With a good guide book to hand, the battlefields of Rorke's Drift and Isandlwana can be explored on your own. It is perhaps best to start at Isandlwana, overlooking the battlefield from the ridge occupied by the Zulu commander, before making your way down to the sphinx-shaped hill where the heart of the battle unfolded.
From Isandlwana, it is possible to travel back along the line of invasion taken by the British to the point where they forded the Buffalo River: Rorke's Drift. Here the buildings stand, rebuilt exactly as they had been on the night of that legendary engagement, and you can wander round and marvel at the exact spot where one soldier fell or another won a Victoria Cross.