We spent our Valentine’s Weekend at the rustic but very romantic Pafuri Rivercamp, in the extreme north-east of South Africa’s Limpopo Province.
We’ll share more about our travels in the Pafuri region of the Kruger National Park soon, but for a teaser have a look at our entry into the “Treasure” photo challenge.
We’ve just spent three days exploring the beautiful Pafuri region of the Kruger National Park. Unspoiled and remote, Pafuri is true wilderness.
Heaven!
We post these pictures in response to WordPress’ weekly photo challenge theme “Treasure” and will soon publish more from our trip, showcasing all that Pafuri has to offer.
It’s hard to imagine a more prehistoric looking large mammal alive in the world today than the white rhinoceros. Being one of our favourite species, we cherish every sighting we have of them while exploring the wild places of South Africa.
It is thought that the white rhino got its name from its wide mouth – a miss-translation of the Dutch word “wijd” which means wide. Scientifically, the name “Square-lipped Rhinoceros’ is probably more correct, but not widely used. The white rhino uses its broad mouth to good effect, grazing as it does almost exclusively on short grasses, in contrast to its smaller African cousin, the black rhinoceros, which is a browsing species. After the elephants, the white rhinoceros is the biggest living land animal. They can stand over 1.8m (6 feet) high at the shoulder and bulls weigh up to 2,400 kg. Cows are lighter at up to 1,800 kg, while calves weigh between 40 and 60 kg at birth.
White rhinos prefer open, lightly wooded habitats with a good covering of short, sweet grasses and easy access to drinking water (they drink about 72 liters of water a day). They are by far the most social of the rhinoceroses, at times congregating in groups of up to 18, though normally much fewer. Adult bulls are territorial, and groups of cows and their calves range over the territories of several bulls.
Cows give birth to a single calf every 3 to 5 years. The calves are vulnerable to attack from lions and spotted hyenas, but healthy adults have little to fear from any natural predators. Most adults succumb to a natural death from injuries sustained in fights, freak accidents like getting stuck in mud, drowning or getting caught in bush fires, and during prolonged droughts. Sickeningly, poaching for their horns has recently become probably the biggest single cause of death for adult white rhinos, which would normally have a life expectancy of up to 45 years in the wild.
Today, the Southern White Rhinoceros is considered “near threatened“. At the start of the 1900’s, only between 20 and 50 animals remained, all of them in the Umfolozi Game Reserve (today part of Hluhluwe-Imfolozi Park). One of South Africa’s greatest conservation success stories is how the Natal Parks Board (today Ezemvelo KZN Wildlife) and dedicated conservationists like Dr. Ian Player pulled these majestic animals from the jaws of extinction: by 2010 their wild population stood at an estimated 20,170 of which 18,800 were being protected in South Africa. Now, ever escalating pressure from poaching is threatening to undo their fantastic work. Sadly, the fortunes of the Northern White Rhinoceros, which historically occurred in the Sudan, the DRC and Uganda, is even more dire, with only four individuals remaining in the wild, having been relocated from a zoo in the Czech Republic to a conservancy in Kenya.
There’s always something beautiful and interesting to enjoy in the Moreletakloof, our “local” nature reserve!
One of the rarest and most rewarding sightings you can hope to have in a South African game reserve or national park, is of the black rhinoceros. Even the most fleeting glimpse of this worthy member of the charismatic “Big 5” is sure to excite any wildlife lover!
The black rhinoceros is not named for the colour of its hide, which can in fact be vary varied depending on the shade of mud the animal has been rolling in. Instead, it is named in contrast to the other African rhino species, the white rhinoceros. Many people will however testify that the black rhinoceros may well be named for its volatile and extremely aggressive temperament, and having lived through more than one determined black rhino charge, we certainly agree! Just yesterday (30/01/2014) another game ranger was seriously injured in a black rhino attack in South Africa.
Black rhinos are much smaller than the white rhino, and further differs in having a pointed upper lip instead of the wide flat mouth of their “white” cousins, which explains their alternative (and scientifically more correct) name of hook-lipped rhinoceros. These plucky animals weigh up to 1,200kg and stand up to 1.65m high at the shoulder.
