This past Women’s Day long weekend afforded us the opportunity to make a long overdue return visit to one of our favourite South African wild places – the Ithala Game Reserve in northern Kwazulu-Natal. We’ve been singing the praises of this little known yet exceptionally scenic reserve for as long as this blog’s been running and if you’d like to see all our posts about Ithala and learn more about it please follow this link.

While the weekend’s weather ranged from cold, wet and blustery to glorious sunshine, that didn’t curtail our explorations in the least. How could it, when the majestic scenery is so rewarding!?

Mountain stream at Ithala

Pongola River

Low hanging clouds over Ngotshe Mountain

Low hanging clouds over Ngotshe Mountain

A viewpoint in the mountains

The Pongola River flowing far below

Inclement weather over Ithala

Sunset glowing on Ngotshe

Ngubhu stream

Ngubhu stream

Ngotshe in morning light

And, when the sun came out, so did the butterflies and various kinds of reptiles!

Common Dwarf Gecko

Rainforest Brown

Variable Skink

Barberton Girdled Lizard

Ithala has a rich variety of bird species and many of them are easily seen and photographed in Ntshondwe, the reserve’s main camp.

African Dusky Flycatcher

Amethyst Sunbird

African Firefinch (male)

Southern Bald Ibis

Blue Waxbill

Cape Batis (male)

Cape Glossy Starling

Cape Rock-Thrush (male)

Cape White-eye

Chinspot Batis (female)

Chinspot Batis (female)

Common Waxbill

Eastern Nicator

Familiar Chat

Fork-tailed Drongo

Mocking Cliff Chat (male)

Olive Woodpecker

African Pied Wagtail

Purple-crested Turaco

Red-billed Oxpeckers

Red-capped Robin Chat

Scarlet-chested Sunbird

Male Southern Double-collared Sunbird

Tawny-flanked Prinia

White-bellied Bustards

White-crested Helmetshrike

Yellow-billed Kite

Yellow-breasted Apalis

Yellow-throated Longclaw

Yellow-throated Bush Sparrow

And of course, what would a “game reserve” be without a rich assortment of large animals? Ithala never disappoints in its variety of mammals, and especially the giraffes (Ithala’s emblem) were out in force!

Blue Wildebeest

Rock Hyrax (Dassie)

Acrobatic Rock Hyrax (Dassie)

Rock Hyrax (Dassie)

Rock Hyrax (Dassie)

Eland bull

A warning well worth heeding!

Elephant cresting a hill

Elephant bull

Iconic Ithala: Giraffe and Ngotshe Mountain

Giraffe calf nibbling on tender shoots

Giraffe at a gallop

Giraffe bull

Newly born Giraffe calf

Common Duiker lamb

Impala Ram with Red-billed Oxpeckers

Kudu calf

Young Kudu bull

Mountain Reedbuck pair

Mountain Reedbuck ewe hiding from the cold morning air

Nyala ewe

Nyala bull

Red Hartebeest

Southern Reedbuck

Steenbok

Thoughtful Vervet Monkey

Grooming Vervet Monkeys

Grooming Vervet Monkeys

Warthog on the run!

Waterbuck bull

We spent three nights at Ithala, staying in comfort in Ntshondwe’s chalet #20. Ithala’s a relaxed 6 hour drive on good tarred roads from our home in Pretoria.

Ntshondwe Chalet #20, Ithala Game Reserve, August 2018

Pretoria to Ithala
(drawn with Google Maps)

We’ve been singing Ithala Game Reserve‘s praises on this blog for a long time and our recent Heritage Day long weekend visit to this South African treasure further cemented our belief that Ithala is one of our country’s prime conservation areas.

Colourful spring flower displays were in evidence all over the reserve, despite not receiving much rainfall yet. With over 900 plant species at Ithala, including some extreme rarities like the pepper-bark tree and Lebombo cycad, Ithala is a botanist’s delight. Unfortunately we don’t know the names of most, but that doesn’t mean we didn’t enjoy the show just the same!

