We began our Durban Day Big 5 Safari Tour in Durban(Umhlanga) where I met my clients who were here working for IBM and doing some worth in South Africa with there meetings in Durban.
As per usual I covered in my introduction to the clients what my job was: Which was to chat to them about the History of Durban, KwaZulu-Natal and South Africa as well as cover the different population groups and how they all came to be here in South Africa. During my Guided Durban Safaris and Tours I also chat about the crops we see on route to Hluhluwe Imfolozi Big 5 game reserve and any question the clients may have regarding Politics, education etc.
I was glad that my clients asked me many questions as this helped cover what they really wanted to hear from me. It took us 2 and a half hours to get to Hluhluwe Imfolozi Big 5 game reserve where we entered in at the Nyalazi gate and began our Durban Day Safari.
Durban Day Safaris can be at times riveting and can capture the imagination of even the most skeptical of Nature lovers. We had a cracker of a Durban Safari tour!
As we moved through the umfolozi game reserve on our Durban Day Safari we spotted many animals and the day was at no point boring.
My clients asked me to write a list of what we saw so here it is: Impala, Nyala, Warthog, Zebra, Giraffe, Wildebeest, Lion, Buffalo, Rhino, Elephant and to cap it all off one of the best sightings of a Cheetah I have had in a long time. We spotted 4 of the Big 5 on our Durban day Safari and Cheetah as a bonus!
Lets start with the Rhino of which we had a few great sightings:
One of many Hluhluwe Imfolozi game reserves White Rhinos
One of many Hluhluwe Imfolozi game reserves White Rhinos
This young Male White Rhino was with a young female but to young for mating so purely for companionship. We enjoyed watching them feeding near to the road before we continued on our Durban Day Safari.
As we got deeper into the South of the reserve after seeing Zebra, Impala and Nyala we spotted some Zebras close to the road.
Big 5 Day Safari from Durban, Zebra poses for us
Big 5 Day Safari from Durban, Zebra poses for us
This was the beginning of what was to be an amazing Durban Day Safari as we the got to a view point over the White Umfolozi river and there was a Lioness walking on the rocks towards the reeds. I had time to snap one picture while explaining to the clients where the Lioness was situated. Just to the right of the Lioness was a Cheetah male which was nervous of her presence and moved up the hill so we got back in the vehicle to relocate the Cheetah and we got a great photo. In fact he walked over towards us rolled on a sandy patch, scent marked a tree and then walked past us down to the other side of the river. Wow what a great sighting on our Durban Big 5 Day Safari Tour.
Durban Day Big 5 Safari, picture of a Lioness we found in Hluhluwe Imfolozi game reserve
The Cheetah was a special sighting for us all.
Male Cheetah seen on our Durban Big 5 Safari Tour to Hluhluwe Imfolozi game reserve
Male Cheetah seen on our Durban Big 5 Safari Tour to Hluhluwe Imfolozi game reserve
After this amazing sighting in Umfolozi on our Durban day Safari tour we continued to look for Elephants at first unsuccessfully we did however spot Warthogs at a Watering hole. Some of my clients claimed to have seen an Elephant with a baby but I did not see it…
Durban Big 5 Day Safari, picture of Warthogs at the waterhole
Durban Big 5 Day Safari, picture of Warthogs at the waterhole
We started to journey back to get to our late luncheon spot at the Centenary center. On route we spotted Giraffe on a few occasions and got some great photos! What an amazing Durban Day Safari for my clients!
Male Giraffe in Hluhluwe Imfolozi game reserve on our Durban Day Safari Tour
Male Giraffe in Hluhluwe Imfolozi game reserve on our Durban Day Safari Tour
We still we not done with the great sightings! We crossed back over the Black Umfolozi river and spotted a huge herd of Buffalo in the river. The best part was we also saw a crocodile and a Goliath heron.
A goliath Heron the world tallest Heron with a herd of Buffalo behind him on our Durban Day Safari Tour to Hluhluwe Imfolozi game reserve
A goliath Heron the world tallest Heron with a herd of Buffalo behind him on our Durban Day Safari Tour to Hluhluwe Imfolozi game reserve
We finally got to the luncheon stop and my clients and I enjoyed a great meal before they looked around the curio/gift shop and purchased a few items from the local ladies. It was great that they could all find some gifts to remember this great Durban Day Safari.
After Lunch we spotted an Elephant bull on our way out of the game reserve which was the cherry on top for us all.
Bull Elephant seen on our Durban Big 5 Safari Tour in Hluhluwe Imfolozi game reserve
Bull Elephant seen on our Durban Big 5 Safari Tour in Hluhluwe Imfolozi game reserve
This had been a great Durban Day Safari and most of the clients enjoyed some rest on the drive home with some fond memories of this great day to think about. It had truly been a great Durban Big 5 Safari tour to Hluhluwe Imfolozi game reserve.
