Beyond the Bendigo resorts the road passes Banana Beach, Melville and Pumula before reaching Umzumbe at the mouth of the river by the same name which means the bad, dangerous or winding one.

* Some 10km from Umzumbe lies what is perhaps the most famous isivivane (lucky heap of pebbles), in the country.  Legend has it that the area around the Mzumbe River once was the stronghold of a Hlongwa band of cannibals.  One fine day in 1828 they were overrun by Shaka, great warrior-king of the Zulu, who was personaly leading his armies south on a raid into Pondoland and Transkei.  Many Hlongwa were killed and several of their villages destroyed.

Resuming their march, Shaka and his impis reached a ridge overlooking the valley of the KwaMalukaak River, a tributary of the Mzumbe.  At this spot Shaka decided to ask the spirits of his forefathers for their blessing o his venture by carrying out an ancient Zulu custom.  He picked up a pebble witht he toes of his left foot, transferred it to his right hand, spat on it, murmured a prayer and then placed it on the ground.  One by one the impis repeated the ritual and built a large moud of supplicatory pebbles.  The pile is still intact next to a remote path which rises and falls on its serpentine way through several valleys.

Accommodation in and around Banana Beach