Tag Archives: wildlife

Autumn Adventure – Hluhluwe 27 March 2022

We’ve had another wonderful day exploring the beautiful surroundings of Hilltop Rest Camp here in the Hluhluwe-Imfolozi Park, marveling at creatures big and small along the way.

White Rhinoceros

Buffalo herd along the Hluhluwe River

Young Vervet Monkey (photo by Joubert)

Red-billed Oxpecker (photo by Joubert)

Beautifully adorned Kite Spider female

Male Samango Monkey

Nyala calf

Hluhluwe scenery

Mountain Wagtail

Blue Wildebeest

Buffalo cow

White Rhinos

Purple-crested Turaco

Autumn Adventure – Hluhluwe 26 March 2022

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We arrived at the Hluhluwe-Imfolozi Park’s Hilltop Camp today and feel like we’re being treated like royalty. Not only have we been allocated a chalet with the most incredible view over the hills of the Hluhluwe-section of the Park, but we’ve already seen the “Big Five” – lion, leopard, rhino, elephant and buffalo – on our first afternoon here!

African Buffalo (photo by Joubert)

Little Bee-eaters

Chacma Baboon

Nyala ewe (photo by Joubert)

Purple-crested Turaco

Hilltop Chalet 47, Hluhluwe-Imfolozi Park, March 2022

View from Hilltop Chalet 47, Hluhluwe-Imfolozi Park, March 2022

Samango Monkey (photo by Joubert)

Nyala Bull

Lion

European Bee-eater

White Rhino

Red-billed Oxpeckers and flies hanging around the back of a White Rhino

White Rhino calf

Grasshopper of the family Pamphagidae

Leopard seen in fast fading light

Autumn Adventure – Cape Vidal 25 March 2022

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Another wonderful day spent in the iSimangaliso Wetland Park – our last full day here for this trip. Tomorrow our plans take us to Hilltop Rest Camp in the Hluhluwe-Imfolozi Park.

Spotted Hyena cub near Cape Vidal

Saddle-billed Stork in silhouette at sunrise

Vervet Monkey

Bushbuck ram

Elephant herd blocking the road…again!

Hadeda in flight – photo by Joubert

Hippo going walkabout in broad daylight

Kudu calf nursing

Yellow-rumped Tinkerbird

Natal Acraea butterfly

Samango Monkey

Interesting caterpillar

Wary Buffalo bull

Black-crowned Night Herons

Buffaloes at sunset

Autumn Adventure – Cape Vidal 24 March 2022

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The Isimangaliso Wetland Park, and especially when using Cape Vidal as a base, really offers the best combination of both bush and beach you could hope for.

Angry Buffalo bull

Sunrise at Mission Rocks

Natal Rock Crab (photo by Joubert)

Sleepy Warthog

Elephant roadblock between Cape Vidal and St. Lucia

Elephant roadblock between Cape Vidal and St. Luciack (photo by Joubert)

Elephant cow keeping the youngsters safe

Dancing elephant (photo by Joubert)

Elephant cow emerging from the forest to find us in her way (don’t worry, we moved away quickly!)(photo by Joubert)

Elephant procession passing the turnoff to Mission Rocks (photo by Marilize)

Crested Guineafowl

Blue-cheeked Bee-eater

Prancing Kudu cow (photo by Joubert)

Tonga Red Bush Squirrel

Natal Acraea

Small fish in a rock pool at Cape Vidal

Convict Surgeonfish in a rock pool at Cape Vidal

White-fronted Plover

Grey-headed Gull

Plains Zebra

African Marsh Harrier

Thick-tailed Bushbaby

Autumn Adventure – Cape Vidal 23 March 2022

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Today we moved camps to Cape Vidal, another of the overnight options in the iSimangaliso Wetland Park. Cape Vidal is located on the Indian Ocean coast, on a stretch of land wedged between Lake St.Lucia and the sea and surrounded by forests, wetlands and grasslands.

Elephant bull emerging from the forest (photo by Joubert)

Young elephant showing off (photo by Joubert)

Young elephant having a good scratch

Elephant herd on a stroll (photo by Joubert)

Elephant drinking from a seasonal pan

White-eared Barbet

Kudu bull

Crowned Hornbill

Samango Monkey (photo by Marilize)

Log Cabin 25, Cape Vidal, iSimangaliso Wetland Park, March 2022

Cape Vidal beach

Cheeky Bushbuck (photo by Joubert)

Hippos in the Mfazana Swamps (photo by Joubert)

Chacma Baboon

Buffalo in the golden glow of sunset

Sunset over Lake St. Lucia

Spotted Hyena

Autumn Adventure – uMKhuze 22 March 2022

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Today was our last full day here, but we’re still loving every second in the uMkhuze Game Reserve! Tomorrow mid-day we will be moving on to Cape Vidal, an old favourite of ours located in an entirely different section of the iSImangaliso Wetland Park.

