Leeu, and Ystervark, and strandwolf, oh my!

[Frostfire]

Day 34 Hwluhluwe-iMflozi NP

On the way to our next destination, we decided to make a short detour and visit Hluhluwe-iMflozi National Park. We entered at Memorial Gate after our boot had been checked for firearms. I was a little taken aback that the rangers checking the vehicles actively asked for tips, we did not come across this behavior anywhere else in South Africa. We decided on a route going past numbers 22, 17, 16,14,13,18, returning a little to 13 to continue to 15 and 11. We then followed the main road and spent a little time on the iMfolozi side of the park. 

 

 The roads were very good, the main road was tar and the loop dirt roads were perfectly acceptable. We focused on waterholes as we drove and stopped off regularly. We enjoyed watching baboons and vervet monkeys play and nyala come to drink. We encountered a few giraffe roadblocks along the way. Just as we were on our way out, we saw our first elephant of the trip in a somewhat impossible position for photos.

 

 

 

 

 

Around three in the afternoon, we had to leave the park via the Nyalazi gate and continue on to St. Lucia. The road was a very interesting main road, reminding us that we were in Africa. People, goats, donkeys, you name it were on the road and had to be dodged. Then there were the randomly stopping buses and overtakes to deal with. Last but not least, there were the speed bumps, sometimes in groups of 8 closely bunched together. The Zulu part of South Africa is definitely different from the cape provinces and an interesting contrast with seeing hardly any people in the Northern Cape!

 

We found the park lovely, but somehow managed to miss all the rhinos. However, we were told the next day by a Hwluhluwe guide we came across that today was a very tough day in the park, with even the guides struggling to find rhino and no wild dogs had been seen either that week. The wind was thought to be the reason. In hindsight one of the things I would have changed would have to only spend one night at St Lucia and spend one night here to have longer exploring the park. 

Edited November 12, 2023 by Frostfire

[Frostfire]

Day 34-35-36 St. Lucia

We arrived at our B&B in good time and went out for an early dinner. How strange to be out on foot after dark! At 20.00 we were picked up for our night tour in iSimagaliso National Park. This was my main reason for fitting in a visit to St. Lucia (alongside the opportunity for whale watching of course!). A full safari vehicle with 16 people after weeks of being the only guests or with one other couple, took some getting used to. I was a little worried at first with all the live time commentary of some of the guests in the vehicle that we would not see much, but luckily, they quieted down a lot after we had been in the park for ten minutes or so. 

The tour itself got off to a good start with three hippos on land including a youngster while we were still in town. We then made our way into the national park itself. Within minutes we came across a flap-necked chameleon up close. We could see its colour change and its fascinating eyes. Having never seen a chameleon before this was great! Other first-time sightings included reed buck, bush babies and different types of duiker. We also saw waterbuck, impala, zebra and cape buffalo. We even saw our third elephant of the day. It was surprising how warm it was on the night tour compared to our other tours, however, we were still supplied with warm drinks and rusks at 2/3’s of the tour. We were shattered when we were dropped off at 23.15 but it was a successful day with a lot of first, either for this trip or for us personally.

 

 

 

 

 

12 hours after we were picked up for our night tour, we were being picked up again… this time we were off back into the national park but during the day and heading further into the park armed with our swimming gear. As we set off, the weather was glorious. Only two others joined us on our guided trip of the park, so it was nice and peaceful. For a wetlands park (i.e. difficult game viewing) we saw plenty of wildlife. With the highlight being three sightings of two different white rhino. So after having missed them somehow in the park known for its rhinos, we saw them again in a much less likely place. We also enjoyed watching a large group of lazy hippos' sleep being interrupted by two young hippos play-fighting.  Just before lunch there was a second highlight: we saw the endemic and endangered samango monkeys, another new species! We didn’t go snorkeling as the wind picked up and the sea didn’t look very safe with all the swell, so we enjoyed some land-based whale watching (humpbacks) and had a nice picnic lunch before our return. On our return, it started raining, but luckily the vehicle had a rain cover to keep us out of the wind and rain. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We were up bright and early again for a whale watching trip at 7.00 AM with Advantage Tours. After the previous day’s trips were canceled because of the wind, ours was going ahead. It was a beach launch, so quite a rollercoaster ride to get over the sandbanks and seaborne. Just as we set off there was a pod of bottlenose dolphins. Somehow, I hadn’t seen these before, so another new species!  It was a bit of a tough day to find whales though for some reason, but we did finally find a few. One was fin slapping and we saw a mother and calf quite close to the boat and some fluking. Alas, it was over all too soon. I was a little disappointed that the company was so intent on being back in time, as we didn’t find any whales till the last 40 minutes of the trip and thus we could only stay at the best sighting for 10 minutes or so. To “dock” the boat just sort of beached itself on the sand. A very odd experience. One of these days I will finally see a breach closer than from land! I do sometimes wonder if I shouldn't try to change my 'main interest' from cetaceans to something more easily photographed and 'seeable'. But the whale and dolphin obsession is what started my wildlife interest in the first place, so these animals will always have a special place in my heart, however challenging they prove to be to see!

