South African Safari Tour

South African Safari Tour 26-29 July 2015

Beginning our South African safari Tour near Durban, I collected my client who were out for a Baptist conference. 

As it was a slightly larger group than I usually take on Safaris from Durban I rented a 13 seat vehicle and trailer.

Once we got all the luggage in, we headed off to Hluhluwe Imfolozi and Hilltop camp for our 3 nights there and to enjoy nature at its best.

On route, I covered as much history of Durban, KwaZulu Natal and South Africa as possible over the microphone and in no time it seemed we had arrived at the gate into Hluhluwe Imfolozi game reserve, my second home.

Hluhluwe Imfolozi game reserve has a deep history click to read more.

It is well known for having saved Rhino from extinction in the 1940’s and 50’s.

On route to Hilltop camp, we spotted one of these amazing Rhinos the White Rhino. Shortly afterwards … the most amazing Black Rhino sighting! This super relaxed male Black Rhino walked down a slope and crossed the road  … RIGHT in FRONT OF US! What a special moment! We then met for dinner before a good night’s sleep.

Day 2: South African safari tour from Durban

South African Safari Tour Day two began at 06:30 am and we made our way into the northern section of the Hluhluwe game reserve. We had luck right off the bat as we found Elephants near the road and all down in the valley and upon the hills near the camp.

Elephant

South African safari tour; Elephant

We also had some amazing luck with Rhino as we got one posing very nicely for us all.

Rhino standing

Rhino standing

We were trying our best for the African wild dogs but hear they had made their way over the river after feeding on an Nyala and taken their puppies with them. So we continued and up the road found a huge herd of Buffalo in fact we must have seen about 6 herds of Buffalo….

Buffalo on our South African Safari Tour

Buffalo on our South African Safari Tour

I love the above Buffalo picture even though it is not sharp. It has such fine character with the flies and the dust. We also managed to spot some Zebra on our South African safari which was great as the sunlight really hit them nicely.

Zebra

Zebra

The one Zebra looks like she is laughing at us… As we continue our 4 day South African safari tour in Hluhluwe we also found Giraffe but they were far away. (I knew we would get them later) So we continued back to camp for breakfast before heading out to the Cat rehabilitation center.

The Cat rehabilitation center was amazing and my clients loved it as they got to interact with Cheetah and Serval hands-on.

South African safari tour boasts Cheetah at emdoneni

South African safari tour boasts Cheetah at emdoneni

The next picture was of the Cheetah cub which is 3-4 months old and the clients got to play with him, he is very cute and playful. Wow what a South African safari tour this was turning out to be from Durban!

Cheetah cub at cat rehabilitation center

Cheetah cub at cat rehabilitation center

We then made our way back to the gate and just stopped for some food and fuel. We then got back to camp as some of the group we doing the evening open vehicle safari and others we coming with me.

Those that came with me were treated to a few things, the first was a Southern Tree Agama.

A Southern Tree Agama Treat

A Southern Tree Agama Treat

South African safari – A Southern Tree Agama Treat

Great Sighting of White Backed Vultures in a Tree

Great Sighting of White Backed Vultures in a Tree

We then found the Giraffe we had been looking for near to the road so it was great for photos excepting the light was beginning to fade. Either way, it was fantastic and our success continued during our Safari from Durban in South Africa.

South African safari; Giraffe

South African safari; Giraffe

We tried one more time for cats and dogs with no luck, but had an amazing sighting of a rare species the Bush Pig. Normally you would only see one at night. We still had one more shot of the day and it was of the sun going down and the planets Venus and Jupiter! The night sky had cleared from the previous night was looking great with so many stars out.

We had a great day on our African safari tour from Durban.

South African safari; Sunset, Venus and Jupiter

South African safari; Sunset, Venus and Jupiter

It was now time to wait for the others to get back and at 8 pm we all had a great dinner. The food at Hilltop camp is always lovely. We were all very tired and headed off to bed as we would meet the next day fairly early at 7 am for breakfast.

