Safari to the Imfolozi and Hluhluwe Game Parks (26th October 2012)

On the 26th of October we hired a car with friends and set off for the Imfolozi game reserve.
As we were leaving the Tuzi Gazi marina we photographed this gigantic heron standing a metre tall on the pontoon beside our yacht.

Accompanying us on the trip were Brian and Dorothy from the Canadian yacht "Tagish".
We drove through residential townships but found it unusual for the main highway to suddenly change to speed bumps and slow speed restrictions. There were no shops of any sort, cows were on the road, people meandered along the roadside carrying produce and waited at mini bus stops. There were no sealed streets, just earth tracks between the houses.

 The drive was only an hour which makes the park an attraction from the Richards Bay area

We saw Steenbok on the roadside before entering the park

The entrance fee was 110 Rand for non S.A residents. The park opens from 0600hrs to 1800hrs, then an hr extra on each side of these times from Nov 1st

In the car park we watched weaver birds making nests. The male builds the nest and if the female bird isn't happy she destroys the nest!

After paying our fee we excitedly entered the reserve

The first animals we saw were Giraffes

and Zebra

We could see a group of white Rhino with the binoculars in a gully heading our way so we waited for them to cross the road. They can run at a speed of up to 45km/hr so we kept our distance, ready to put the pedal to the metal if required

The park was really lush with feed and the animals were fat and healthy

One is advised not to get out of the vehicle apart from the designated picnic spots. These were not fenced off so we wondered who would be picnicking on who?

We couldn't always make it to the toilet stops and it was quite unnerving looking over ones shoulder while squatting in fear of being stalked by a cat or charged by an elephant!

 The landscape was breathtaking with lots of interesting trees and plants

 

The deer and antelope were plentiful but we saw no lions or leopards

Impala 

Steenbok and Nyala buck 

Red billed ox pecker on the back of a Kudu 

These blue wilderbeest ran ahead of the car and we couldn't get past for some kms.

We pulled in at a lookout spot where this lone Wilderbeest was grazing. He didn't like us there and after some bucking and kicking he raced across in front of us and a car travelling down the road had to slam on the brakes.

We noticed lots of vultures resting in the trees and circling the skies, but we couldn't find signs of a kill where there may have been lions

There were alot of birds on the roadside which made great photo opportunities.

Cape glossy starling 

southern yellow billed hornbill

African Hoopoe

Wattled lapwing

 Dark capped bulbul & Burchells coucal

Crested guinea fowl

There were 2 Hides that we visited, with waterholes, but we never saw any animals. Being the wet season there were many watering spots for the animals. We saw birds and turtles

This old stump had been worn smooth from animals rubbing up against it to remove parasites from their hides

 

We watched these "Water thick knee" birds as they fought off a lizard by fanning their feathers. We presume it was after their eggs in the undergrowth

This was a picnic stop overlooking the river where we saw crocodile

Our first open sighting of elephant was nail biting. These guys fanned their ears and swung their trunks then began approaching the car rapidly so we departed the scene like startled gazelles

This water buffalo was taking a mud bath and very nicely got out for a photo shoot

On the roads there were piles of fresh manure showing that Elephant or Rhino had recently been through. We were fascinated by the dung beetles, rolling balls of manure from the heap then rolling them down the road. 

Our first night was spent in a lodge in the Hluhluwe park at the Hilltop camp

 

The next morning we set off early and were rewarded with herds of elephant coming out of the bush and crossing the road between the vehicles. One is advised to keep a distance of 50m but sometimes it was impossible.  Down one side road we were confronted by 2 young males who were most agitated wanting to pass by the car. We couldn't go forward in fear of distressing them further or back up as there were elephant behind us. We turned the engine off and sat in silence until they passed. we crossed our fingers that we wouldn't be a statistic in elephant charging incidents.

This Rhino came out of the bush in front of the car so we reversed rapidly

A Baboon troop ahead of us amused us as they got up to all sorts of antics on the road

These young Warthogs teased the buck which resulted in some rapid chasing manouveres, until he gave up and grazed on the grass

We left the Park on the second afternoon and drove to the St Lucia wetlands where we stayed at the Leopard corner guest house. So named for the leopards that reside in bushlands nearby.

We walked to the beach overlooking the Indian Ocean where we had sailed the week before

There were many monkeys in the grasslands nearby

The next day we took a river tour by boat to see Hippopotamus and crocodiles

These are 2 of the eight teeth the Hippo has, with a crushing bite of 6 ton! Our guide told us of many horrific Hippo incidents. It is not safe to walk at night as the Hippo come ashore to graze on the grass in the suburbs.

After the tour was over we lunched at a riverside boating club then bought some artifacts at a local craft shop before driving back to Richards Bay.

A most memorable African safari!