Creatures Great and Small at uMkhuze

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Despite the lush greenery making it a little more difficult than normal, we were treated to some amazing game-viewing at uMkhuze Game Reserve when we visited in March, and what better way to conclude our trip reports than with some photos of the “hairies and scaries” we encountered along the way?

With so many habitats, uMkhuze is home to an astounding variety of invertebrates, amphibians, reptiles and mammals (not forgetting the birds we showed you earlier), and the galleries to follow should give you some idea of what you could expect to see when visiting this wonderful place!

Striped Skink enjoying a grasshopper meal
Scrub Hare
Tortoises have right of way on uMkhuze’s roads – this is a Natal Hinged Tortoise
Tortoise have right of way on uMkhuze’s roads
Butterflies abound in uMkhuze’s sand forests
Serrated Terrapins soaking up the sun at Nsumo Pan
Thick-tailed Bushbabies visited our tent at uMkhuze every night
Thick-tailed Bushbabies visited our tent at uMkhuze every night
Thick-tailed Bushbabies visited our tent at uMkhuze every night
Thick-tailed Bushbabies visited our tent at uMkhuze every night
Jumping Spider navigating the raindrops in one of the hides
Velvet Ant female – This flightless wasp mimics an ant whle searching for unsuspecting prey.
Juvenile African (Edible) (Lesser) Bullfrog

One would think that the bigger the animals the easier they are to see? Please go tell that to uMkhuze’s elephants, rhinos and lions that kept so well hidden during our visit!? Jokes aside though, we reveled in some wonderful encounters with plains zebra, nyala, kudu, impala, hippos, grey duiker, baboons, vervet monkeys, spotted hyenas, buffaloes, blue wildebeest and giraffe.

Plains zebras
Nyala
Nyala lambs
Nyala lamb
Nyala
Nyala
Kudu family caught in the rain
Impala lamb
Impala ram
Impala ewe
Impala herd
Hippos
Grey Duiker
Vervet Monkey
Baboon
Spotted hyena
Spotted hyena
uMkhuze’s buffaloes are not frequently seen
Blue wildebeest
Giraffe
Giraffe
Giraffe
Giraffe calf

The arrival of autumn heralds the start of the rutting season for many antelope, and it was hard not to notice the testosterone flowing strongly in many male nyalas and impalas as they established their place in the hierarchy and started herding together their harems!

Young nyalas testing each other’s strength
Young nyalas testing each other’s strength
Adult nyalas use ritualised posturing to try and intimidate one another
Adult nyalas use ritualised posturing to try and intimidate one another
Dueling nyala bulls
Dueling nyala bulls
Impala ram running to meet an intruder
Impala standoff
Impala standoff
Impala standoff
The loser apologising to the winner

uMkhuze Game Reserve has so much to offer, and with every visit we’re given only a little taste of it, just enough to keep us going back for more!

8 thoughts on “Creatures Great and Small at uMkhuze”

    1. de Wets Wild Post author

      That is so true, Alanna, and I think a reason why many people don’t find a visit to a nature reserve as fulfilling as it can be, because in their haste to “tick” all the bigger animals they pay no attention to an entirely undiscovered universe at their feet!

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