Hluhluwe Big 5 game reserve safari
Our Hluhluwe Big 5 game reserve safari began in Durban. It was to be a Hluhluwe game reserve safari to remember!
“The early bird catches the worm” With a 6:30am start we made our way to the world famous Hluhluwe game reserve and the Umfolozi game reserve in the south. After covering the major history of Durban, KwaZulu Natal and South Africa we arrived at 09:30. As it was a cool day I was really hoping we would find cats but as nature has it, you have to be at the right place at the right time.
Our safari began at Nyalazi gate. We got a tip off on Lions from the lady at the gate. That was very sweet of her, she could have just said nothing!
We drove only 1 kilometer and found a young male Lion literally 5 meters off the road. It was so exciting we could hardly contain ourselves!!! We thoroughly enjoyed him for 10 minutes before spotting his brother on the other side.
They them moved off towards the riverbed and we moved off as well. Wow what a start!
Young male Lion : King of the Hluhluwe Big 5
We left the Hluhluwe game reserve, entering the Umfolozi game reserve in hope that we would find Elephant.
4 out of 5
After the Lions we spotted Rhino, Elephant and Buffalo in the distance making it already 4 of the Big 5 that we had seen in this single day!
Hluhluwe Big 5 : Meet Mr Buffalo
We crossed over the Umfolozi river – or shall we say dry riverbed – after the severe lack of rainfall we have had in the past 8 years… We didn’t spend too much time watching this old male Buffalo before we spotted some Baboons walking down the road and near the road.
Baboon in Hluhluwe
It was now time to get as far down south as we could to give ourselves a chance. I spoke with a couple of guiding mates through the day in passing and the both said, “Its quiet”. They were not wrong but we had luck on our side and kept chipping away and finding animals. I must say I had a great group that really helped me spotting, it is always important to remember the guide can only look in one direction at a time…
We then found some Giraffe – it was a mother and her baby which was laying down resting in the shade.
Gentle Giraffe Giant
African safaris are so rewarding if you have the patience to take in your surroundings when in a game reserve like Hluhluwe Imfolozi.
We were not thinking Rhino! Boy did we get lucky when we spotted a mother Rhino and her tiny calf of about 6 months or less.
This was one of the best sightings I have had of a baby Rhino in over 10 years! This little fella lay down on the road in front of us waiting for his mom to cross over. Then he got up and lay back down on the other side of the road! It was truly brilliant.
Rhino calf on the doze
After this amazing sighting we thought we couldn’t possibly have any more luck. But No … we came around a corner in the road and spotted a Leopard!!! They are supposed to be nocturnal. As Leopards do not stick around we stopped the vehicle. He held his pose then scuttled off into the thicket.
What a sweet sighting.
The Big 5 had been achieved for the second time in 5 years for me. And — “nogal” on a day safari from Durban.
Heading back from lunch we spotted
- Giraffe
- Wildebeest
- Impala and even
- Nyala
- and a 60 second Elephant sighting.
We stopped for lunch and I said to my clients that I was sure that Elephant will be waiting at the gate for us.
We decided after lunch to continue till 15:30 before making our way back to the gate and with all the road works I got a puncture! Well that is life and with the help of one of my clients I changed it and we were up and going in 15-20 minutes.
What did this day not have?
We got to the gate to get cleaned up and depart and this is what was waiting for us!
The Biggest of Big : Elephant
Wow what a day in the African bush under the African sun, Rain, wind and with the big 5! We could not really have wished for a better day on our African safari from Durban!
We all were very tired and made our way back to Durban with big 5 smiles one our faces!
Hluhluwe Big 5 in one drive! Legendary safari with Tim Brown Tours!
For more information visit our home page. www.timbrowntours.com
Drop us an email or have a look through our website and see if there is a Durban Safari that suits your needs. If not we can always customise a tour for you encompassing your interests.
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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