Hluhluwe-Imfolozi Park is famous as the place where the White Rhinoceros was saved from extinction in the middle of the previous century. These animals, and their more cantankerous cousins the Black Rhinoceros, still occur in healthy populations at Hluhluwe-Imfolozi, but how sad that they again face a terrible onslaught from greedy humans for their horns, even here in their ancestral home.

The Park is also home to the other members of the “Big 5“, although the leopards didn’t show themselves to us during this visit. We had several sightings of different lion prides lazing on sandbanks in the Black Umfolozi River, and we encountered elephants and buffaloes throughout the reserve on a daily basis. Spotted Hyenas were a regular sight around Mpila, and we were thrilled by an encounter with a small pack of African Wild Dogs hunting impalas near Bhekapanzi Pan. That same morning we also had a fleeting sighting of a cheetah on Sontuli Loop. Furthermore, baboons, vervet and samango monkeys, duiker, bushbuck, nyala, kudu, waterbuck, wildebeest, hippo, zebra, giraffe and warthog all put in appearances as we explored Hluhluwe-Imfolozi this winter.

As we wrap up this report from our winter holidays in the bush, we really hoped you enjoyed travelling through Hluhluwe-Imfolozi Park with us, and perhaps feel inspired to visit for yourself!

African Wild Dog – Hluhluwe-Imfolozi Park

Baboons at Umbondwe Picnic Spot

Baboons at Umbondwe Picnic Spot

Bushbuck lamb in Hilltop

Cheetah – Hluhluwe-Imfolozi Park

Elephant digging for roots using its foot and trunk

Baby elephant fun

Baby elephant fun

Baby elephant fun – Hluhluwe-Imfolozi Park

Elephants playing in the Umfolozi River

Elephants in the bed of the Black Umfolozi

Elephant

Elephant silhouettes

Giraffe

Giraffe

Impala

Kudu

Lions and elephant at the bridge over the Black Umfolozi

Lazy lions

Lazy lions

Lazy lions

Nyala Bull

Nyala lamb

Plains Zebra

Samango Monkey

Vervet Monkey

Warthog

Waterbuck Bull

Waterbuck Bull

White Rhinoceros

White Rhinoceros

White Rhinos – Hluhluwe-Imfolozi Park

White Rhinoceros

White Rhinoceros

White Rhinoceros

White Rhinoceros

White Rhinos – Hluhluwe-Imfolozi Park

Being one of our favourite destinations, we’ve featured Hluhluwe-Imfolozi Park many times on our blog – have a look through all our posts about this special wilderness if you’d like to learn more about it.

The Hluhluwe-Imfolozi Park supports over 400 species of birds, many of which have become exceedingly rare, even threatened, outside formal conservation areas like this.

Bird-watching along the reserve’s road network is very rewarding, and there’s always something of interest at the three hides located at waterholes around the Park, or at the picnic sites set in beautiful locations along the Hluhluwe and Black Umfolozi Rivers. It is in the camps however, among the accommodation units, that the birds are most accustomed to a human presence and easiest to photograph as they go about their feathery business.

Enjoy this gallery showing some of the 73 species of bird we managed to identify during our recent winter visit to Hluhluwe-Imfolozi Park.

African Pipit

Bateleur

Black-crowned Tchagra

Chinspot Batis (male)

Crested Barbet

Dark-capped Bulbul

Egyptian Goose

Familiar Chat

Fork-tailed Drongo

Golden-breasted Bunting

House Sparrow

Klaas’s Cuckoo

Lilac-breasted Roller

Mocking Cliff Chat (male)

Natal Spurfowl

Orange-breasted Bushshrike

Red-billed Oxpecker

Scarlet-chested Sunbird (male)

Southern Black Tit

Tawny Eagle

Tawny-flanked Prinia

Three-banded Plover on its nest

White-backed Vulture

White-browed Scrub Robin

Woolly-necked Stork

Yellow-fronted Canary

Being one of our favourite destinations, we’ve featured Hluhluwe-Imfolozi Park many times on our blog – have a look through all our posts about this special wilderness if you’d like to learn more about it.