Day 3: South African safari Tour from Durban

We began the day in the hope of finding cats but sadly we battled for to find any.

This did not bother us much as we found many other species of animals from Elephant to Mongooses.

We were wanting to see more Giraffe on this African Safari and we did.

Some more Giraffe

Some more Giraffe

My clients were very happy with the Giraffe and after a short while, we spotted a bull Elephant which crossed the road in front of us and fed next to the road.

Not a Zebra Crossing ……Elephant crosses road

Elephant crosses road

We slowly made our way down to the Umfolozi river.  Before we got there we spotted a Rhino bull which decided to sit down and then have a rest by lying down.

It was an amazing sighting as I managed to shoot the sequence of events.

South African safari; Rhino 1

South African safari; Rhino 1

South African safari; Rhino 1

Rhino Number 2

South African safari; Rhino Number 2

South African safari tour; Rhino Number 3

South African safari tour; Rhino Number 3

Did someone say nap time?

After the Rhino went to sleep we made our way over the Umfolozi river which was in full force after the heavy rain. It was great to see this river flowing so well during our Durban safari tour in South Africa.

Umfolozi river in flow

South African safari; Umfolozi river in flow

Rivers

We continued and tried to get as far south as we could but time was also running out as I was unable to travel very fast in the 13 seat vehicle.

Things were quiet and we decided to stop at Bhejane hide and see what animals would come to us. Sadly it was only birds.

We did however see Terrapins on the bank of the watering hole.

African safari; Terrapins

South African safari; Terapins

Once of the best sighting at the watering hole was this African Hoopoe which was searching for food and maybe had a nest in this dead tree next to the watering hole.

South African safari; African Hoopoe

South African safari; African Hoopoe

We then made our way to the Centenary center for some lunch. This followed by a look around the curio shop. As we were a group of 12 it took longer than we thought and we needed to rush back to Hilltop camp. Thank you Jason for your help!

We arrived back and sorted everything out before meeting for dinner. We had to wait for the 4 clients that went on the open vehicle game drive but it was a good wait.

As we stood at the bar we noticed that Prince Harry was in the restaurant enjoying dinner we could not believe our luck to see such a character. We waited on the others and told them but did not want to bother the young prince as others were doing and we sat to enjoy our meal having had a great day.

Day 4: South African safari tour from Durban

We began our fourth day with a very early start at 05:45 and left Hilltop camp by 6 am for St Lucia or Isimangaliso Wetland park for our 2-hour boat cruise viewing Hippos and crocodiles.

We arrived 10 minutes early and had a great 2 hours on the boat seeing lots of Hippos, Crocodiles, Mangroves, and birds.

Tour Sightings bring a Crocodile at St Lucia

Tour Sightings bring a Crocodile at St Lucia

We had unbelievable sightings of Hippos both in the water and on land during our African safari from Durban.

Safari Tour Beware of Hippos out the water

safari tour beware of Hippos out the water

St Lucia estuary is the largest estuarine system in Southern Africa. It is home to 4 of the Big 5 – the 5 most dangerous animals to hunt on foot.

South African safari; Hippos playing

South African safari; Hippos playing

We were lucky to catch these two baby Hippos playing in the estuary. While on the boat tour of St Lucia we also had amazing Bird sightings of Pink Backed Pelicans, African Fish Eagles to Black winged stilts.

South African safari; Pink backed Pelican in flight

South African safari; Pink backed Pelican in flight

As the boat cruise drew to an end we had one more sighting and that was of a Bull Shark swimming in the St Lucia Estuary! They have been stuck here since 2007 when the estuary closed naturally to the ocean due to a lack of rainfall.  

We finished up our cruise and began our way back to Durban International or King Shaka International airport stopping along the way for some food and coffee.

We arrived on time for the clients that would be catching their flights out of Durban. It had been an amazing tour having just missed out on the cats!

We all enjoyed it and would have many memories to take back home with us.

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