Being almost exclusively browsers, black rhinos use their pointed upper lips with great dexterity when feeding on the leaves, shoots, twigs, thorns and flowers of a huge variety of trees, shrubs, herbs and succulents (some of which would be deadly poisonous to other animals).
As long as there’s sufficient food, water and shade available, black rhinos inhabit a wide range of habitats, ranging from the dry riverbeds of the Namib desert to the edges of forests. They tend to be solitary except when mating or when cows are accompanied by their calves, only very occasionally getting together in bigger temporary groupings around waterholes.
Females give birth to single calves, that weigh around 40kg, at intervals of between 3 and 5 years, after a gestation period of 450 days. Black rhinos have a life expectancy of 30 to 40 years in the wild and while adults seldom fall prey to predators, the calves are at risk of attack by lions and spotted hyenas.
Today, the black rhinoceros is considered to be critically endangered. Relentless poaching saw their population dwindle from an estimated 100,000 animals in 1960 to an all time low of 2,410 in 1995. Dedicated conservation efforts resulted in the total population increasing to 4,880 by 2010, of which 1,915 (or 40% of the total) found sanctuary in South Africa’s wild places. However, the explosion in illicit hunting to feed a seemingly insatiable demand in the Far East (where rhino horn is considered to be both medicinal and a status symbol) is threatening once again to bring this majestic animal to the brink of extinction. It is against this backdrop that the recent auction of a black rhino hunting permit by the Dallas Safari Club for US$ 350,000 caused major international controversy.
Boxing Day 2013 saw us heading back to one of our favourite South African wild places – the spectacular Golden Gate Highlands National Park in the eastern Free State Province.
We had three nights booked at Glen Reenen Rest Camp. Our unit offered a beautiful view of the mountains surrounding us, and the camp is frequented by a wide variety of birds and animals. Sitting on the verandah we were surrounded by paradise.
Difficult as it was to wrestle ourselves away from Glen Reenen’s peaceful surroundings, we made the most of all the activities available (when the weather allowed). Driving around, horse-riding or hiking – take your pick!
Thanks to the good rainfall all the streams in the park were flowing strongly.
A visit to a National Park would not be the same without the animals and birds that find sanctuary there! Our most special sighting of this trip? Two specimens of the rare bearded vulture passing overhead!
We also posted a couple of pictures while we were in the Park. On the 26th of December a thunderstorm welcomed us back to the Park, on the 27th we chased the end of the rainbow and on the 28th we marveled at the cloud formations passing overhead.
Our regular readers will know that Golden Gate Highlands National Park has a very special place in our hearts. If you’d like to know more about this beautiful place, have a look at the special post we published on the occasion of the Park’s 50th birthday.
After leaving Ithala Game Reserve (read here for more about Ithala and Ntshondwe Resort) our next December holiday destination was the wilds of the Hluhluwe-Imfolozi Park and our much loved Mpila Camp.
We love Hluhluwe-Imfolozi because of its wilderness atmosphere (the Park covers almost a thousand square kilometres), its fascinating history and the enormous contribution it has made to the conservation successes of our country. We love Mpila most because of its unspoiled character. The camp is not fenced (except for a single strand of electrical wiring supposed to keep the elephants out – they come into camp and destroy the water pipes looking for a drink) and a wide variety of animals, including predators from time to time, move freely among the accommodation units. Surrounding the camp, the Imfolozi-section of the Park offers some of the best game viewing available in South Africa, and there’s few game-viewing roads as rewarding as the Sontuli Loop, just half-an-hour’s leisurely drive from camp.
December is one of the wetter months in this part of the country and by the time we arrived in the Park the vegetation was lush and green and the waterholes, streams and rivers filled to capacity. What a contrast to the huge swathes of veld burnt to ashes just prior to our visit last year and yet again we were amazed at nature’s resilience.
Of course, Hluhluwe-Imfolozi is known as a Big-5 reserve and within 24 hours of our arrival we were rewarded with excellent sightings of all these sought-after animals: elephant, rhino, buffalo, lion and leopard.
