Our Week of Safari

A few days after we arrived in Richards Bay, South Africa, we left our boat in the good hands of our friend Geert and spent a week at some wild game reserves in KwaZuluNatal Province.  We visited four.  We spent one day, with our friends Keith and Catherine, at St. Lucia Estuary, which runs along the Indian Ocean coast up to the border with Mozambique.  The Hluhluwe/iMfolozi Reserve covers 96,000 hectares, inland and is due west of St. Lucia.  It was once two separate parks that have since been united, giving the animals a much greater range.  The names are Zulu, and Hluhluwe is pronounced Shloo-shloo-wee.  Finally, we spent three nights at Ithala Game Reserve, which is on the southern border of Swaziland.  Each park is unique and we feel very fortunate to have been able to visit them, although we could have easily spent much more time there and also visiting South Africa's largest and most famous game reserve, Kruger National Park.  Someday, perhaps, we can return.  Until then, some pictures:

Early morning and late afternoon are the best times to see game, and going with a guide is preferred.  You cannot leave your vehicle in these parks, because the land belongs to the animals.  Like the lions, we slept during the middle part of the day.

The savannah is punctuated by Acacia trees; the grass grows about 3 feet high -- perfect to hide in if you are a predatory cat.

The African state-run game reserves offer these rondovals for lodging -- modeled on the traditional Zulu houses.

Looking out over Ithala Game Reserve

Guinea fowl, otherwise known as the "bush chicken."  About 18 inches tall, and quick to scamper because it "forgets that it can fly."

We often saw groups of three giraffes, each giraffe in a group within sight of the others in the group.

A giraffe can only lean over like this for a few seconds before the rush of blood to its head causes it to lose consciousness and die.  Drinking quickly becomes an essential part of living.

Two of six lions we saw resting on a hillside.  These are immature males.

Guides always carry rifles when walking in the bush -- even for short distances.

Impala

Traditional Zulu baskets, sold at a craft market in one of the game reserves

A troupe of elephants headed across a river.  Elephants bathe daily, and herds are guided by the senior female of the herd.

The male bull of the herd often forages alone, as the herd, led by the oldest female, grazes as a group.

A young elephant

This elephant lost part of its tusk.  We saw one bull knock down a tree, making his meal easier to get eat.  We realized he could make mince meat out of our little car, so we stayed at the recommended safe distance.

A Cape buffalo cow, often seen in herds of several hundred

Two young male Impalas, playing.  Single males tend to herd together, while the dominant males have a small herd of females to keep happy.

An ostrich

A Nyala Buck

Kudu Buck

A pair of zebras, which tend to move in groups of a few dozen.  Usually, wildebeest are nearby, relying on the zebra's good eye sight to warn them of predators. 

White rhino -- probably a female given the size of the horn, since male rhinos' horns are usually broken off in battle

The large estuary/savannah just west of the Indian Ocean -- in the St. Lucia game park

The Indian Ocean border of the St. Lucia game reserve

Female Nyala

Cape Buffalo

A waterbuck, gazing across a pond of hippos at us.

Hippos wallowing in a shallow pond at the St. Lucia game reserve

A Warthog stares us down.