Blood River

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16th December 1838

Ncome River, KwaZulu Natal

ca. 15,000 Zulu warriors armed with assegais and shields; 470 Voortrekkers, armed with rifles and three cannon in 64 wagons laagered on the bank of the river

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_o…  www.places.co.za/html/bloodriv…

In one of the most infamous battles of the Zulu Wars in South Africa (or famous if you are an Afrikaaner of Voortrekker descent) an apparently overwhelming force of Zulu warriors was defeated in a bloody engagement that saw about 3000 warriors killed and three (yes, three) Voortrekkers lightly wounded. The Voortrekkers say that the Ncome River ran red with the blood of the Zulus, and thereafter renamed the river, Blood River, the name cartographers use today.


In 1938, the then Afrikaaner Government had built a commemorative site, now the Blood River Monument, complete with (almost) life size wagons and pickets built as the original laager. This site is a focal point of Afrikaaner cultural heritage. In 1999, under the new South African ANC led government the Ncome Museum was opened a short distance away, on the other side of the river, to provide the Zulu interpretation of the events of and surrounding that day. Although there is a bridge connecting the two sites, Afrikaaner and Zulu, to this day they remain separate with the bridge blocked.

This is a short photographic essay from November 2014.

            Blood River 1 by Okavanga



           Blood River 2 by Okavanga   Blood River 3 by Okavanga



      Blood River 4 by Okavanga  Blood River 5 by Okavanga


        Blood River 6 by Okavanga


       Blood River 7 by Okavanga  Blood River 8 by Okavanga

       Blood River 9 by Okavanga


      Blood River 10 by Okavanga


David

This Journal Skin was designed by Night-Beast modified by Okavanga
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SobohRami's avatar
Awesome and beautiful. Well done