Hluhluwe Game Reserve

Just an hour and a half's drive from Richards Bay is the fantastic Hluhluwe iMfolozi Game Reserve (pronounced shlooshloowee).  The welcoming party (pictured below) took up position on the roadside, well before we even entered the park.

History
The park is one of the oldest game reserves in South Africa, being founded in 1895, and while a seemingly massive 96 000 hectares, it's not a patch on the size of better known reserves like Kruger.  BUT, the measure of a game reserve in South Africa is not in its size, but whether it houses the big five.  The big five are the lion, leopard, Cape buffalo, rhinoceros and African elephant.  The term big five was coined by big-game hunters and refers to the five most difficult animals in Africa to hunt on foot.

The landscape and topography of Hluhluwe was not at all what we expected.  After years of watching Sunday night  documentaries on the scorched African savannah, we were surprised to find an amazing landscape with beautiful rolling hills and long green grass everywhere.  So where were the prides of lions and desperately thirsty animals congregating around a muddy waterhole?

It seems the wet season has made for a plentiful year, and we will need to revisit again at the end of the dry for any images remotely approaching those in our mind.  Despite this, we were not disappointed with the range of wildlife (big and small) that we saw.

Some happy snaps...

Heaps of giraffes roaming around in groups of up to 5.

The baboons in the background were travelling at a great pace past this group of zebras, eager to make a raid on a nearby village for some tasty treats.










We came across this impressive black rhino while we were driving around at dawn!  

Didn't feel entirely safe in our little Toyota Avanza, so, needless to say, we'll be looking for something a little more substantial when car shopping.

Couldn't resist putting in this second photo captured with the sport function of my new camera...


Who needs toilet paper???

Mr Warthog and family.
















So many different types of distinctive antelope around.  This one is a male Kudu, but we also came across Bushbuck, Nyala and Impala

Accommodation

There are quite a few places to stay around the park.  We chose the Hilltop Lodge - beautiful accommodation, amazing view and excellent meals.  Lots of animal skins and horns adorn the walls from days gone by - what ho, felt like taking the old blunderbuss out for a spin...

We took a jeep tour for a 3 hour safari - very informative driver, 
and we certainly felt much safer than in the Toyota!!

And so...

...what a fantastic weekend.  We took many photos of the amazing array of animals and birds we saw - crocodiles, turtles, impala, mongoose, eagles and monkeys to name a few.

We've only managed to cross off two of the big five, so there are certainly many more visits to this and other safari parks around South Africa to be had!

And here's one final snap, just to re-instate a little of the rhino's lost majesty as he walks away in the morning mist....