BREAKFAST at Umbondwe Picnic Site is a simple meal of egg mayonnaise sandwiches and coffee from a flask. It is much appreciated. We have been on the road for nearly five hours – and this standard travel fare, the very best of comfort food, always tastes so good when eaten in the open air.
We left our home on the KwaZulu-Natal South Coast at 4am this morning and reached the Nyalazi Gate at 8am, aiming to spend as much time as possible in the gorgeous Hluhluwe-iMfolozi Park. A substantial big-five game reserve administered by Ezemvelo KZN Wildlife, it is probably the best-known of all KwaZulu-Natal’s many wild places. However, there are no camping facilities and as Bill and I tend to stay in the game reserves where we can camp, we haven’t spent too much time here.
Figuring that we would need a bit of African bush after our month-long Australian holiday in May, we decided to treat ourselves to a long weekend in this gorgeous place after we got back. We usually stay at Mpila Camp as we prefer the wilder feel of the iMfolozi side of the park but were only able to book accommodation in the Hilltop Camp in Hluhluwe. Still, we’ve never stayed there before and it is time we got to know the Hluhluwe side better. We will spend today in iMfolozi and devote the next two days to exploring the rest of the park.
The heavenly twins were once separate game reserves and are amongst the oldest conserved areas in Africa. Hluhluwe was established in 1897 and iMfolozi, in 1895. With the incorporation of the corridor of land separating them, Hluhluwe-iMfolizi became a single unit and is now managed as such.
Although renowned for its excellent game viewing and birding, it is perhaps its awe-inspiring physical beauty that makes this park such a special place. Although the topography is mountainous, the park is voluptuously curvy rather than rugged, with lumpy, smooth-flanked ridges, rounded hills and mountains, rolling plains and broad river valleys. Its vegetation is a patchwork quilt of bushy thicket, dense woodlands, grasslands and lush riverine forest. Both sides of the parks are well watered, with three major rivers – the Black and the White Imfolozi and the Hluhluwe – and many other streams and waterways running through it,
After breakfast we follow the main, tarred road across the Black Imfolozi River to Mpila where we stop to stretch our legs. Just below Mpila, the White Imfolozi flows. The two rivers meet on the park boundary from where they make there way as one water course to the sea. Soon after Mpila the tar runs out. We follow a gravel road that curves southward to Mpafa Hide, one of our favourite little spots in the park. The hide overlooks a rocky cliff and a little waterhole. The resident mocking cliff chats, so striking with their chestnut and black plumage, are incredibly tame and come right into the hide to say hello. There is not much else to see so we don’t linger too long. But it is such a pretty spot it is well worth the stop.
We continue on our way, heading north then turning onto the rocky but scenic Okhukho 4X4 Loop, along the park boundary. We aren’t seeing much game yet but the birding is good and we are enjoying the drive. This more remote part of the park has a wonderful wild feel. Few commercial game viewing vehicles venture here and we have met up with hardly any private vehicles this morning. It is also a more rugged section of the park and, up here on this elevated route, it is still wintry and dry. Lower down, in the watered valleys the bushy thickets are green and lush and the acacias are already sprouting their lime spring leaves.
Our awareness of the untamed nature of this section is enhanced by the knowledge that much of the iMfolozi side of the park has been set aside as a wilderness area. It has been left for nature alone, with no tourist infrastructure except for the walking trails. They were instigated by the great conservationist Ian Player, who joined the then Natal Parks Board in 1952. In so many ways he has left his imprint – and perhaps the spirituality that is a hallmark of his engagement with wilderness – on this magnificent Hluhluwe-iMfolozi Park.
Our route eventually meets up with the Black Imfolozi River and we take the Sontuli Loop that follows its course, stopping to admire the river from a number of lookout points. From here it is a sinuous silver ribbon, glistening in the sun. We begin to see more game – a couple of rhino, some elephant family groups heading for the river, a really huge herd of impala and the odd solitary buffalo.
Turning the corner we find a large boerbean tree in full bloom, its ruby-red flowers dripping with nectar. It is a sunbird magnet – we count four different species of these little birds, all enjoying the sugary treat this bounteous tree offers every year. By the time we reach the remote Sontuli picnic site we are more than ready for a leisurely lunch break.
Time flies when you are in the bush and the morning has passed so quickly Without further delay or detour off the beaten track, we return to the main tarred road, passing Mpila then driving through the tunnel beneath the Mtubatuba, Nongoma road into the Hluhluwe side of the park.
After a quick coffee stop at the beautiful riverside Siwasamkhosikazi picnic site, we complete the last section to Hilltop Camp, reaching this lovely spot at almost exactly 4pm. Today, we have spent 12 hours on the road, eight of then – a full working day – exploring almost every road and loop and remote little byway in wild and wonderful iMfolozi. It certainly beats a day in the office.
