Hluhluwe Imfolozi Game Drive

It was another 5:00 am morning this morning so that we could get to the game reserve early for our first game drive of the trip. The game reserve was about 50 minutes from our hotel and after a short delay waiting for some folks to find their passports we were off.

On arrival at the game reserve we separated into groups of 9 or so and took our places in the open aired vehicles. I was fortunate enough to get the passenger seat next to the ranger/driver while Claude was a row back on the other side and about a foot higher than my seat. Thus gave us excellent views although I think everyone had very good views. Our driver Jerome, was hilarious and he quickly named me his spotting assistant.

The very first animal we spotted was a lone female lion, although there were likely others nearby. Next were a herd of elephants drinking and eating vegetation at a watering hole. After that we came upon three young Cape buffalo butting heads and horns on the roadway and then more elephants and more elephants. After tiring of seeing so many elephants we went in search of more lions but we only found a young male that was gaunt and unhealthy looking. He had likely been injured and thus had difficulty catching any prey. We carried on looking for white rhinos and after a bit of time and driving spotted some in the distance and then traveled on a little further to find some a bit closer. And closer we did! We rounded a corner to find two rhinos standing in the middle of the road right in front of us! We stopped the vehicle and turned off the engine and watched as they stared at us and sauntered closer. Before they finally turned off into the brush they had gotten within about twelve feet of the front of the vehicle! We left the rhinos and then drive to the top of a pretty high hill to get a view of the surrounding terrain. The vistas were beautiful and we were able to get out and stretch our legs. After the brief break we continued down the other side of the hill where I spotted a giraffe off in the distance. We drove to get a better vantage point and found a family of four to six giraffes including a baby giraffe.

By now the time for our Safari has come to and end so we headed back to the entrance to meet up with the others and to share our stories of sightings. We also came back to some bad news and that was that our good friends and travelling companions, David and Priscilla, were leaving the tour to get medical help for David. He had been feeling under the weather since the beginning of the tour and unfortunately instead of getting better, he was getting worse. He did not go on the safari and instead saw a doctor and it was recommended that he be admitted to the local hospital for rest and attention. We are so sad to say goodbye but we know it was the right decision and our hope is that they will be able to rejoin us in a few days time.

After giving our love and best wishes to David and Priscilla we reboarded the coach to make our way into Swaziland. Crossing the border required us to leave the coach and get an exit stamp on the South African side, walk across the border and then get an entry stamp on the Swaziland side. We then got back on the coach and stayed our journey into Africa's smallest country.Read more