Scrub Hare

Rainbow over Nsumo Pan

Big Nyala bull

Elephant Bull accompanying the herd

Playful Elephant youngster (photo by Joubert)

Burchell’s Coucal

Giraffes

African Hoopoe

White-backed Vulture

Baboons

African Harrier-Hawk

Blue Wildebeest calf

Young Impala ram (photo by Joubert)

Young Kudu bull

Yellow-fronted Canary

Emerald-spotted Wood Dove

Blue Waxbill female

Chinspot Batis

Plains Zebra

Giraffe baby

Autumn Adventure – uMkhuze 21 March 2022

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Today we spent the whole day – from sunrise to sunset – at uMkhuze’s Kumasinga waterhole with its brilliantly placed photographic hide. We’ll share loads more photos from today once we’re back home, but here’s a little teaser of a gallery.

Pink-throated Twinspot

White-browed Scrub Robin

Rudd’s Apalis

Purple-crested Turaco

Marsh Terrapins

Blue Wildebeest

Vervet Monkeys admiring their reflections

Slender Mongoose

Nyala bull horning the mud

Nyala ewe and lamb

Dancing Impala (photo by Joubert)

Thick-billed Weaver female

Grey Waxbill

Warthog family

European Bee-eater (photo by Joubert)

Male Eastern Blacktail Dragonfly

Common Waxbill

Sombre Greenbul

Eastern Natal Green Snake at Kumasinga Hide, 21 March 2022

Autumn Adventure – uMkhuze 20 March 2022

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Our second day at uMkhuze Game Reserve and certainly no reason to complain – wonderful weather, beautiful scenery and amazing wildlife in abundance!

Flap-necked Chameleon (photo by Joubert)

Buffalo bull near Ophansi Gate

Golden Orb-web Spider webs in the golden light of early morning

African Jacana

Emerald-spotted Wood Doves (photo by Joubert)

Yellow-throated Longclaw

Giraffe (photo by Joubert)

White-crested Helmetshrike

Golden-breasted Bunting

Crested Guineafowl

Leopard Tortoise

Blue Wildebeest

Black Flycatcher

Mating Elegant Grasshoppers

African Darter

Sunset over the Lebombos

European Nightjar

Autumn Adventure – uMkhuze 19 March 2022

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It’s school holidays again in South Africa, and we’ve arrived at beautiful uMkhuze Game Reserve – our first stop on a planned two-week tour through the iSimangaliso Wetland Park and the Hluhluwe-Imfolozi Park.

Plains Zebra

Jameson’s Firefinch

Blue Waxbill

uMkhuze scenery

Chalet 12 in Mantuma Camp, uMkhuze Game Reserve, Isimangaliso Wetland Park, March 2022

Brown-hooded Kingfisher (photo by Joubert)

Impala ewe

European Bee-eaters bathing at Kumasinga (photo by Joubert)

uMkhuze scenery

Pied Wagtail in flight

Pied Wagtail

Looking up into the branches of a massive fever tree

Nyala couple

Giraffe at dusk

Malachite Kingfisher

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Corythornis cristatus

The beautiful Malachite Kingfisher is, true to its name, mainly a piscivore though it’ll also feed on frogs, tadpoles and aquatic insects. They hunt from preferred perches, diving into the water to snatch their prey. Its diet dictates that this species is always found near water, ranging from tiny streams and sewage ponds to large rivers, dams and estuaries, provided there is sufficient growth of plants in and along the water providing perches. They are usually seen alone or in pairs.

Nesting in burrows they dig themselves in the earthen banks of rivers and streams, monogamous pairs of Malachite Kingfishers may breed throughout the year but usually coinciding with the rainy season. Clutches of 3-6 eggs are incubated for 2 weeks by both parents, with the chicks fledging when they’re between 3 and 4 weeks old. They start fishing for themselves about a week after leaving the nest and become fully independent from the age of about 7 weeks.

Malachite Kingfishers are found almost all over sub-Saharan Africa, being absent only from the driest pockets, and is considered to be of least concern by the IUCN. In South Africa they’re found in every province, though restricted to the course of the Orange River in the Northern Cape.