game to be seen here are antelopes, gazelles, rhinos, black wildebeests and zebras.
70km/43mi from Dundee on R 68 is Isandhlwana, with a monument commemorating a battle in January 1879 in which a small British force was overwhelmed by an army of 17,000 Zulu warriors.
50km/30mi from Dundee on R 68 is Rorke's Drift, scene of a battle in 1879 in which 100 British soldiers held two Zulu regiments at bay after the British defeat at Isandhlwana. There is also a world-renowned Zulu craft center here.
Outside Dundee, on the road to Vryheid, is the Talana Museum, which consists of a number of separate buildings spread over an area of 8ha/20ac. The homestead of Peter Smith, founder of the town, has been preserved and now contains, in addition to its original furnishings, a collection of material on the military history of the region. An old miner's cottage has been re-erected here.
Address: Talana Museum, Dundee, KwaZulu-Natal , South Africa
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