The combined Hluhluwe-iMfolizi Game Reserve is just over an hour’s drive from the marina and at 96,000 hectares and is considered one of South Africa’s most beautiful parks. We packed a picnic lunch and made a day-trip through the southern half, iMfolizi Game Reserve. Guided safaris are available, but we purchased a map and animal guide at the gate and had a great time self-touring. We weren’t really expecting to see the animals so close or even necessarily see that many animals, but within minutes of passing through the gate we saw two zebras, a giraffe and an elephant about 30 feet off the road.
Trip highlights from October 30th follow. Click any image for a larger view, or click the position to view the location on a map. And a live map of our current route and most recent log entries always is available at http://mvdirona.com/maps
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iMfolozi Game Reserve
Position: 31 59.41, -28 15.05
We entered at the Nyalazi Gate, about mid-way along the park’s eastern boundary. The main gate is at the northern tip of the park, and another is along the west border.
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Warthog
Position: 31 59.41, -28 15.05
We saw our first animal before we’d even passed through the gate. Three warthogs were having a drink at a little puddle near the road.
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Zebra
Position: 31 58.53, -28 15.98
We weren’t really expecting to see the animals so close or even necessarily see that many animals, but within minutes of passing through the gate we saw two zebras about 30 feet off the road.
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Giraffe
Position: 31 58.53, -28 15.98
And a giraffe was standing next to the zebras. We were getting pretty excited at this point.
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Elephant
Position: 31 57.96, -28 16.61
Five minutes after spotting the zebra and the giraffe, we came across an elephant just off the road. Amazing!
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Blue wildebeest
Position: 31 56.54, -28 15.77
We drove up to a viewpoint from where we could see a huge herd of blue wildebeest.
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Rhinos
Position: 31 55.46, -28 17.62
At another viewpoint, we watched a family of white rhinos make their way slowly up a dry creek.
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Baboon
Position: 31 50.84, -28 19.08
This chacma baboon was gorging on berries with both hands.
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Sontuli picnic spot
Position: 31 50.73, -28 13.79
We had our picninc lunch at the Sontuli picnic spot overlooking the Black Umfolizi river.
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Buffalo
Position: 31 50.73, -28 13.79
A herd of buffalo were grazing in the mostly dry Black Umfolizi river below our picnic spot.
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Nyala
Position: 31 49.90, -28 13.96
We stopped at another viewpoint and watched a herd of Nyala cautiously crossing the Black Umfolizi river. They could hear us a long way off and all stood rigid listening for several minutes.
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Impala
Position: 31 45.90, -28 18.13
We saw several herds of beautiful impala throughout the park.
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Vista
Position: 31 52.31, -28 18.60
We were so excited to see all the animals we hadn’t really been paying attention to the impressive scenery.
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Black rhino
Position: 31 59.14, -28 16.98
We stopped off at the Centenary Center to visit the capture bomas (enclosures) where animals are held before transfer to other parks. Here Jennifer is petting a black rhino. Black rhinos aren’t out in the open plains as much as the white rhinos are, so it’s somewhat less common to see them in the wild.
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Baby rhinos
Position: 31 59.17, -28 16.98
These two baby black rhinos were having their afternoon feed when we arrived. They slowly chomped their way through a huge pile of leaf-filled branches.
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Zebra
Position: 31 58.56, -28 15.90
We saw two more zebra shortly before exiting the park. Wow, what a day!
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Click the travel log icon on the left to see these locations on a map, with the complete log of our cruise.
On the map page, clicking on a camera or text icon will display a picture and/or log entry for that location, and clicking on the smaller icons along the route will display latitude, longitude and other navigation data for that location. And a live map of our current route and most recent log entries always is available at http://mvdirona.com/maps. |
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