I’ve written a few times in the past about our Durban day tour to the village of iSithumba (here and here) hidden away in the beautiful Valley of a 1000 Hills. Today though I wanted to chat about a few changes I’ve made to the tour, and so here is my updated Zulu cultural day tour to iSithumba from Durban.
Not everyone wants to read through the whole way, so for those that want the cheat sheet;
TD/DR: You can now enjoy a delicious and traditional South African braai at iSithumba while enjoying the sounds of traditional Zulu music.
A Brief Reminder About the iSithumba Tour
You most likely haven’t heard about the rural village of iSithumba, but you may have heard of the Valley of a 1000 Hills; but even if you haven’t, here’s the basics.
It Starts in Durban
iSithumba is about an hour west of Durban, and I am happy to collect you from your accommodation in the Durban, Umhlanga or surrounding areas. But what I mean by it starts in Durban is that on the way to iSithumba I catch you up on the history of the Zulu people, the relationship between them and Durban and much more.
You Head into the Valley of a 1000 Hills
The Valley of a 1000 Hills describes an area that lies around 20 min west of Durban. And whilst of course the first you would imagine is a lot of hills, fact is a part of the area lies away from the scenic view points (a little confusing I know).

On this tour you will drop down right into the very heart of the Valley of a 1000 Hills, into an area called KwaQimba; when saying the name, your tongue makes a little “click” when you read the Q. This Valley was originally home to the Debe clan of the Zulu people and there is a rich history to be found here.
You Get to Spend Time Learning About Zulu Culture
The tour at iSithumba is roughly 2 hours long depending on group size and what is really fantastic about the tour is that your guide lives in the village of iSithumba.

I should also point out that iSithumba is a genuine Zulu village, it’s not some tourist attraction put on for visitors, people live their lives here, as does your guided Amimi.
On the tour you get to walk through the village and learn about what life is like here for the people living in the area. You’ll learn about their spiritual beliefs, why cattle remain important, the marriage process, basically a bit of everything!
What’s New on the iSithumba Day Tour from Durban?
Finally here’s we things have been updated a little. In the past, once the tour was done, you would head out of the valley to a tourism experience called PheZulu where you could have a little lunch and watch a Zulu dance show.
Well, I have now added to the option of a popular South African braai (barbecue)!

You may not be aware of this, but to braai is just about the most South African thing you can do. There’s an entire culture around braai’ing, so much so there are cooking shows and competitions based on the art of the braai.
Instead of leaving iSithumba for just another restaurant, you will now have the opportunity of trying out some boerewors, chicken sosaties, chakalaka, pap and roosterkoek’s. And don’t stress, nothing on the menu is strange of weird, it’s all just healthy, delicious and good!
Zulu Music Included
And that’s not all! Being that you are enjoy a guided tour with the local Zulu people, it makes sense to enjoy your lunch with a bit of Zulu music included – not a live band I’m afraid, but you’ll get to enjoy your lunch with the sounds of Vusi Mkize keeping things lively with some traditional Zulu music.
Good News For Inclusive Tourism
For me, it’s not just about introducing you to local foods (it is), there’s more to it than that. For years I have always ensured that where ever I take tours, the local people benefit from the visitors. This can actually be quite challenging.

How I’ve done it on this tour is that it’s one of the local families that will prepare the food for you and so they earn a little something and at the same time will see the value in tourism to their village.
It doesn’t stop there either. We have invited some local Zulu musicians to place sell their music at iSithumba as well and so spreading the musical love – win win for everyone!
The T’s and C’s
Unfortunately there is always terms and conditions attached to everything and of course this tour is not different.
In order to ensure that things move along with hiccups we are limiting this tour to a minimum of 4 people and a maximum of 18.
Booking My Zulu Cultural Day Tour from Durban
And there you go! My slightly updated Zulu cultural day tour is now available for booking. If you want more info or want to reserve your space, you can either visit the tour page or you can use the convenient contact form below to get in touch.
Please let me know if you’re a tour agent, how big your group is and when you would like to book for and we can go from there.