Submitted by SafariADV on Fri, 2018-11-16
This morning we woke up, we are in St. Lucia, in the KwaZulu-Natal in South Africa, in recent days we have visited the St. Lucia Lake and the uMkhuze Game Reserve, that are part of the iSimangaliso Wetland Park; today instead we leave in the direction of the Hluhluwe-iMfolozi Park.
But first we stop along the main street of St. Lucia, have breakfast at the Coffee Shop and meet for a coffee Slie from the iSimangaliso Wetland Park.
Slie not only helped us organize our days in this wonderful park but decided to marry our project, sponsoring our trip to South Africa and offering us all the activities we have done here at the iSimangaliso; we are glad and happy that the iSimangaliso Wetland Park has believed in our project, we thank Slie and his colleagues who are waiting for us in the future to explore the central and Northern areas of the park.
After saying goodbye and thanking Slie, we go shopping at the supermarket; the first night in Hluhluwe-iMfolozi we will sleep at the Hilltop Camp that has the restaurant, but the next two nights we will be at the Mpila Camp and we must be self-sufficient for meals.
It's time to leave, to let the Simangaliso behind us, but it's not a goodbye, we'll definitely be back!
Hluhluwe-iMfolozi is not far from here and the road is all paved and in good condition; the landscape is very beautiful, we pass between villages and towns surrounded by greenery, this area is very beautiful, we like it a lot.
We arrive at the Nyalazi entrance around 11.00am; here, even if this is not a SanParks park, they accept our Wild Card, so we do not have to pay any entry fee, better that way!
Near the entrance there is a craft market, but today we have neither time nor desire to take a ride, we will stop when we leave.
Behind the entrance building there are several birds, including weavers in their nests, finely intertwined, and some starlings; we take some pictures and then we leave.
As soon as we enter the park we find the sign indicating that Hluhluwe is on the right, while iMfolozi on the left.
In the next three days we will first explore the part of Hluhluwe, that we already know, and then descend to iMfolozi, where we have never gone, and therefore we are happy to be able to discover it.
So we turn right and head towards Hluhluwe and Hilltop Camp, following the main road that is very scenic; from some points you can see the Hluhluwe river and the Nzimane river, thanks to the constant presence of water in these rivers the park is a real paradise for animals.
Along the way we see some bushbacks, several zebras and some buffaloes, as well as several birds including the hornbills that we like so much; we also find some elephants and a white rhino with a puppy, too beautiful.
We arrive at the Hilltop Camp, check in and book the sunset safari for tonight and the morning safari for tomorrow morning, then we go on the panoramic terrace where we have lunch and stay there to enjoy the sun and the landscape and relax a bit, we really needed it.
