So who said making a stable yard is an easy job...

The rocks you see here is only a small collection that Werner and his team have removed from the stable yard that is nearing completion day by day. We have now got as far as setting up our lunge ring for our beauties to train in and cannot wait to fill the yard with soft river sand.

As we near the light at the end of the tunnel with this project we are extremely excited to share with you the end product of which will be Rorke's Drift Stables.

In the meantime we have had a couple of sneaky, experienced riding guests, that have been treated to a short out ride with Werner, after much convincing. So far the feedback has been fantastic!

We are extremely excited about this new venture and will keep you posted as we progress! So keep watching this space...

ELC Arts & Crafts Centre Exhibition Hall Dedication

Yesterday the ELC Art and Craft Centre dedicated their newly reconstructed Exhibition Hall. The funds to complete this reconstruction were donated by the Federal Republic of Germany. The Deputy Ambassador Ingo Herbert was on hand for the dedication ceremony that was led by Bishop Buthelezi of the Evangelical Lutheran Church.

The Art & Craft Centre was established in 1962 by Swedish artists Ulla and Peder Gowenius, who were employed by the Church of Swedish Mission. A Fine Art School was included in the activities and during its 20 years of existence many students from all over of Southern Africa have attended of which many have won national and international acclaim.Rorke's Drift has been the home of worlds famous artists like John Muafangejo, Azaria Mbatha, Bongi Dlomo, Pat Mautla and others and today we are proud to have such recognised artists and crafters like the weavers Philda Majozi, Emma Dammann, in the ceramic studio like Gordon Mbatha, Joel Sibisi, Elizabeth Mbatha.

The ELC Art and Craft Centre has gone through many changes during its existence and they have had rough times and good times. The general feeling among the artists who work at the ELC Art and Craft Centre was that they were now starting to see the bad times disappearing and the good times coming back. Most of this good fortune can be ascribed to the dedicated work of Christiane Voith who is the Centre Manager. Christiane arrived here about 3 years ago from Germany and has been working unstintingly with great enthusiasm to try to re-establish the Centre's good reputation in the art world and to bring back some prosperity to the artists of the ELC Art and Craft Centre.

For more information on the ELC Centre you can visit their website on the following link: http://www.centre-rorkesdrift.com/

For more information on Christiane's works at the centre you can visit her blog page on the following link: http://www.puul.de/

Rorke's Drift Stables...

A glimpse of our four legged beauties at Rorke's Drift Lodge!

We are thrilled to bring you up to speed on the developments of our stables, which are moving along smoothly and we are getting close to completion on the construction side of things.

Werner and his crew have so far constructed the entire stable yard with a single chain saw, a decent supply of blue gum trees that have long waited to be put to good use along with 700 liters of creosote and their bare hands! It is amazing what the human body is capable of accomplishing when the motivation offers inspiration.

Where most people are overwhelmed by uncertainty when faced with what seems to be the impossible, others get inspired! It seems that the African battlefields of late still have this effect on some! Not that we are conquering armies but rather the mind set of what we believe to be our limitations. We live an extraordinary life here on the battlefields surrounded by heroic tales that transport us into a historic dimension offering a exhilarating ride for those who are ready to be swept away by each day!

We are nearly ready to take you on a ride like no other!