Wow! What a day!

We were at iMfolozi game reserve in Kwazulu-Natal , South Africa. We got there the first night just before supper, and in the following 25 hours, we saw the most incredible array of animals! We saw Cape Buffalos as we rounded the first turn inside the gate; then we saw Impala, Baboons, a White Rhinoceros, two Waterbuck, and some Vervet Monkeys, all before we even checked in to the camp! We stayed at Mpila Camp where we got to stay in a little chalet for five people that has a thatched roof and full kitchen facilities. We were excited to see that there were tracks of a large antelope and some kind of predator in the ground near the chalet—maybe we would see animals right in the camp!

For dinner our first night here, we had barbecued lamb chops with fresh salad. The sun went down so quickly, that at 6:30 in the evening, my dad was out there cooking in the dark! We were happily enjoying our meal when I looked up to see a Spotted Hyaena looking in the window at us from the patio! That explained the predator prints. We had heard that they could steal meat right off the braai (Afrikaans word for BBQ), but we were startled to see him check us out, and then saunter over to our braai looking for treats! The next night, we cooked indoors!

We woke up with the sun the next morning, and were on the road within half an hour of the gate opening. What things we saw! We started off slow with some of the Impala we had seen the night before, but this time they were accompanied by several Wildebeest. We had heard that there was a Leopard sighting yesterday on one loop, so we went there. We never did see the Leopard, but we saw over 40 White Rhinoceros!!!!!
Before we were done our day’s game viewing, we had also seen Giraffes, Elephants and several different antelopes! The Elephants were right beside the road, and one crossed behind us as soon as we moved onward. He was a young fellow—probably in his last year with the maternal herd, and full of adolescent angst. Despite the fact that none of the others even acknowledged our presence, he got right upset that we were there, flapping his ears, trumpeting, and kicking rocks at our car! We got out of his range as fast as possible!

More Game-Viewing Adventures!

After our stay at Mpila in Imfolozi, we had a couple of nights at Hilltop Camp in Hluhluwe Park followed by a stay in St. Lucia with drives into iSimangaliso Wetland Reserve. At Hluhluwe, we saw more elephant, lots of Nyala, baboons, white rhinos, zebra and giraffes. We had an incredible grasslands viewing experience on our way back to camp before dusk one evening! We were coming down a hill into an impressive expanse of tall grass, when we started seeing impala, zebra, then rhinos and finally a whole herd of giraffe—complete with babies! We thought this was all impressive enough, but then rounded a curve and drove through a herd of about 100 head of cape buffalo! They just went on, and on, and on! We also saw impressive reptile sightings at Hluhluwe—we saw young crocodiles sunning themselves on rocks in a stream; we saw four-foot long leguwan lizards; and on a tree at a rest stop, we saw a pair of blue-headed lizards with stunning colours!
At St. Lucia, we went on a boat tour up the estuary and saw all kinds of hippopotami along with the biggest crocodiles I’ve ever seen! My mum got to be really good at spotting the crocs swimming along the reeds when they only have their eyes and a few bumps on their backs exposed. The first time she spotted one, it gave us all a bit of a shock—it was way closer than we thought, and nobody had noticed! The guides on the boat were great company, so we had fun swapping stories about the different types of wildlife and climatic conditions we have on our separate parts of the world. Another experience we had in that area was a visit to the butterfly house set up by one of the nearby villages. They have a full butterfly nursery and education centre, which we enjoyed. They also have a lovely tea shop where you get the best scones served out in the fresh air, under the trees, which we enjoyed just as much!