Ithala in full bloom

Ithala in full bloom

Ithala in full bloom

Ithala in full bloom

Ithala in full bloom

Ithala in full bloom

Ithala in full bloom

Ithala in full bloom

Ithala in full bloom

Ithala in full bloom

Ithala in full bloom

Ithala in full bloom

Ithala in full bloom

Ithala in full bloom

The giraffe is Ithala’s emblem, and we were lucky to enjoy several encounters with these curious animals.

The giraffe is Ithala’s emblem

The giraffe is Ithala’s emblem

The giraffe is Ithala’s emblem

The giraffe is Ithala’s emblem

Most large game species were eradicated from the area before the reserve was proclaimed in 1972, and Ithala therefore had to be restocked. Today it is home to all the species that occurred here historically, with the exception of lion, and all-in-all provides sanctuary to 83 mammal species.

Impala sprint

Mountain reedbuck

Plains zebra

White rhinos dwarfed by Ithala’s grandeur

Impala ewes

Impala ram portrait

White rhinos in long grass

Kudu cow and calves

Well-hidden kudu bull

Curious Kudu

Plains zebra profile

Plains zebras are so photogenic!

Vervet monkey

Warthog

Dusty zebra

Blue wildebeest

Warthogs on the run

Nah nah nah nah nah!

“Lean on me”

Black rhino sunset

Ithala’s a bird-watcher’s paradise, with a list of 318 species recorded in the reserve. While we didn’t tick quite that many species during our visit – most of the summer migrants have not yet arrived – we were very thrilled with our close-up sighting of a pair of blue cranes shortly after arriving. Being South Africa’s national bird, it seemed a particularly special treat for Heritage Day!

Golden-breasted Bunting

Blue Cranes

African Pipit

Rufous-naped Lark

Black-shouldered Kite

Red-billed Oxpecker climbing into a zebra’s ear

Bar-throated Apalis

Southern Black Flycatcher

Martial Eagle

Cape Rock-Thrush (female)

Cape Batis (female)

Golden-tailed Woodpecker

Ant-eating Chat

Little Bee-eater

Secretary Bird

Ithala’s not only about the big and obvious birds and animals, and closer inspection will reveal a multitude of insects, arachnids, amphibians and reptiles. We even encountered three of the reserve’s 41 snake species while walking around Ntshondwe Camp; they pose no danger as long as you don’t threaten them and true to form all three moved away very quickly and quietly.

African Monarch – With so many flowers in bloom, the abundance of butterflies is no surprise

Barberton Girdled Lizard

Natal Flat Lizard female

Solifuge a.k.a. Sun Spider

Talking about Ntshondwe, we just have to mention again how beautifully the accommodation units are placed into the natural vegetation, offering privacy and a really intimate nature experience.

Ntshondwe Unit 15, Ithala Game Reserve, September 2015

Its faunal and floral diversity aside, Ithala is richly blessed with amazingly diverse scenery. The reserve extends over 30,000 hectares, its area ranging in altitude between the 1,450m peak of Ngotshe Mountain to 400m above sea level along the Pongola River. The reserve’s vegetation ranges from grasslands to woodlands to dense riverine forest.

Ithala sunrise

Impala sunrise

Ntshondwe mountains

View over Ntshondwe

Ngubhu Loop snaking its way through Ithala’s hills

Pongola River

Pongola River

Dense vegetation along the Dakaneni Loop

Ithala sunset

Ithala sunset

Suspension Bridge at the Pongolo Picnic Site

Stream crossing

Stream crossing

Stream crossing

Pongola River

Ithala scenery

Where else but Africa?

We’re already making plans for our next visit to Ithala in early 2016, and you can probably see why!

Ithala Game Reserve is managed by Ezemvelo KZN Wildlife, and lies a 500km drive to the South-East of Pretoria.

Pretoria to Ithala
(drawn with Google Maps)