On this Durban Overnight Safari Tour we began in Durban city in the province of KwaZulu-Natal as usual but there would be nothing usual about this Safari Tour to Hluhluwe Umfolozi Game reserve!
On Route to Hluhluwe umfolozi game reserve I covered most of the major history of Durban, KwaZulu-Natal and South Africa before covering Hluhluwe Umfolozi History and Early Zulu History.
We arrived at Hluhluwe Umfolozi game reserve at about 09:30 at the Nyalazi gate where we entered this majestic, scenic game reserve for our Durban Safari Tour. Hluhluwe Umfolozi game reserve is 960 square kilometres in size, home to the Big 5 and the beginning of our Durban Big 5 Safari Tour.
Our Safari sightings began slowly as rain had fallen all over the reserve the day before but today the sun was out in force and the temperatures rose to 35 Degree Celsius during the Day.
One of our first sightings on our Durban Safari Tour to Hluhluwe Umfolozi was the Warthog which is not one of the Big 5 but just as interesting.
Muddy Warthog Rubbing on a log on our Durban 2 Day Safari Tour to Hluhluwe Umfolozi Game reserve and St Lucia Isimangeliso Wetland Park
Muddy Warthog Rubbing on a log on our Durban 2 Day Safari Tour to Hluhluwe Umfolozi Game reserve and St Lucia Isimangeliso Wetland Park
We continued further South finding Impala, Wildebeest, Zebra and White Rhinos. These White Rhinos Spotted on our Durban overnight Safari Tour had been in the mud and were right next to the road which mad for a great photo opportunity. White Rhino are one of the Big 5 so we now had one of the Big 5 knocked off the list.
Muddy White Rhino on our Durban 2 Day Safari Tour to Hluhluwe Umfolozi Game reserve and St Lucia Isimangeliso Wetland Park
Muddy White Rhino on our Durban 2 Day Safari Tour to Hluhluwe Umfolozi Game reserve and St Lucia Isimangeliso Wetland Park
As we continued on our Safari Tour in the Umfolozi section of the reserve we were stunned at almost 1pm to find a Lioness hunting Warthog! Sadly she missed them as they got wind of here and bolted for the bushes. This Safari Tour from Durban was becoming quite something! Just around the bend we spotted the rest of the Pride 5 more Lions. 4 Being Females and one a Young Lion. They all crossed the dirt road in front of our vehicle. This was truly a blessing mostly because it was the heat of the day and we don’t usually see Lions so active at that time, So Now we had 2 of the Big 5 found and only 3 to go.
Lioness Stalking Warthog in Umfolozi on our Durban 2 Day Safari Tour to Hluhluwe Umfolozi Game reserve and St Lucia Isimangeliso Wetland Park
Lioness Stalking Warthog in Umfolozi on our Durban 2 Day Safari Tour to Hluhluwe Umfolozi Game reserve and St Lucia Isimangeliso Wetland Park
Young Male Lion in Umfolozi on our Durban 2 Day Safari Tour to Hluhluwe Umfolozi Game reserve and St Lucia Isimangeliso Wetland Park
Young Male Lion in Umfolozi on our Durban 2 Day Safari Tour to Hluhluwe Umfolozi Game reserve and St Lucia Isimangeliso Wetland Park
We continued our Safari Tour in Hluhluwe Umfolozi game reserve before heading back to Centenary centre for some lunch and back to Hilltop for the afternoon open vehicle game drive Safari Tour.
Hilltop camp is a beautiful lodge hidden away in the forest of the Hluhluwe game reserve, they are fully catered and a guide is always recommended.
Lunch was great and on route to Hilltop camp we actually found our 3rd one of the Big 5 on our Safari Tour from Durban, Buffalo. This Buffalo bull was thrusting his horns around the grass – we call it adornment. The grass or twigs that gets stuck in the horns is supposed to make the male more attractive to the female Buffalo…
Buffalo Bull on our Durban 2 Day Safari Tour to Hluhluwe Umfolozi Game reserve and St Lucia Isimangeliso Wetland Park
Buffalo Bull on our Durban 2 Day Safari Tour to Hluhluwe Umfolozi Game reserve and St Lucia Isimangeliso Wetland Park
After this we were almost at Hilltop camp in Hluhluwe umfolozi game reserve when we spotted Elephants a small breeding herd of about 9 Elephants. This was now number 4 of the Big 5 and we had done really well in just one day on our Durban Safari Tour.
Elephant Herd on our Durban 2 Day Safari Tour to Hluhluwe Umfolozi Game reserve and St Lucia Isimangeliso Wetland Park
Elephant Herd on our Durban 2 Day Safari Tour to Hluhluwe Umfolozi Game reserve and St Lucia Isimangeliso Wetland Park
We were now in a rush to get checked into Hilltop camp Hluhluwe before the open vehicle game drive Safari Tour but it was worth it!
We arrived at Hilltop camp I rushed in and got the check in out the way before rushing through the forest to the rooms to drop off the luggage and get the clients back down for the Open vehicle Safari Tour experience.
After the Open Vehicle experience my clients returned having seen much of the same animals but no cats so I was really glad we had found then in the Umfolozi section. It was time for dinner and I could feel my eyes wanting to shut as we began dinner after 8pm at Hilltop camp, We were the last to leave the lodge for bed!
Day 2: Durban 2 Day overnight Safari Tour to Hluhluwe umfolozi Game reserve and St Lucia Wetlands ( Isimangeliso Wetland Park)
We had a 7am breakfast at Hilltop camp Hluhluwe before checking out and doing our last 2.5 Hours Safari Tour Game Drive in Hluhluwe Umfolozi. We found some Giraffe, Rhino, Buffalo and a few other species but not the same at the first day of our Durban Safari Tour…
It was not time to depart Hluhluwe Umfolozi game reserve for St Lucia Isimangeliso Wetland Park, South Africas first World heritage site. It was beautiful and the weather was perfect for our 2 hour St Lucia Boat cruise on the Estuary.
We saw Loads of Hippos and a few crocodiles as well as a Fish Eagle. We had been very lucky all Safari Tour long and Isimangeliso Park was no different!
Once we were back at the Jetty it was time for some lunch in St Lucia Town we all enjoyed our food before the final drive back to Durban City.
The final 2.5 hours back were taken up by the last few questions and I think we all felt that we had achieved a lot in a short space of time of our Durban Safari Tour to Hluhluwe Umfolozi game reserve and Isimangeliso Wetland park/St Lucia.
To experience a similar Durban Safari Tour join me; Tim Brown as I guide you through the beauty of what South Africa, KwaZulu-Natal and Durban have to offer you our valued Guests to our Country.
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