“A REAL BUSH, BATTLEFIELD & ‘BERG TOUR PACKAGE”

Douglas and Brenda from Scotland visited KZN in the first week of September. They were met by Duncan at the Durban International Airport, to transfer them across to Allways B&B, Durban North, one of Durban’s most popular suburbs with splendid views overlooking the Indian Ocean, for a one-night stopover.

“Call of the Wild”
There was an early morning start the next day as the group headed off to the Imfolozi / Hluhluwe Game Reserve for a four day safari. It was a beautiful spring day with all the new green vegetation and fresh morning air complemented by the smell of the Acacias and flowering Tamboti trees. Within virtually no time at all we had already seen three of the big five: Rhino Buffalo and Elephant. An enjoyable picnic lunch at a picnic site in the Reserve was followed by a game drive around Sontuli Loop, and then we made our way to the Hluhluwe sector of the reserve to check in at Hilltop camp. We noted that a male buffalo had died from natural causes three days earlier just a stone’s throw away from the camp’s restaurant and there were six hyena feeding on the carcass right in front of us – a great view. That night we had dinner at the restaurant and then went off to bed for an early night. A two-hour early morning bush walk was scheduled for 5:00 with one of the resident game guards.

That night at 03:00 the lions arrived at the buffalo carcass and started fighting with the hyenas for the ‘left-overs’. This was truly amazing, a real highlight of the tour. It seemed that there were 11 hyena and three lion - two females and one male. The male lion was roaring away at another male lion on the other side of the hill, and this went on for an hour or more. All the time the hyenas were trying to fight off these three lion for the carcass.

The next morning the two-hour bush walk proved, as always, to be most rewarding. We encountered elephant from a distance and other antelope and zebra, before heading back to Hilltop Camp for breakfast. We focussed our game viewing in the Hluhluwe sector of the reserve, and enjoyed a Sunday buffet lunch at the restaurant. There was a period to relax in the afternoon around camp because Brenda and Douglas where booked on a night drive that evening. They observed a male lion sleeping in the road not far from camp, obviously one of the lions at the buffalo carcass earlier that morning.

The following day we left on an early morning game drive, and then explored the Imfolozi sector of the reserve. That afternoon it was another afternoon bush walk. That night we all slept soundly. It was our last day on tour, so after breakfast we made our way out of the reserve and on to Lake St Lucia, the largest estuarine ecosystem in Africa and a World Heritage Site. We enjoyed a two hour boat cruise with a finger food lunch on board. We spotted two fish eagles, a male a female which we managed to get very close to; several 2.5 to 3 meter Nile crocodiles; and some really great close-up views of a hippo family basking in the midday sun. It is not common to see such animals so close out of the water and so relaxed; normally they would be in the water at that time of day. They also had two new ‘cute’ little calves with them, which was an added bonus. After the boat cruise we headed back to Durban to Allways B&B so that Douglas & Brenda could relax and get ready for the next leg of their journey up into the Battle-fields of Kwazulu Natal.

Battlefields Tour:
Umzinyathi Safaris had arranged for a specialist tour guide to undertake this part of the package tour, which involved visiting the battlefields of the Anglo-Zulu, Anglo-Boer and Boer-Zulu conflict sites. After an informative and interesting two-day tour of the battlefields, Douglas and Brenda stayed at Longacre B&B overlooking the Valley of a Thousand Hills

Giant’s Castle, Drakensberg Mountains:
On their last full day in KZN, a tour of Giants Castle in the central Drakensburg was planned, to see the historic Bushman’s paintings at the Main Caves. The Drakensburg is also a World Heritage Site that has mountain peaks rising up to 3400 meters in some places, which forms the border to Lesoto, a land locked country within the borders of Southern Africa. After the short walk from the Main Caves, we enjoyed a nice picnic lunch and headed back to Longacre B&B to prepare for the following mornings flight to Cape Town.

Douglas wrote the following entry in the guest book:

”As experienced travellers Duncan has been the catalyst in putting together via the internet an exciting schedule to meet our requirements: the 4 day “call of the wild” tour has far surpassed our expectations in every respect with too many varied encounters to mention. However, today we were privileged to be shown zebra quietly drinking at the water hole, elephant, giraffe at close Quarters and even a cheetah with her three cubs at a kill on the side of the road.

Duncan is a true ambassador for South Africa with the ability to impart his wide knowledge. He respects the wildlife and with his easygoing manner his enthusiasm is infectious.

Tomorrow we leave for a two-day battlefield tour before Duncan takes us to Giants castle to see the Bushman’s paintings.

We wish Duncan every success for the future.”

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Postal address: Umzinyathi Safaris cc, 58 Balmoral Drive, Durban North, 4051, South Africa Cell : +27 82 853 5203 (Mike)   +27 82 230 9627 (Shirley) Tel : +27 31 564 2476   Fax : +27 31 564 2476   info@umzinyathi-safaris.co.za

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