Day 5: Hluhluwe-Imfolozi Reserve Game Drive

On Day 5, we had an early breakfast and traveled to the Hluhluwe-Imfolozi game reserve in northern KwaZulu-Natal. A bonus to waking up so early was witnessing this breathtaking sunrise over the African plain.

This reserve has the big five (elephant, rhino, cape buffalo, lion, leopard) as evidenced by the sign below. Although we weren't fortunate enough to spy the big five on this excursion, that did change when we visited the famed Krueger park. The notion of the "big five" stems from early 20th century trophy hunting expeditions. The big five were considered the most elusive and dangerous animals to track and kill. Today, cameras replace guns as tourists "hunt" the same elusive creatures in order to capture their images with cameras.

We took these open air jeeps on our safari. They were great for viewing the wildlife, but early in the morning, it was a chilly ride. It was the equivalent of riding a motorcycle 50 mph in 40 degree weather. We were layered up appropriately and the jeeps had wool blankets in them, but still it was cold in the early morning hours!

Our guide, Israel, giving us some information on the park and instructions to keep us safe.

 The African landscape is dotted with the iconic Acacia trees that provide food for Giraffes.

In the bottom right corner of the picture below there's a relatively dry mud hole. Holes like this one are created by elephants. When it rains, the holes fill with water and provide elephants and rhinos a respite from the hot African sun.

 I was fascinated with the glossy starling that's found in southern Africa. It's such a beautiful bird with its iridescent color.

We were able to get up close and personal with a number of rhino on this game drive. The decline in the rhino population is mainly due to the mistaken belief that the horn has aphrodisiacal qualities. Although there's no scientific evidence to support this myth, a very profitable black market still exists that drives poachers to needlessly kill these animals for their horns. Some conservation efforts have resorted to cutting the horns to dissuade poachers. 

This video has a mother rhino and her calf. The bond between mother and calf lasts for 3-4 years. The first 12 months the calf is especially vulnerable and protected fiercely by its mother. The mother will eventually terminate the relationship once another birth is imminent.

What you're witnessing here are two adolescent male impalas literally locking horns. Although the exchange is tense at times, no animals were injured during the filming of this standoff.

The world's largest land animal, the African elephant is an imposing presence on Safari.

The Bushbuck is considered to be the closest thing to a Bambi lookalike in the African wild. Considering this photo, it would be hard to argue otherwise.

The highly intelligent Vervent monkey is considered a true character in the the African safari. They are constantly engaged in interaction of one kind or another, whether fighting, grooming, carrying their young on their chest, clambering through branches in search of food or taking the easy route and raiding the nearest lodge's lunch buffet.

Impala are usually seen in herds in excess of a hundred. They can be identified by the black and white stripes on their rumps and tails and are very fast. They can run as fast as 62 mph (100 kmh) and can only be run down by a Cheetah at that speed. Only the male Impalas have the magnificent black-ringed horns.

For more photos from the Hluhluwe-Imfolozi game drive go to this photo album