Shabalala interpretation of culture offers our guests a lifetime experience that will live on within their minds and souls.
The Centre is located at Shabalala just a few kms outside Hazyview, off the R536
We just had our winter festival last week June 14, we were hosting a group of French tourists who came with their guide Amadou. The festival is held at an outdoor venue.
Winter is an off-peak season for local tourism but a peak season for foreign tourism, most European tourists prefer visiting African countries around this time since it is less crowded and avoiding spring and summer as it gets hot and unbearable.
When our guests arrived, they got off their bus by the main road just metres away from the Centre, welcomed by the host lady Jabulile who then briefed our guests on the background of Shabalala, how it came to life, about the living conditions of the village and how it has developed over the years as they were walking down to the Centre.
Activities
Our guests were gathered and seated, here they were learning about the Amarula tree, the amarula tree is one of the most interesting and fruitful trees with many benefits in Africa.
Here they were supposed to have traditional Amarula beer unfortunately Amarulas are out of season, so they were served the Modern Amarula drink as an alternative.
Traditional Dance festival
We headed to the kraal where the main event is taking place, our guests were welcomed by our local exceptional dancers performing for them while they made their way to the seats.
You could see their faces light up and started filming right away.
The group of dancers performed three different cultural dances. The first dance was of the Venda tribe followed by the Sotho dance and lastly, they performed the Zulu dance.
What a privilege to experience that moment, I can say that was the highlight of the night.
The Zulu tribe is the largest ethnic group and nation in South Africa, with an estimated 10-12 million people, mostly living is the province of Kwazulu-Natal.
Zulu people are known for their excellence work of hands which are weaving, craft-making, pottery, and beadwork.
Our experienced and amazing host Jabulile then explained to the group the type of dances they had just witnessed while their guide interpreted everything.
After all that our guests were given the platform to join the group of dancers and incorporate a move or two that they can copy .it was joyful while everyone was having fun dancing and chanting, it was lovely seeing our guests participating and creating memories.
Our guests then headed to the cash bar for reshments to cool off after dancing.
There is also a market next to the cash bar where our guests can purchase traditional attires from doeks, beads, earrings, combs, bags and a whole lot more.
Buffet dinner
We have our own qualified chef mr Zitha who prepared the meal and took the honor explaining the menu in a French language to our guests.
They were having a warm hearty African buffet as we come towards the end of our event.
Sadly, the night had to end but positively they will be telling their friends and family to visit if they ever come to our country.
This is a unique experience, for everyone from the locals to foreign tourists.
It is an appropriate event for all ages from children to old age people who are still fit enough and don’t have back problems.
We are hosting our next event in July, stay tuned for more.
Comments