Today we moved to Umlalazi Nature Reserve, situated on the North Coast of Kwazulu Natal Province, for the next part of our Easter holidays. Umlalazi is well known as the home of the Palm-Nut Vulture, one of the rarest birds in South Africa, and we had a brilliant sighting of one of them along the lagoon just minutes after arriving!
The honeysuckles are in full bloom here in Ntshondwe, Ithala’s main camp, attracting swarms of busy honeybees.
The giraffe is the emblem of Ithala Game Reserve, and this afternoon we were treated to one providing such a spectacular pose that it just begged to be posted as our “photo of the day”!
It’s the start of the Easter Holidays in South Africa, and we kick it off at Ithala Game Reserve, one of our favourites!
A quick working visit to beautiful Golden Gate Highlands National Park last month provided a few leisurely hours to enjoy the reserve’s exceptional scenery. Heavy skies and regular downpours provided some much needed relief from the drought that has even this mountain paradise in its grip.
By mid-February, the Wild de Wets were suffering from extreme bush withdrawal symptoms. So, with our “monochrome memories” from a visit to Pilanesberg National Park in December lined up for publishing at the same time, we headed back to Pilanesberg for a quick weekend bush-fix, camping at Bakgatla Resort for the Saturday night before Valentine’s Day.
It was noticeable that the Park received some much needed rain since our previous visit, evidenced by flowing streams, fuller dams and greener vegetation. We hope that more falls before the end of the summer rainy season, and that it will be enough to sustain the fauna and flora through the dry winter.
A pair of confiding Klipspringers seen along Mankwe Drive, in the Pilanesberg National Park. 
Our end-of-year 2015 holidays were absolutely packed to the brim. Apart from our ten-day visit to the Kruger National Park (read more about our time at Lower Sabie, Olifants and Shingwedzi in December), we also made day trips to five other reserves, and shared photos from those (except Suikerbosrand, which we introduced in a post all of its own) daily through the month of February, in a series we called “a month of monochrome memories”.
Warthog, Waterbuck and Giraffe meeting at the Malatse Dam in the Pilanesberg National Park
Our end-of-year 2015 holidays were absolutely packed to the brim. Apart from our ten-day visit to the Kruger National Park (read more about our time at Lower Sabie, Olifants and Shingwedzi in December), we also made day trips to five other reserves, and will be sharing photos from those (except Suikerbosrand, which we introduced in a post all of its own) daily through the month of February, in a series we call “a month of monochrome memories”.
A pair of Pied Kingfishers hunting from a shared perch at the Mankwe Hide in the Pilanesberg National Park
Our end-of-year 2015 holidays were absolutely packed to the brim. Apart from our ten-day visit to the Kruger National Park (read more about our time at Lower Sabie, Olifants and Shingwedzi in December), we also made day trips to five other reserves, and will be sharing photos from those (except Suikerbosrand, which we introduced in a post all of its own) daily through the month of February, in a series we call “a month of monochrome memories”.
A warthog finding respite from the heat in a pool of mud at the Mankwe Hide in Pilanesberg National Park.
Our end-of-year 2015 holidays were absolutely packed to the brim. Apart from our ten-day visit to the Kruger National Park (read more about our time at Lower Sabie, Olifants and Shingwedzi in December), we also made day trips to five other reserves, and will be sharing photos from those (except Suikerbosrand, which we introduced in a post all of its own) daily through the month of February, in a series we call “a month of monochrome memories”.
DeWetsWild 