Horseback safari – Bush breakfast – Blast into the past

Misty mornings at Rorke’s Drift Lodge always leave one inspired by days gone by. This week marked yet another new and exciting adventure.

We offered, for the first time ever, a colonial bush breakfast. A taste of what the high life would have been like in the 1800’s. Set on the open plains of the battlefields of Africa. How could one not enjoy the vast expanses like these that allow your soul to take flight?

Werner took the guests out for an hour and a half morning horse back safari and was then welcomed by Rika at the breakfast site that they had selected earlier in the week.

A full breakfast; spread out with silver and glassware to add the touch of colonialism to the table, helped create the perfect setting for a bush breakfast on the battlefields.

As they all tucked into the scrumptious breakfast that was prepared you could hear the earth breathe around you. This is how close you are going to get to experience a moment in the past.

After breakfast the guests were escorted back up the Sinqindi Mountain by vehicle making it a truly unique experience for all that joined us!

A unique film exhibition...

For all die-hard fanatics of the ever popular film....ZULU

London Film Museum in association with Zulu Film Store

proudly present

ZULU

The first ever exhibition dedicated to the classic 1964 film

Our Ground Hornbill Residents…

We have been proud of this fact for a few years now, and it became a hot topic of discussion just the other day when we spotted our family of Ground Hornbills, at the bottom of our property, milling around in the tall winter grass.

Rorke’s Drift Lodge has been home to a family of Ground Hornbills that has over the years now grown to a family of 8 members.

The family consists of mom and dad of course, with 5 juveniles that have split from mom and dad, and then a brand new addition to the family.

The interesting thing about this is that Ground Hornbills are extremely territorial but these parents are still sharing their territory with the younger members that are fast maturing. The juvi’s seem to have taken over the duties of looking after the newest addition of the family which is spectacular to witness.

It’s an amazing site to see these larger than life feathered beauties, hearing them call with their distinct call that you will only hear in Africa. We look forward to be graced with their frequent presence this winter season!

The equipment has started arriving...

So this is what they call the best of the best...

Our brand new Trailrider saddles have finally arrived! And doesn't it make you just want to go riding off into the African sunset!

So slowly but surely we are getting geared for great adventures on the battlefields! Werner is also in the process of laying out some breathtaking trails on the property and you can now start looking forward to...

Out rides that will leave you in awe. As the rolling mountains that fill the void make you feel as free as a bird high up in the air. With the wind through your hair, the thrill of riding off into the openness of Africa is a thrill like no other. It literally takes your breath away!

The stables are coming on nicely and the process of carting in river sand to fill the yard is in full swing. The rock collection has also significantly grown in the past week and we will be doing something creative with these treasures that have been buried in the earth...so keep watching!

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!