Hluhluwe Safari

We met our guide outside the hotel right on schedule at 7am and headed out for the 20 minute drive to the park. The vehicle was an old Land Rover with raised seats, open sides and a canvas tarp roof and after 20 minutes with an open front we were fairly wind blown. The Hluhluwe park was established in 1895 and is 95,000 hectares in area. The whole park is bordered by electric fencing to keep the animals in and the poachers out. After you enter the compound  you are free to drive around the maze of roads with the proviso that you stay in your vehicle unless at a designated toilet stop or viewing point. Speaking of toilets, the first photo shows a scorpion that was crawling around in the ladies. Our Zulul guide Tayla, was a source of information and a brilliant spotter of animals. We did improve with the spotting after we acclimatized to the environment but at times you could be 10 metres from an animal and not see it with their amazing camouflage.

This park has a large number of rhinos in what is a fast disappearing species. The reason for this is that rhino horn fetches US$65,000 per kilogram on the black market and there are entrepreneurs holding onto stocks in the hope that rhinos become extinct and the price soars. The main use for the horn is in Chinese medicine, not the often reported aphrodisiac.

We saw many different species today and I'll let the pictures tell part of the story. I do need to highlight a few encounters however. We came across a herd (parade) of about 20 elephants heading for the river and they crossed the road directly in front of us. Some came towards us from the side and as they approached the Land Rover you felt the vulnerability of being so close in an open vehicle. In another spot, we rounded a corner to come face-to-face with a herd of zebra, up close and personal. The up close rhino encounter came as we were leaving the park. Lions and giraffes were also spotted but at some distance. One of the most remarkable animals is the dung beetle and we spotted a pair on the road late in the day. The female had laid an egg inside the ball of dung (which was about 100mm in diameter) and the male was rolling it onto the grass verge and then over a small dead branch with the female as a passenger. The ball is then buried to hatch the egg. No wonder they have right of way on the roads.

The landform in the park is best described as undulating to hilly. The vegetation is more bushy than the savanna that you often relate to Africa and much of it is a type of thorn bush with spikes around 50mm in length. Most of the trees were dispersed and not overly large in height.

Today was a special one and by all accounts from our guide, an excellent one for spotting.