{"id":26595,"date":"2018-05-07T08:30:00","date_gmt":"2018-05-06T22:30:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.intrepidtravel.com\/adventures?p=26595&preview=true&preview_id=26595"},"modified":"2025-02-25T02:02:30","modified_gmt":"2025-02-24T15:02:30","slug":"zulu-culture-south-africa","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.intrepidtravel.com\/adventures\/zulu-culture-south-africa\/","title":{"rendered":"Everything you need to know about a night at a Zulu homestay"},"content":{"rendered":"

\u201cMy name is Khanyo and it means mother of lights. I\u2019m not a mother yet but I am a teacher, so I guess it still applies.\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n

I\u2019m sitting on an overstuffed blue couch next to Khanyo, a 20-year-old Zulu woman from South Africa<\/a><\/strong>. Her hair is wrapped under a headscarf and she has a grin that\u2019s all cheek, making her the spitting image of her mother, Mama Chanco.<\/p>\n

\"Two

Khanyo and Mama Chanco<\/p><\/div>\n

My group and I have been invited to spend the night, modern Zulu-style, at their home in the KwaZulu-Natal province. We\u2019re travelling on Intrepid\u2019s 22-day Kruger, Coast and Cape tour<\/a><\/strong>, and we\u2019ve just arrived in the Valley of a Thousand Hills, aka Zululand. From my seat on the couch, I can see out the living room window to the green terraces dotted with Zulu houses. They all seem to cling precariously to the earth, as if one rumble would send them sliding. In front of each house is a collection of kids, chickens, goats and cows. So many cows.<\/p>\n

It makes sense, considering the Zulu people still adhere to the tradition of dowry. When a young woman is engaged to be married, her hand is exchanged with the blessing of her father and the payment of a cow or two. Or three, depending on her status in the community.<\/p>\n

RELATED: WHAT IT\u2019S REALLY LIKE EXPLORING SOUTHERN AFRICA ON AN INTREPID TRIP<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n

\"A

What a view!<\/p><\/div>\n

It\u2019s hard, as a traveller, to wrap your head around these traditions. The idea of checking marital bed sheets for blood or worshipping a king with six wives and 27 children seems otherworldly. But that\u2019s exactly what makes these homestay experiences so special; they open your eyes to another way of living, and can often help you gain a new perspective.<\/p>\n

The Zulu people are a Bantu group of Southern Africa and the largest ethnic group in South Africa. \u2018Kwa\u2019 means \u2018place of\u2019 and, under apartheid, the KwaZulu-Natal region was created for the Zulu and Zulu only.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s here that their traditions, folklore, singing and dancing both thrived and survived. Today young boys and girls still learn the Ingoma dance, one of the purest remains of Zulu tradition. It\u2019s a dance that was once a battle-cry, all high leg kicks and drums, and is nowadays performed at weddings and coming-of-age ceremonies.<\/p>\n

\"A

Mama\u2018s kitchen<\/p><\/div>\n

I\u2019m not saying cows for dowries is the way to go, but I do value being able to talk about these traditions with a local as open-minded and open-hearted Khanyo. She\u2019s staunchly independent when asked about her marriage prospects, saying \u201cI can\u2019t imagine getting married any time soon; he\u2019d have to be the best man this side of Durban. I want to earn my own money and live my own life\u201d.<\/p>\n

RELATED: WHAT\u2019S THE MOST IMPORTANT TRAIT A TRAVELLER CAN HAVE? THIS.<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n

Khanyo comes from a line of strong women. You only need to have one chat with Mama Chanco and you\u2019ll understand. After her husband passed away, Mama ruled her roost with an iron fist and the best ujeqe (steamed bread) you\u2019ll taste in all of Zululand, and her daughters are testament to that.<\/p>\n

\"Zulu

Meeting the healer in the village<\/p><\/div>\n

Mama reminds me of the traditional healer I met earlier that day. A group of us had gathered inside her rondavel hut to listen to stories of ancestral spirits, giant pythons and coca-cola diabetes cures.<\/p>\n

RELATED:\u00a0ONE TRAVELLER\u2019S ADVENTURES ON THE SERENGETI TRAIL<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n

We sat in a semi-circle surrounded by beads, herbs and the skulls of mysterious animals while a translator helped her answer our questions. She told us that the gift of healing is passed down through the family, as dictated by the ancestors, and that she received the call-up in her late teens.<\/p>\n

\"Travellers

Learning about the gift of healing<\/p><\/div>\n

She spoke with a beautifully calm voice full of all the guttural clicks that are the calling card of Zulu language<\/a>. She explained that, while traditional Zulu healers can\u2019t mend broken bones, they can give you herbs to help with fertility, or craft you a love potion \u201cfor your second wife\u201d.<\/p>\n

INTERESTED IN AN ADVENTURE IN AFRICA? CHECK OUT OUR RANGE OF SMALL GROUP TOURS NOW<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n

From my understanding, she seemed to deal mostly with emotional issues. Therapy isn\u2019t a common (or available) practice here, and so the locals who visit her are often searching for another form of support.<\/p>\n

I decide to take her up on a fortune reading after the Q&A. I head back into the hut, my heart beating surprisingly fast, and sit down with my legs stretched out in front of me as instructed. She picks up a cow horn full of bones and shakes it. She throws the bones onto the carpet and touches them each with a feather.<\/p>\n

\"In

What fortune lies within?<\/p><\/div>\n

\u201cShe wants you to know that the ancestors are here and they\u2019re asking how you\u2019re feeling,\u201d says the translator. \u201cPretty good,\u201d I stammer in reply, looking around the empty room as if expecting to see a bunch of Zulu elders sitting on the cushions beside me.<\/p>\n

SUBSCRIBE TO INTREPID\u2019S NEWSLETTER FOR TRAVEL TIPS, COMPETITIONS, GIVEAWAYS & MORE<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n

The theme of the reading turns out to be my love life (not by my own choice, FYI). According to the healer, I\u2019m yet to meet the man of my dreams but he is going to love me, marry me, and give me three kids. Two girls and one boy, if we\u2019re being particular.<\/p>\n

I walk out of her hut feeling weirdly shaken.<\/p>\n

\"A

Getting ready for dinner!<\/p><\/div>\n

Fast forward two hours and I\u2019m sitting down to dinner with Khanyo, Mama and the rest of our group. I\u2019m thinking about the Zulu term for \u201cfamily\u201d (umndeni), which is one that includes all people staying in the same home, regardless of blood relation. And as I sit between these two women, both with remarkably different life experiences to mine, I can\u2019t help but feel like family.<\/p>\n

Ready to break out of your comfort zone? Open yourself up to new experiences on a small group adventure in Africa<\/a> now.\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

All images by Tayla Gentle.\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Homestay experiences like this are so special; they open your eyes to another way of living, and help you gain a new perspective. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":16063,"featured_media":26954,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_lmt_disableupdate":"","_lmt_disable":"","_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[455,286],"tags":[65,310,104],"class_list":["post-26595","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-feature","category-stories","tag-africa","tag-culture","tag-south-africa","ipf_region-south-africa"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nZulu Culture: Everything You Need To Know | Intrepid Travel Blog<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"My group and I have been invited to spend the night, modern Zulu-style, at their home in the KwaZulu-Natal province. 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