Zamokuhle Lodge
Gateaway to Giants Castle
Get a taste of Hlubi hospitality at the comfort and serene Zamokuhle Lodge in the foothills of the Drakensberg, just off the N3 between Durban and Johannesburg.
For more information please visit
or call: +27 (0) 72 10 9329
or email: info@zamokuhlelodge.com.za
The Zamokuhle lodge, on the edge of a rural Lutheran Diaconic Centre at Ephangweni offers comfortable accommodation, expensive mountain views and once-in-a-lifetime opportunities to experience the life of the local Hlubi community.
Quality accommodation in a rural setting
The Lodge has three comfortable en-suit rondavels bedrooms, each with tea and coffee making facilities. One bedroom is disability enabled. The reception/ dining area is equipped with television and WIFI. Outstanding bed, breakfast and dinner, or self-catering facilities are available. Once at the Lodge, your hosts will be eager to introduce you to local amaHlubi culture, traditions and history.
Around the Camp fire
Enjoy a traditional evening meal, cooked in three-legged pots on an open flame, in the thatched boma at the heart of the Lodge. Around the campfire, you hosts could share stories of the roud Hlubi nation or introduce you to local music and dance.
VENTURE OUT OF THE LODGE
Great experience
The KwaZamokuhle Centre
The lodge is situated nest to the Kwazmokuhle Diaconic Centre of the Evangelical Lutheran Church. During your stay you will have an opportunity to discover and enjoy some fascinating features of mission life.
The Chapel
At 8am each morning, you can join local residence for worship in the picturesque Chapel, a thatched rondewel. You will be warmly welcome to the services (usually in isiZulu). Enjoy the hauntingly beautiful singing and have a unique opportunity to meet locals.
The water bakery
Communion wafers for 150 churches around South Africa are made at a bakery in the KwaZamokuhle Centre. Watch our bakers at work. Try your hand at mixing the dough on hot griddle irons, and punching out the round wafers.
Bread and basket crafts
Local bead workers and grass weavers display and market their handcrafts at the Centre. Our guides can accompany you to the home of a bead worker or basket crafter, to watch them at work or try your hand at crafting.
In and around the Ephangweni local community
Our guides will accompany you on visits to historical sites in the community, including a historical German Church that formerly housed a printing press, a community church and the original homestead of an early Hlubi chief.
From the KwaZamokuhle Centre visit the Langalibalele Cultural Centre at eMahendeni, a 40 minute drive west towards the magnificent Giants castle in the Central Drakensberg Mountains.
Walk with the local
From the Langalibalele Culture Centre, take a guided walk through a neighbouring Hlubi village, to get a glimpse of the local way of life. You can:
- Visit a home to learn how to prepare traditional foods like ujeke (steamed bread), or
- Visit a sangoma to find out about traditional healing and the importance of ancestral beliefs in Hlubi cultures.
Let the local guide you on the 3km long Bushmen’s River walk, which will delight walkers of all ages. Keep an eye open for eland grazing on the slopes and grassland plants including agapanthus, red-hot pokers and proteas. Birding enthusiasts can look out for rare African birds of prey such as the Cape Vulture, Verreaux’s eagle and even the threatened bearded vulture or Lammergeier.
View rare Bushmen paintings
Aves and rocks shelters in the area contain many stunning examples of art works by Bushmen, the Drakensberg’s first human inhabitants. Let a guide take you on an easy stepped walk to the main caves Museum, in a cave overhang site, where you will find rich examples of Bushmen cave paintings.
HOW TO GET THERE
Take the Escort North turnoff on the N3 and travel west along the Loskop road for 10kms.