Kwa-Zulu Natal: Hluhluwe-Imfolozi NP

This was an exicting day for us (marc couldnt sleep), and was an early start. This was our first self drive safari - at Hluhluwe Imfolozi National Park. Our choice of vehicle: a bright "internet explorer" blue 1.3 ltr golf (4x4 recommended for the offroad tracks!!)

We were told that the park opens at 5am... lucky for us we left a tad late as when we got there at 5.55am we arrived to a locked gate and a sign saying that it opens at 6am...so we only had to wait 5 minutes instead of 1 hour in the middle of nowhere!! So, Evelyn signed us both in as SA citizens (So Marc got in 1/2 price) & we were the first to enter the park (v unusual for us).

We wanted to be early to give us the best chance of seeing the elusive cats - Lions, cheetha, leopard - which we keep missing & are generally only seen at dawn/dusk after/before hunting.
Unfortunately, we saw none of these :( We checked the sightings board when we left, and there were no lions, a leopard was spotted in the north of the park (where we didnt go), and a cheetha was spotted in the south (where we did go) but once again, close but the timings were just out.



It was still a really exciting day though - looking in the savanna for animals is great fun, with us having a competition to see who could guess the correct number of buck spotted in a 5 minute spell (Evelyns hundreds were close ;) Marc was great at spotting things miles away (e.g. Warthog) whilst Evelyn's near-sightedness came in handy (spotting the massive rhino in front of the warthog ;)



We saw 2 of the big 5 - buffalo and white rhino; We saw vultures first thing, hoping they were circling a kill, but not this time. We saw an eagle close up, kudu, waterbuck, redbuck, duiker, wildebeast, zebra, and loads more which are noted in our little daily diary. As we drove around, there were several hides overlooking watering holes - it was good to get out on foot and sit in the hides to try and spot the game. However, the watering holes were dry and the best we saw were old elephant footprints ;)



One of the highlights was when we came across loads of cars viewing about 15 girraffes about 10mtrs away which was lovely to see - the only giraffes we have seen (at most around 3 of them) have been quite far away and well camaflogued.

The main highlight and ultimate experience was when we turned a corner coming up a hill and came across a massive giraffe in the middle of the road! At first we were unsure if he was going to stay or run, as he just stood and watched us (the likeness to Peter Crouch was uncanny). After a few minutes we drove on slowly only to realise that there were even more giraffes just 2mtrs from the road busy having their brekkie. It was just wonderful to see and we watched them for around 10 mins.



Our funny momment started the night before, when Marc silently checked the fuel gauge and thought it would be OK !! But its not wise to go on safari with only 1/2 a tank of fuel !! We arrived at the park, and confirmed there was a gas station in the park. We reached the little hut that was the petrol station at 7am, but it didnt open until 8am. So rather than wait an hour, and with "loads" of fuel, we carried on. However, 100ks later, we got a shock with a nice loud beeping sound from the fuel gauge. So, we had to turn around after doing 5km on a 12km one-way circut - lucky enough for us we just managed to reach the petrol station with a minute to spare before it closed for another 1 1/2hrs (which was around 12pm)!!



So after spending about 8hrs in the national park, we headed back to Umhlanga Rocks for our final night in KZN. Unfortunately for us, there was gale force winds of over 80km p.hr, which made driving a bit tricky. It also meant that we got a call at 5am the next morning, to tell us that our visit with the Natal Sharks Board to see them check the shark nets had to be cancelled as it was too dangerous :( - we wouldnt want to be blown into shark infested waters ;)

On our final night we went out for the best meal so far (at Razzmatazz). Despite the name, this place wasnt chessy, but quite classy as its within the grounds of a 5 star hotel. The restuarant overlooked the beach, had a good atmosphere, great staff, and lovely food. Marc had croc kebabs for starters, and prawn curry. Evelyn had tricolore salad and the best steak medallions that shes ever had, and thats saying something !!