On Safari in Kwa-Zulu Natal, Part 2 - from hilltop to beach

White-backed Vulture

4. Hluhluwe-iMfolozi, Part 2

for Part 1 of this safari please click on this link:- On safari in Kwa-Zulu Natal, Part 1


After 2 days of extreme heat, the expected frontal system arrived and we had a gloomy, damp day for our game drive in the iMfolozi section of this reserve.

The riverside loop, which usually has the best wildlife, was unfortunately closed due to flood damage, so we were restricted to the hills.

Not much wildlife showed up but we did have a great view of this vulture and wildebeest!

Blue Wildebeest

It was a welcome break from being in the car to spend the afternoon enjoying the wildlife around our chalet.

The next morning we left the hills of the Zululand interior and headed for the coast......

iMfolozi Game Reserve

5. Eastern Shores & Cape Vidal (iSimangaliso Wetland Park)

No trip to Kwa-Zulu Natal is complete without spending time on our magnificent Indian Ocean coast. Cape Vidal, our destination, is part of South Africa's first World Heritage Site, iSimangaliso. I can't describe it better than this quote from the iSimangaliso website:-

Cape Vidal

"The 332,000 hectare Park contains three major lake systems, eight interlinking ecosystems, 700 year old fishing traditions, most of South Africa’s remaining swamp forests, Africa’s largest estuarine system, 526 bird species and 25,000 year-old coastal dunes – among the highest in the world. The name iSimangaliso means miracle and wonder, which aptly describes this unique place.
Come and experience the diverse experiences in the 10 Jewels that make up the iSimangaliso Wetland Park. Enjoy the endless beaches that stretch 220 kilometers from Maphelane in the south to Kosi Bay on the Mozambique border, view game on self-guided or guided trails and routes on the foothills of the Lubombo mountains in uMkhuze or in the coastal forests and rolling grasslands of Lake St Lucia’s Eastern Shores. See the spectacular coral reefs and colourful underwater life whilst diving or snorkelling or embark on adventures ranging from kayak trips to horse rides."

We spent 3 nights at Cape Vidal and made the most of the beach, snorkelling in the small lagoon, game viewing in the Lake St. Lucia Eastern Shores and doing an estuarine boat cruise.

This destination really has almost everything one would want to experience on a South African holiday, and our chalet was just behind the sand dune from the beach.

Vervet Monkeys on my car

In camp......

Kudu bulls

Kudu females

Game viewing......

African buffalo

Sunrise over the Indian Ocean

Early launching for the sports fishermen

On the beach.....

Relaxing after a snorkel...

Hippo in the mangroves

and on the boat cruise......

Nile crocodile

The last day of our safari arrived, and probably just in time as my cousin, obviously bitten by a tick at Ithala, was now suffering from relatively mild (luckily) tick-bite fever.

So it was time to head south to Durban, a doctor, and a weekend spent with family, and the end of our amazing Kwa-Zulu Natal trip.










On the way, we diverted inland to the Dlinza Forest, hidden in the town of Eshowe.

Here, there is an aerial boardwalk which gives impressive views of the canopy forest.

6. Durban

After breakfast, a morning walk on one of Durban's beaches.........

View from our table at the entrance to Durban harbour

Blue-bottle or Portuguese Man-o-War

Durban

 Kwa-Zulu Natal is often overlooked by first time visitors to South Africa, who tend to naturally focus on Cape Town and Kruger National Park.

But once you have fallen in love with this amazing country, and can manage to visit again, then this province should definitely be in your plans.

On safari - Kruger National Park, August 2016

Klipspringer, near the Olifants River

Three great safaris in 3 weeks - what more could a safari guide wish for?

Spring's hot, scorching days arriving a month early, combined with the gusty winds of August made the first week or two a little more unpredictable than usual.

Lion and leopard active on a mid-day game drive; thick fog early one morning; a couple of hours spent south of Skukuza, with absolutely ZERO other vehicles, on leopard, wild dog, rhino and hyena sightings....... and the list goes on.

Each safari produced totally different experiences - this is nothing especially out of the ordinary for Kruger safaris perhaps, but maybe I just appreciated it more since it's been six long months since I was last here.

On some of the best sightings I couldn't get the camera up as I needed to concentrate on positioning the vehicle in the best possible place.....

But despite that, this posting is going to be chock full of photos, so I hope you have the patience to scroll through them right to the end. (some I've already posted on Facebook, but there's also a lot more!)

As always, with late winter/spring, the focus, in this driest part of the dry season is the waterholes and rivers.

There were about 10 lion scattered around this waterhole, and although they weren't in "hunt mode"this lioness wasn't going to pass up a tasty warthog snack, if they had got close enough (the hogs look a lot closer than they actually were).







The "prey"animals are totally aware of this of course and are particularly wary and nervous when coming down to drink.

We couldn't see any predators around at this small waterhole, but that didn't stop the zebra scattering in panic a couple of times in between quick sips...

Croc at Lake Panic

We spent a lot of time along the Sabie River and weren't disappointed by the lion, leopard, hippo, buffalo and assorted antelope sightings..... 

Kudu in the tamboti

Buffalo crossing the Sabie River

Malachite Kingfisher

 The smaller, more colourful birds were also close to water.

Red-breasted swallow

Lesser-striped swallow

Elephant at Mohlabetsi Lodge

 





But when we ventured away from the rivers and larger waterholes we also had some great experiences........

Elephant, backdropped by the spring colours of the mopani veld

Including this very special encounter with two cheetah, early one morning, north of Satara.

As mentioned earlier in this posting we had an amazing morning drive south of Skukuza. The main target for the drive was to find rhino, which we did, but also leopard, wild dog and hyaena (and lot's more) - all on roads empty of other vehicles.

This hyena mother and cub were very alert, and heard the rhino well before we saw them. Needless to say the rhino could obviously scent the hyena and were also very alert as they crossed through the open area.

relaxing again......

We had strong gusty winds for much of the month but the weather's defining feature were the hot, parched days.

Whether the mornings started with thick fog, or gloriously clear blue skies, by 11 am every visible animal was huddled under the limited shade......

But, that's spring in Kruger.

Extremes of everything!

Picture perfect

So often in the bush it is really difficult to get that "perfect" picture of an animal. So much so that one of my more frequent quips is "one would think that the animal is more interested in eating/sleeping/hiding than posing for us tourists!"

Then one has a sequence of days where every animal appears to be in just the right place for us to try and get that ideal capture. Not only for my clients, but also for me!

Here are just a few examples of animals trying their best to give me that perfect opportunity over the last week in Kruger National Park.......

This must be the best pose/lighting a Kudu bull has ever presented me with...........

The giraffe did their best as well - posing in the sun against cloudy / misty backdrops......

After a short leopard "drought" I had sightings on 3 consecutive days. This gorgeous male walked right up to and past my window - looking straight into my lens - unfortunately my camera and I were not sufficiently up to the challenge :(

 Three cheetah males I found early on Sunday morning gave us 30 minutes of "spotted cat bliss".

They didn't "pose" for us but we had loads of time to try and get the "perfect picture".

A little later that same morning we joined the queue of amazed and appreciative Kruger visitors photographing these two relaxed young lion. They couldn't have found a better place for us to admire them!

African Fish Eagle

Dark Chanting Goshawk

Grey Heron

I don't have the best camera equipment for birds, but these three did their best to give me a good chance to capture them!
































And as I often do, I'm going to end up with a Kruger landscape. With the rain we had this last weekend, clouds and mist gave us some great sunrise moments..........