National Guides

Warwick Baker

• Voortrekker, Zulu History, Anglo Zulu War, First and Second Anglo Boer War

Warwick Baker is a specialist battlefields guide based in Durban. His interest in battlefields of KZN stems from childhood. An avid collector of Africana, he has done considerable research over the years and presents a view that is totally unbiased. Warwick tailors tours to suit client’s needs. He is also a provincial guide for KwaZulu-Natal, Mpumalanga, Gauteng, wild life and rock art.

Contact

Tel:+27(0)31 267 1163 / +27(0)82 417 5248

Email:victorianafrica@gmail.com

Pierre Duval

• Anglo Zulu War Battles, Second Anglo Boer War

Pierre Duval has an unbelievable love for South Africa. Since a child he has grabbed every opportunity to explore the countryside. While specializing in nature, Pierre has an excellent knowledge of the country’s historical and cultural side. He is one of the few tour guides that are accredited on a national level, allowing him to tour the whole country. He has been guiding full time since 1998, and is the owner of BushBaby Safaris.

Contact

Tel:+27(0)82 466 8350

Email:pierre@bushbaby.co.za

Website:www.bushbaby.co.za

James Seymour

• Isandlwana, Fugitive’s Drift, Rorke’s Drift, Langalibalele Rebellion

I am a registered National Adventure Guide, specialising in mountain hiking both on and off established trails, and a registered KwaZulu-Natal Nature and Culture Guide. In addition, I am a registered San Rock Art Monitor, a qualified Tourist Guide Assessor, and serve as an Honorary Officer with the KwaZulu-Natal Nature Conservation Service.

My guiding interests lie at the intersection of South Africa’s natural, cultural and military heritage. I offer a range of specialised hiking and walking excursions that combine historical interpretation with immersive outdoor experiences.

These include a hiking excursion from the Battle of Isandlwana battlefield to Fugitive’s Drift, retracing the dramatic route taken by those who attempted to escape. I also conduct guided walking tours of Rorke’s Drift, examining one of the most famous engagements of the Anglo-Zulu War.

Another of my specialised excursions follows the route taken by the King’s Royal Rifles during the Battle of Spion Kop. This hike ascends Twin Peaks, where participants gain an appreciation of the effort required to silence the Boer artillery positions, before continuing across Aloe Knoll and onto Spion Kop itself. The excursion provides a unique perspective on the battle by exploring events on the ground and along the routes the combatants actually took.

In the Drakensberg, I lead hiking expeditions up Langalibalele Pass to the Natal Carbineers’ graves, where the story of the Langalibalele Rebellion and its significance in South African history is interpreted within the landscape where these events unfolded.

I also conduct extensive tours to San rock art sites throughout the Drakensberg. These excursions explore the beliefs, symbolism and cultural practices of the San, while also examining the complex history of interaction and conflict between the Drakensberg San, frontier farming communities and Nguni-speaking groups during the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. By combining archaeology, anthropology, oral history and landscape interpretation, these tours provide visitors with a deeper understanding of one of southern Africa’s most remarkable cultural legacies.

Through these guided experiences, I aim to bring history, heritage and landscape together, allowing visitors to engage directly with the places where South Africa’s stories were lived and recorded.

Contact

Tel: +27 (0)82 925 5508

Email:james@cathkinmanagement.com

Website:drakensbergwalkingexcursions.com

Kevin Smith

• Voortrekker, Zulu History, Anglo Zulu War, First and Second Anglo Boer War

Kevin Smith was a schoolmaster at Kearsney College for 30 years where he organised and conducted many safaris/tours throughout South Africa and overseas. He is a qualified and registered National Tour Guide, KZN 1894, and is able to guide you through all nine South African Provinces. His love for, and interest in, the environment, both past and present, has led him into taking safaris through Battlefield Sites and Game Reserves throughout Southern Africa. Kevin provides a Personal Brochure for each client with photographs taken at the various monuments and then cut + pasted into notes, maps and diagrams of each of the battles visited. Together with detailed information on all Battle Sites in the country and from the constellations of our night sky in terms of astronomy and astrology to biogeography, ecology, animal, bird identification to trees in term of names, traditional uses and superstitions, Kevin is able to bring your surroundings both past and present to life.

Tel: 084 555 9600

Email:kevin@sansafaris.co.za

Website:www.sansafaris.co.za