South Africa ’14, Part 3: Hluhluwe National Park


Originally we didn’t plan to visit Hluhluwe Park (pronounced “shlushluweh”) because we were going to spend 5 days in Kruger already, but since it’s just a short drive from St. Lucia where we were heading from Umngazi River, we thought dropping by for a night would be fun. We’re so glad we did. Writing this post from our 2015 perspective, it was way more interesting compared to Kruger even though it is only about one-30th of Kruger’s size. When you’re there you really feel like you’re part of the nature around, the roads are empty and sights are clear for kilometers on end. All the animals are so calm they’re wandering around right next to your car totally unawared (and unimpressed) of your existence. While you have to be patient to find any Rhinos in other Parks, they’re everywhere here, both Black and White Rhinos, for it being a transition hub for the authorities to distribute and control/protect the Rhinos population in all South Africa.  It’s still hard to understand  why people nowadays still believe their horns be a god-sent medicine. It’s made of the same type of protein as your hair or fingernails (Keratin), why not chewing your nails instead?

The whole park is made up by two parks in fact: Hluhluwe & iMfolozi running from North to South. Since it’s quite a small Park, it doesn’t take long to cover its ground so we did one half in the afternoon we arrived and the other half the next morning before heading to St. Lucia. It turned out to be the Park we enjoyed the most on this trip.

Arriving in the park
First sight at the entrance of the Park, we knew immediately it was a promissing sight.
Sunset in the SAN (South Africa National Parks) camp. Basic accommodation but you have everything you need at for prices.
Sunset in the SAN (South Africa National Parks) camp. Basic accommodation but you have everything you need at a fair price.
First animal spotting in the morning. That guy watched us closely but was totally unimpressed.
Hyenas are quite aggressive animals but this guy’d probably had a good hunt that night so he was totally unimpressed as we stopped our car right next to him.

First elephants in sight

Mother and child
White Rhinos with flat mouth: these mother and child walked in front of our car for a long while.

It’s not the color that separates Black & White Rhinos for them having similar color, it’s actually the shape of their mouths that also define their eating habbit. In German, the Black Rhino is called the “Spitzmaulnashorn” (pointed-mouth Rhino) because they eat by picking fruits and leaves from branches. The mouth of White Rhinos like these in the picture above are wide and flat for grazing on grasses.

More rhinos, we saw many of them all day long
Black Rhinos with pointed lips/mouth

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Zebra on the way back to the camp
Burchell’s Zebra on the way back to the camp

Last year we were lucky to take a glimpse of some Mountain Zebras on the West Coast because they are nearly extinct. Burchell’s Zebras are more common, actually they’re everywhere. We really like them, they’re not as human-shy as giraffes and let you approach quite close.

This kid was right behind our bungalow
This kid was right behind our bungalow

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This guy was in our way so better be prepared to use the reverse gear
This guy was in our way so better be prepared to use the reverse gear
Beautiful Impalas, some locals told us that they are also called "McDonalds" fro lions
Beautiful Impalas, some locals told us that they are also called “McDonalds” in the bush
Male impala
Male impala with a bird looking for bugs
P on top of our Toyota HiLux hunting for good pictures
P on top of our Toyota HiLux hunting for good pictures
Wildebeest / Gnu
Wildebeest / Gnu
Shamwari bird
Shamwari bird
Finally, some giraffes
Finally, some giraffes
So elegant
So elegant
Maybe a little less elegant...
a little less elegant ;-).