Durban Day Safari Tour
I met my polish clients in Durban. They were here for the World forestry conference and we began our two day Durban Day safari tour to Hluhluwe Imfolozi game reserve.
After covering the usual history of Durban, KwaZulu Natal and how all the population groups came to be here we stopped for some coffee. We then continued on to the Cat rehabilitation center where we would be interacting with Cheetah hands on as well as looking at Serval, Caracal and African wild cat, species that are listed as either endangered or threatened.
Durban day safari tour; Caracal stare
This Caracal was just staring at the guide while he was explaining about the cats history’s and how they came to be at the project.
Once we had enjoyed this we made our way to the world famous Hluhluwe Imfolozi game reserve. Once we entered the gate it was game time for me! I had be make sure I was in top form to see what animals I could find for my clients.
In the national parks like Hluhluwe Imfolozi there is no guarantee of seeing the Big 5 but we always try and find as many of them as we can. The cats are always the hardest and they give me the biggest headache.
It was quiet at first but we did spot Rhino, Buffalo, Zebra, Nyala, Impala and Warthogs in our first hour before stopping for lunch.
Our best sighting was these Zebra near the road.
Zebra in a line on our Durban Day Safari Tour
I am looking at this picture now and thinking “They are all in a straight line almost on the road, awesome!”
So this was a good sighting and we then arrived at Hilltop camp for some lunch. It was now time to check in before heading back out to see what we could find from 15:30.
It was usual but annoying that every animal we saw was hiding or sleeping until 5pm. After that we began to spot better sightings of animals. Before this point we had spotted Monkeys and Baboons.
Durban day safari tour; Vervet monkey
The sightings got really good and we spotted Buffalo and Rhino together. We also had great sightings of Rhino mothers with calves as well as big bulls and even young male and female Rhino together. It was starting to become a good Durban safari tour.
Rhinos on our safari tour
The gods were now looking down on us favorably and we hit the jackpot! I can’t remember the last time I saw 3 of the Big 5 all in one area and this quality of a sighting.
We had two Rhino cross the road in front of us after they had mud wallowed and then we spotted Lions resting! I could not believe our luck. Then as we were enjoying the Lions I spotted Elephants coming to drink.
Lions during our Durban Day Safari
We got a great picture of this one young Lion who reminded me of Hashim Amla or Moeen Ali cricket players with big beards.
Young Lion
This was amazing and the sun was going down so it was getting more difficult for photos but we moved back to look at the Elephants and they were amazing! We had about 3 tiny babies and over all about 13 Elephants.
Elephant pool on our Durban Safari
This young female Elephant decided to drain her bowls on the road in front of us which is perfectly normal even the queen of England has to do the same thing!
We enjoyed these Elephants and then had one more look at the Lions as the sun was almost gone and really thanked our lucky stars that the Tim Brown magic showed up at the right time! I was nervous for a while there!
We started to hurry back to camp for the gate cut off time and on route spotted a Buffalo bull on the road! Sadly the pictures in the dark were not good so I did not put them up.
We arrived back at Hilltop camp and had a short rest before dinner. Dinner was a lovely affair with the Staff coming and singing and dancing for us which I think my clients really enjoyed. It always adds a special touch.
I also pointed out the Southern cross and showed my clients how to find South before I went off to bed. My clients would be doing the morning open vehicle game drive at 5am and kindly let me sleep in so I could catch up on this blog post and the one before this.
Day 2: Durban Day Safari Tour
After waking early and getting some work done I met my clients for breakfast before packing luggage into the vehicle and checking out.
We would still have time before our tour at St Lucia estuary to view Hippos and crocodiles.
As we departed Hilltop camp for day 2 of your Durban safari tour we managed to find Giraffe a few times.
Giraffe
We then had another amazing thing happen before we could leave the game reserve of Hluhluwe Imfolozi and it was Lions again! And …. they were the tree climbing Lions of Hluhluwe. Unbelievable!
I could not believe our luck, It was a stinking hot day already at 35 degrees and these Lions were moving around the branches of a Marula tree on our Durban safari tour.
Awesome pic : Lions argue in tree
We watched this young male Lion get frustrated with the Lioness which kept standing and sitting on him and as it was so hot he was not in a good mood.
We had a lovely picture of these Lions – they looked very beautiful in the tree.
Lions in Marula tree
It had been another crazy morning in Hluhluwe Imfolozi game reserve on safari from Durban and we now had to leave to get to St Lucia for our 12 o clock boat cruise.
I put on the air conditioner as it was so hot and most of my clients had a rest before we arrived at St Lucia. It was here we took a 2 hour Hippo and Crocodile boat cruise on the St Lucia estuary which is South Africa’s first world heritage site.
Durban safari tour; Pod of Hippos
We spotted many Hippos pods and some Crocodiles as well as bird life.
It was so hot that we were glad to be on the lower deck away from the blazing sunshine.
We managed to find Hippos also play fighting.
Hippos argue
We had a great time and now it was time for a late lunch and then to head back to Durban. Lunch was great and we all enjoyed some good food. We arrived back in Durban with a drop of 13 degrees! But we were all very happy with how our 2 day Durban safari tour had gone.
If you would like to do a Safari tour from Durban like this click on this link.
Durban 2 day safari tour
Tim Brown Tours – with numerous awards and a long history of great reviews on TripAdvisor, can help you. So look at our alternatives to visiting the Kruger National Park. And join us for your South African Safari experience! We look forward to hosting you in the near future! Book Now and get an experience of a lifetime.
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