This tour entails a visit to the oldest game reserve in Africa. Previously separate, the Hluhluwe and Umfolozi Game Reserves have been linked by a corridor and are now managed as one protected area of approximately 96 000 ha in extent. Entering through Memorial Gate in the north the tour proceeds to Hilltop Camp for a light lunch.
The game drive which follows and which exits through Nyalazi Gate in the south promises great excitement in anticipation of encountering a great variety of wild animals in their natural habitat. In addition to white rhino for which this game reserve is famous, there are buffalo, blue wildebeest, zebra, a growing population of giraffe and large numbers of impala, waterbuck, common and mountain reedbuck, nyala, kudu, bushbuck, steenbuck, duiker, warthog, black rhino, lion, leopard, cheetah, hyena, jackal and many smaller mammal species. The bird life is varied and approximately 300 species have been recorded.
Special mention must be made of the elephants which now number approximately 380. The photograph of the elephant resting its trunk on a Citi Golf was provided by kind courtesy of The Witness, Pietermaritzburg. [Readers could not believe that it was real and some claimed it had been computer generated. However, the two Swiss tourists who were in the car on a visit to South Africa in March 2008 have vouched for the authenticity of the photograph].
At one time the royal hunting grounds for the Zulu King, the Hluhluwe-Umfolozi Game Reserve is credited with saving the once endangered white rhino from extinction. In a recent article Dale Morris claims that it is thought that in prehistoric times there were over a million rhinos on the continent. Relentless hunting and the demand for rhino horn for medicinal purposes and ceremonial dagger handles reduced black rhino numbers to fewer than 2300 in 1994. White rhinos were reduced to between twenty and forty individuals. If it were not for the creation of Hluhluwe and Umfolozi Game Reserves in 1895, and the more recent Operation Rhino, rhinos would likely be extinct.
-
Worldcup 2010 Special
-
Attractions
-
Tour map
WORLD CUP FOOTBALL 2010 SPECIAL
The Hluhluwe-Umfolozi Game Reserve Tours will be run weekly throughout the World Cup 2010 on the following Tuesdays
June 8, 15, 22 & 29
July 6 & 13
THE TOURS WILL LEAVE THE DURBAN BEACH FRONT AT 7:00 AND RETURN AT APPROX 18:00
BOOK NOW (R999,99 FOR WORLD CUP 2010)
- Visit the oldest game reserve in Africa.
- A chance of seeing The Big Five.
- Over 300 species of bird life.
- Lunch in magnificent surroundings.
- Hluhluwe-Umfolozi is famous for its white rhino and is credited with saving this impressive animal from extinction.