Our guide, Tim Brown, met us at our hotel promptly at 7 am for three days of game driving at Hluhluwe-Umfolozi. In short, Tim was great and we lucked out with high quality animal encounters. Because the area is so bushy, every encounter was by necessity a close one. The only small disappointment was not getting any great cat photos. We stayed at Hilltop Camp which was more than adequate.

Less talk, more pictures!

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This is the view from our hotel room at the Belaire Suites.

Golden Mile

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Some early morning surfers spotted from our window.

Surfers at Sunrise

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We intercepted the elephant parade early upon our arrival in the park:

Elephant Bluff Bath Time Spray Drinking in the Mud Hole Elephant Profile --------------------

Shortly thereafter, we were roadblocked by cape buffalo:

Cape Buffalo Hide and Seek --------------------

Red-Billed Oxpecker

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Spotted Thick-Knee

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Crocodile

Sunbathing --------------------

My favorite antelope were the nyala.

Male Nyala Female Nyala Nyala Pair

Nyala Profile

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Scenic intermission:

Acacia --------------------

Sabango monkeys were clamouring about in the trees adjacent to our cottage at Hilltop camp.

Sabango Monkey --------------------

Baboon

Baboon --------------------

Crested Guinea Fowl

Crested Guinea Fowl --------------------

Impala in the late-day light

Snack Interrupted Impala Profile Impala Young Impala

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Pumba Warthog

Warthog --------------------

Lion

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African Hoopoe

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White rhinocerous

White Rhino Profile White Rhino

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On the way back to Hilltop Camp, I wanted to stop and take a picture of the gorgeous sunset. However, you aren't allowed to leave your vehicle so I pushed my tripod out the window, set it on the ground, and pressed the shutter from inside the car.

Hluhluwe Sunset --------------------

By the afternoon of day two, we still hadn't found giraffes or zebra and I was getting impatient. However, Tim did not disappoint! We had a great encounter near the park gate with giraffes to be seen in every direction, all around the car!

Portrait of a Giraffe Big Boy Giraffe Profile --------------------

With giraffes on one side of the vehicle, we had zebras on the other. There was an interesting moment when the zebras began mating and in a flurry of stripes, hooves, and dust nearly ran right into the vehicle!

Zebra and Giraffe Stripes The Itch Gums Twitterpation Hitching a Ride Zebra Roadblock

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As the day neared to a close and we were headed back to the camp, I was able to cross another big antelope off my list, the waterbuck:

Waterbuck --------------------

We elected to do an evening game drive. It was fun to be out in the cool night air and hear lions in the dark, but I didn't return with many respectable photos, save this one of an owl:

Night Owl

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We searched and searched for lions, hyena, and wild dog on the last morning but were unsuccessful. We continued on to St. Lucia, now renamed the iSimangaliso Wetland Park. It was a great way to end the safari, as we enjoyed the hot sun, kingfisher, hippos, and kudu as the icing on the cake. We also saw a magnificent fish eagle but I didn't get a photo worth publishing.

Kingfisher

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Hippopotamus

Eye of the Hippo

Hippo in Black and White

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Kudu

Kudu --------------------

Here we see an African Fish Eagle:

African Fish Eagle We nearly had a National Geographic moment when an unsuspecting grey heron walked right next to a huge crocodile. The big reptile lunged towards the bird but was unsuccessful. 

Grey Heron

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Okay, less pictures, more video!!

Hluhluwe