 

 

 

 

Edited November 12, 2023 by Frostfire

[Frostfire]

Day 36-37 Fugitives Drift

We had a longish drive inland after our whale-watching trip. However beautiful the area around St Lucia is, I was not sorry to be elsewhere; the town itself was too touristy for my liking. We drove through a fabulous pass and valley before climbing much higher again. After being stood still yesterday, the car had a decent workout and the last 30km or so were on a dirt road in varying conditions. As we drove through this area we saw a notable number of schools, apparently, there is a foundation in this area that supports education and promotes attendance. 

 

 

We got to the Fugitive’s Drift Lodge in good time. We had been upgraded, so were now in a really fancy suite with a bed which probably was three times larger than our tent. The lodge is located overlooking some important battlefields from the Zulu War and is not a game-viewing lodge, so something a little different. However, the food at this lodge was fantastic and plentiful as we had become accustomed to at Manyoni. The views from here were spectacular. We had afternoon tea, and my partner went off on a guided walk for an introduction to the Zulu War and this area.

 

 

The next day he was out and about early again. As with most places we visited, we were nearly the only guests. He was even the only guest on the tours today, so it was like being on a private tour. The first stop was the Isandlwana battlefield. On the drive there, he listened to an introduction. At this site, the Zulu forces managed to devastate the British army during the Zulu wars. Apparently, many Brits visit this site and a large touring bus turned up, something we only have seen this trip in Cape Town. My partner was impressed by the tour, the information and the guide from our lodge.

 

 

In the afternoon they visited Rorkes Drift, this was not an actual battlefield, but the location of the English camp. The stories here focused more on individuals. One of the interesting things about the tour was that the guides were all locals and personally connected to people who fought in the battles. Overall, I was told that the tours provided a very interesting day!

 

 

Not being particularly interested in battlefields and war history, I decided to sit this tour out. I spent the morning watching the birds, insects and vervet monkeys from our deck. Despite not having my macry lens with me, I think I did okay. After lunch, I explored one of the hiking trails on the lodge’s property. The 6km hike up to a high ridge with a great view took me an hour and a half. I saw lots of impala and other grazers on the hike, which was a bonus. If interested in history and birding, I cannot recommend this place enough! 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Frostfire]

Day 38: Drakensberg; Giant’s Castle

We said our goodbyes to Fugitives Drifts Lodge and made our way towards the central Drakensberg. On the way, we had an important stop to make… during the Boer War, Churchill was temporarily captured by the Boers during his stint as a war correspondent. The site where this happened was on our route, so we stopped at the small memorial. 

 

 

Once in the Drakensberg, we decided to do the ‘main cave hike’ to visit one of the richest San rock art sites. The hike itself wasn’t too tough, but the views of the mountains were stunning. The tours to the rock art were on the hour, every hour and we made it up just in time for the 14.00PM tour. Of course, we were the only ones! The rock art was fascinating, there were pictures of medicine men, a baby and even some later paintings of Europeans with their rifles. We knew one afternoon visit was going to be too short for the Drakensberg, but even with our 40 day trip, we ran out of time. This was a very nice introduction to these magnificent mountains!

 

 

[Frostfire]

Day 39: Howick Falls and return home

After breakfast, we made our way towards the town of Howick. We headed to the Mandela capture site, where there is now a beautiful sculpture monument and a museum. The museum was brilliant, really informative, neutral in its presentation and the displays well layer out. A thought-provoking way to end the trip. As we had a bit of time left, we also visited the other thing Howick is known for, its waterfall. It was not in full power as it was dry season, but it was still impressive. Then it was time to go to the airport.

 

 

 

 

The drive was uneventful and we got to the airport an hour earlier than necessary. Car return went smoothly as was the baggage drop-off. While in South Africa, I was hoping to find part three of a series by James Hendry about the hectic life of its characters on a fictional private game reserve near the Kruger. I found it in the bookstore after security at Durban airport, so was all set for our flight back to Amsterdam. Our SafAir flight to Joburg was uneventful and on time. Our bags came through quickly and as we went to hand them back in at the desk at Joburg, there was no queue. Security also went very quickly, however the flight was a little delayed at Joburg. According to the pilot this was due to an altered flightpath to avoid flying over ‘certain countries’. Besides taking a bit of a strange route, flying over Namibia and then over sea towards Ghana, the flight was uneventful. All our luggage even arrived and before we knew it we were back at home being welcomed by our very excited (i.e. noisy) cat! 

