Tala and valley of 1000 Hills cultural day tour
We began our day tour in Durban where I met me clients and we made our way up to Tala game reserve 45 minutes outside of Durban city.
On route I covered the history of Durban and KwaZulu Natal, as well as answering any questions my clients had for me.
We reached Tala game reserve and began with our Safari part of our tour from Durban and as Tala is so highly populated with animals it is really easy to find the animals if you know where to look.
We had initial great sightings of Zebra, Blessbok, Wildebeest and Ostrich.
Tala day tour; Zebra
The Zebra were really posing for us and this meant we managed to get some great photos before looking at other animals like these Blessbok.
Tala day tour; Blessbok
We continued on with on quest to find Rhino and Giraffe on this Durban day tour. We had already spotted the Hippos in the dam near the main gate so we would return later to get a better look at them.
We did find some Giraffe all tucked away in the Acacia thickets which was not the best for getting my big vehicle through but it had to be done. A few scratches later we came out having seen 4 Giraffe one of them being a youngster.
We continued our tour of Tala game reserve and spotted more Ostrich and Wildebeest even Warthogs and Impala which I did not photograph.
It was time to stop for a rest room break and then continue to find the remaining animals. We managed to get the Rhinos in an open area which was great as we could see then nicely, this Male gave us the best look!
Tala day tour; Rhino
The Rhinos at Tala have been attacked by poachers and now all have bracelet tracking devices on there legs. This one has the tip of his horn removed and will have more removed soon. Another survived a vicious attack and survived after having her front horn hacked off.
This is all very sad but it is he state of affairs when it comes to traditional medicines around the world.
We continued of Durban day tour and found a territorial male Wildebeest laying in his pile of dung which is common to see as they like to roll around in it to get there scent all over the place.
Tala day tour; Wildebeest
It was not time to go and have a look at the Hippos in the dam. It was great as when we got there, there was one which rolled over sadly I missed the picture as it would have been cracking!
Tala day tour; Hippo
Video: Hippos at Tala game reserve
We watched the Hippos for a bit while enjoying the peace as the Knob Billed Coots and Egyptian geese made some noise. Moving on we found some Giraffe in an open area and there was about 8 of them so we had an amazing sighting. The best part of this was that they were trying to pick up bones which is common as they need calcium in there diet. They grind the bone over the molars and eat the shavings.
Tala day tour; Giraffe looking for bones
The above picture could be a candidate for the bums of Africa collections!
Tala day tour; Giraffe pose
During this sighting on our Durban day tour we managed to spot this gaze from a Giraffe which was amazing!
It was now time to do one last check on the Rhinos which hadn’t moved much and we enjoyed watching them from a different view before heading out of Tala game reserve in the Valley of 1000 Hills to Phezulu for our Zulu Cultural experience.
We took the scenic route which on a clear day like was had for this tour was amazing, I think my clients were very happy with the weather.
We then arrived and decided to have lunch with a view at the Boma restaurant which over looks the Valley of 1000 hills. It is a great spot to enjoy a great meal and a view.
It was almost 2 pm so we finished up with lunch and made our way to the Zulu Cultural village for the tour there. We got settled in our seats and waited for the Zulu Dancing which was amazing as usual.
Tala day tour; Zulu Dancing
Tala day tour; Shakas small shield dance
After this amazing singing and dancing we had a look in a couple of the Zulu huts, the meeting hut and the cooking hut. In each hut we learned more on the culture and beliefs of the traditional Zulus.
It was now time to get to the reptile park which has a lot of Crocodiles and different snake species.
I decided to run the tour around myself and but the end we had picked up a few stragglers who must have thought I worked there….
It was great fun and we had a great Durban day tour in the Valley of 1000 hills as well as Tala game reserve.
Tala day tour; Crocodile
We began the drive back into Durban city after a great day mixing up Nature with culture on our Durban day tour!
