I collected my clients from Durban for there Durban Day Safari Tour and we headed up to Hluhluwe Imfolozi game reserve Africas oldest. On route I chatted about some of the history of Durban and KwaZulu-Natal as well as general political issues we face in our wonderful country of South Africa.
It was a warm day for winter in Hluhluwe Imfolozi game reserve and I was still expecting to see more Rhinos but Sadly we only has one decent sighting the whole day.
We arrived at Memorial gate where we began our Hluhluwe Imfolozi day Safari Tour. As we passed the usual road works we came across a nice male young male Elephant crossing the road while his mates were on the other side moving further away from him.
Young Bull Elephant crosses road on our Hluhluwe Umfolozi Day Safari Tour from Durban 31 May 2014
Young Bull Elephant crosses road on our Hluhluwe Umfolozi Day Safari Tour from Durban 31 May 2014
We continued on and an tried to find some Lion cubs that were seen in the early morning game drive but alas it was to late, to thick and to hot for them to be next to the road at 10:30. We did however have a lovely herd of Elephant on the road right where the Lions would have been and they clearly were not happy about the smell of Lions!
Breeding herd of Elephant block the road on our Hluhluwe Umfolozi Day Safari Tour from Durban 31 May 2014
Breeding herd of Elephant block the road on our Hluhluwe Umfolozi Day Safari Tour from Durban 31 May 2014
We had to wait for the mother with her calf to move away before they males shifted themselves and we continued on to find 3 White backed Vultures still waiting on the thermals to fly and look for dead meat. Our Durban Day Safari Tour was heating up. Hluhluwe Imfolozi Game reserve is an amazing place.
3 White backed Vultures roosting on our Hluhluwe Umfolozi Day Safari Tour from Durban 31 May 2014
3 White backed Vultures roosting on our Hluhluwe Umfolozi Day Safari Tour from Durban 31 May 2014
We continued along the dirt road and spotted a bachelor herd of Nyala crossing and them waiting in the thickets close to one another so we could get a great shot of them on our Durban Day Tour.
Bachelor herd of Nyala on our Hluhluwe Umfolozi Day Safari Tour from Durban 31 May 2014
Bachelor herd of Nyala on our Hluhluwe Umfolozi Day Safari Tour from Durban 31 May 2014
We moved on and enjoyed the fresh Durban and African air and as I got a question about the existence of Crocodiles in Hluhluwe Imfolozi game reserve we I spotted one. He was resting on the banks of the Hluhluwe River with his mouth ajar to regulate his body temperature. Durban Day Safari tours can be rewarding but you have to be patient.
Nile Crocodile on our Hluhluwe Umfolozi Day Safari Tour from Durban 31 May 2014
Nile Crocodile on our Hluhluwe Umfolozi Day Safari Tour from Durban 31 May 2014
It was nearing time to head to Hilltop camp in Hluhluwe for lunch but before we did this we checked the River at a different section and found a large herd of Buffalo resting on the rivers edge probably after a scary African night in the bush with Lions at there feet. We are lucky to have a Big 5 Safari reserve so close to Durban.
Buffalo herd rest on the banks of the Hluhluwe River on our Hluhluwe Umfolozi Day Safari Tour from Durban 31 May 2014
Buffalo herd rest on the banks of the Hluhluwe River on our Hluhluwe Umfolozi Day Safari Tour from Durban 31 May 2014
We had now seen two of the Big 5 on our Durban Day Tour and continued to see what else we could find. As we checked for Rhinos we found this Baboon with his family next to the road and in the road feeding of fruits.
Young Baboon reaches for a fruit on our Hluhluwe Umfolozi Day Safari Tour from Durban 31 May 2014
Young Baboon reaches for a fruit on our Hluhluwe Umfolozi Day Safari Tour from Durban 31 May 2014
It was now really time for some lunch with no success on the Rhino front and my clients really wanting to see them we stopped earlier so we could get the middle of the day out the way on our Day Safari Tour.
Hilltops lunch was great as always and we hurried it along to get back out. We headed down south and found a crash of 3 or 4 Rhinos next the the road but in the thickets which meant we didnt get a great photo. The big male got up and walked into a little opening but I didnt feel the picture was worth putting up as it was so bad. This was not 3 of the Big 5 and the clients could smile again! To get 3 of the Big 5 is hard enough in such a short Durban Day Safari.
We were on a roll again and spotted some giraffe near enough to the road but just the sun messing up the picture.
Giraffe female feeds on our Hluhluwe Umfolozi Day Safari Tour from Durban 31 May 2014
Giraffe female feeds on our Hluhluwe Umfolozi Day Safari Tour from Durban 31 May 2014
After looking at the giraffe for a while we continued on and got to the Umfolozi River where there was another crocodile and a Male buffalo on the rivers bank. We had to turn back and on route to the gate we finally found out Zebra, yay! Now our Durban Day Tour to Hluhluwe Umfolozi game reserve was complete.
Zebra looks at us on our Hluhluwe Umfolozi Day Safari Tour from Durban 31 May 2014
Zebra looks at us on our Hluhluwe Umfolozi Day Safari Tour from Durban 31 May 2014
After the Zebra male struck a pose it was time to move on and we were lucky to see a big male warthog at the Nyalazi gate as we exited and made our way back to Durban after a fairly successful Hluhluwe Umfolozi Safari Tour from Durban.
