SHORTLY after obtaining accreditation by the Ladysmith Community Tourism Association and subsequently from South African Tourism (Satour), Sandile Msimango began plans for a new cultural attraction - Ubuntu Kraal - and as Ladysmith's, KwaZulu Natal, first black tour operator, launched his Ubuntu Kraal cultural tours this month.
Msimango told Travel Now that, upon completion by the first week of November this year, Ubuntu Kraal will feature a number of cultural highlights of the Zulu people, including the production of several arts and crafts by local Zulu women.
"It will also offer accommodation in various styles of Zulu huts for up to 100 people."
Currently, the full-day Ubuntu Kraal tours involve visiting several cultural memorials to the history of the Zulu people focusing on the present with a township tour, then a quick visit to the now abandoned site of where the freedom struggles of the 1980s and early 1990s took place, a traditional Zulu lunch at the site of the Ubuntu Kraal and then an outing to the rural areas where some of the Zulu people still live in the traditional way.
Meanwhile, following the town's 150th anniversary celebrations in June, Ladysmith Tourism Association has launched a comprehensive brochure, highlighting its various tourism attractions, accommodation facilities, restaurants and a detailed map of the town and its outskirts.
(Adéle Mackenzie)