The Hluhluwe-Imfolozi Park is world renowned as the place where the Southern White Rhinoceros was rescued from the brink of extinction in the middle of the previous century. Today the reserve is home to a substantial number of white and black rhinos – let’s hope that the current tide of poaching can be halted before we find ourselves that close to losing these enigmatic animals again…
Elephants were shot out of the area by hunters before the Park’s proclamation in 1895, and were reintroduced to the Park in the 1980’s. Today, the park boasts a healthy population of 550 of these majestic animals. We had wonderful encounters with several mature bulls, but our most memorable sighting was of a very large herd of cows and calves of all ages crossing the Imfolozi River.
Hluhluwe-Imfolozi protects the second biggest population of Cape Buffalo in South Africa – almost 5,000 – and we regularly encountered these apparently placid but actually extremely dangerous animals on our drives through the reserve.
The lion is another species that was hunted to local extinction before the reserve came into being, but unlike the elephant they made their own way back to the reserve in the 1960’s (well, just one male, probably from Mozambique, which was later joined by a pride of females translocated by the reserve management) and today there’s about 200 lions in the Park.
The Park is estimated to be home to only about 80 leopards and, given their secretive nature, any encounter should be considered extremely fortunate. We were very happy to spot a female at the bridge over the Imfolozi River early one morning – only our second ever sighting of leopard in the Hluhluwe-Imfolozi Park.
The Park is also home to three other big African predators. On this visit we missed out on seeing the African Wild Dogs and Cheetahs, but we did get to see Spotted Hyenas a couple of times
As magnificent as the “Big Five” and large predators are, there’s so much more to enjoy when visiting Hluhluwe-Imfolozi. The Park harbours thousands upon thousands of primates, antelope, zebra, warthog and giraffe, and a multitude of birds and reptiles.
You’ll easily imagine how sad we were when our four nights at Mpila and in the Hluhluwe-Imfolozi Park came to an end – seemed it was over in the blink of an eye. Hluhluwe-Imfolozi is one of South Africa’s genuine wildlife treasures and we’re already planning our next visit there.
From Hluhluwe-Imfolozi Park we headed back home to Pretoria to enjoy Christmas with the extended family before heading to Golden Gate Highlands National Park (yes, again! And we’ll be posting photographs from that trip soon 😉 )
Several families (or sounders) of warthogs have made themselves at home inside Mpila Camp, in the Hluhluwe-Imfolozi Park. The antics of the energetic piglets and the relative sedateness of the adults is very entertaining to watch and, being as accustomed to the human presence as they are, Mpila’s warthogs make excellent photographic subjects (we’ve already published two other posts about them as well: have a look here and here).
Daddy Warthog showing off his impressive weaponry
Mommy’s responsible for lunch
There’s always one kid that can’t sit still at the table!
The theme for this week’s WordPress Photo Challenge is “Family“
When visiting Ithala Game Reserve, it pays to spend some time strolling through Ntshondwe, the reserve’s award-winning main camp.
Ntshondwe’s excellent amenities all blend beautifully into the environment and despite offering all modern conveniences, one never feels cut-off from the natural beauty that surrounds you.
Take one of the shady pathways that lead through the camp’s lush indigenous vegetation.
Stop and have a closer look at the variety of moss, toad stools and mushrooms that thrive in the dampness of the forest floor.
All around you you’ll notice little animals quietly going about their daily lives in the undergrowth – insects, spiders, frogs, toads, lizards and birds
Even bigger animals – especially dassies, monkeys and bushbuck – are quite at home around Ntshondwe’s human visitors.
And then, to end your walk on a high, why not head onto one of the surrounding hills – easily accomplished along the well marked trails – for a breathtaking view over Ntshondwe and the reserve?
We hope you enjoyed this closer look at life inside Ntshondwe? Have a look here to read more about our December 2013 trip to Ithala Game Reserve
Suffering from extreme wilderness withdrawal symptoms – yes, we know we’re only back in the city for a week now 😉 – we headed to our local nature reserve, Moreletakloof, this afternoon for a bit of a “fix”.
DeWetsWild 