 

 

In conclusion, this trip was fantastic and lived up to all we wanted. Of course, some things turned out differently than expected. Marrick and St. Lucia were our least favourite parts of the trip and where we would tweak the trip if we did it again. I would love to explore both KZN and the Kgagadi further someday. The weather, particularly the wind, posed us some challenges and affected some days of wildlife viewing. However, we saw every main target. I would have loved to have seen a caracal, but I am also very happy to have still more reason to get my partner to visit Africa again! So, I can't wait to return to the wild, but I have had to promise my partner that our trips next year won't be to Africa... Please feel free to reach out if you have any questions. 

 

 

Edited November 12, 2023 by Frostfire

[AndrewB]

Thanks for sharing such a wonderful trip with us @Frostfire

I have been to many of the places you visited. Stony Point and Penguins, Goegap (first other visitor I have read about here), KTP and KZN.

The only Caracal I have seen was in the Drakensburg (no idea where exactly, in 1992) where we watched one sitting on a rock shelf sunning itself from a great distance. I had a telescope on that trip and people queued up to have a look.

I am banned from Africa next year as well but on a promise for 2025! (Unless a Lottery Ticket comes good!)

Edited November 12, 2023 by AndrewB

[Frostfire]

1 hour ago, AndrewB said:

 

I am banned from Africa next year as well but on a promise for 2025! (Unless a Lottery Ticket comes good!)

@AndrewBI am glad I am not the only one banned and having to hold out until 2025 to return! However, exploring other parts of the world in the meantime isn't too harsh of a punishment. Hopefully we both get back to Africa in 2025  

[janzin]

4 hours ago, Frostfire said:

One of these days I will finally see a breach closer than from land!

Come to New York City in summer, you will very likely see breeching whales! (And definitely see humpbacks.)  https://www.facebook.com/photo/?fbid=1017178226158386&set=pcb.1017180496158159

 

Excellent report, and I'm going to try and find those Hendry books...always looking for easy (fiction) reads about Africa.

Edited November 12, 2023 by janzin

[Peter Connan]

Thanks for a lovely trip report!

 

 

[Zubbie15]

Great report @Frostfire, having never been to south Africa there are lots of interesting places I had never heard of. I have to say I'm jealous of your vacation time, we are much more restricted (my wife's contract specifically prohibits more than two weeks of vacation at any one time ). 

[Frostfire]

On 11/12/2023 at 3:56 PM, janzin said:

Come to New York City in summer, you will very likely see breeching whales! (And definitely see humpbacks.)  https://www.facebook.com/photo/?fbid=1017178226158386&set=pcb.1017180496158159

 

Excellent report, and I'm going to try and find those Hendry books...always looking for easy (fiction) reads about Africa.

 

Wow what a fantastic shot! I might have to return then; when I was there in August 2020 we saw fin and minke whales, but no breaches! I hope you enjoy the books, they are easy reads that are not too serious but do include an insight into the lives of the lodge staff. 

 

On 11/12/2023 at 6:39 PM, Peter Connan said:

Thanks for a lovely trip report!

 

 

 

Thanks! I hope to be able to write many more in the future. 

 

4 hours ago, Zubbie15 said:

Great report @Frostfire, having never been to south Africa there are lots of interesting places I had never heard of. I have to say I'm jealous of your vacation time, we are much more restricted (my wife's contract specifically prohibits more than two weeks of vacation at any one time ). 

 

Thanks! Yes we are lucky to both have 6 weeks off in the summer. We sometimes find it difficult to always be 'stuck' with European summer time to travel and it not being the best time for some wildlife locations, but we definitely don't complain and hope to get back to traveling most of our half terms now my PhD is finished  

[bushlover]

Well that was an enjoyable report. You certainly criss crossed the country. In fact, we drove into St Lucia on the day you left, it was raining. 

 

Thanks for some nice ideas for our next trip that starts 1st December. It will include Golden gate, Mokala, wits (whistling dunes), Rightersveld, then we will travel the coastal route from Alexander bay down to Cape Town. So including de Hoop may not be the worst idea and to stop at camdeboo on the way home. 

 

Cheers

 

[Towlersonsafari]

Really enjoyed your report @Frostfire, thank you

[offshorebirder]

Thank you for this trip report @Frostfire - it is enjoyable to read and full of information and trip planning details.

[michael-ibk]

What a fantastic trip - and report. Thank you so much, this was not only very entertaining and enjoyable, especially because of your obvious enthusiasm. It was also extremely informative and helpful for trip planning. I am sure I am not the only one who noted down New Holmes especially, they will certainly get some extra business because of you. Seems like a really great place, and so much more affordable than other famous Aardvark places like Tswalu. A trip with Aardvark, Aardwolf, Pangolin and Brown Hyena is very special, your thorough planning really paid off. 

[Alexander33]

Thank you so much for posting such an interesting and informative report. You saw a lot of interesting species, and the landscapes were impressive as well. South Africa has a lot to offer!  Now — if I can just get my partner to agree to a 6-week trip!