Two Night Safari in Kwazulu-Natal at the Hluhluwe-Imfolozi Park, 2/22-2/24

Our long-awaited safari was an utterly different experience, in some ways unexpected. We flew to Durban, South Africa, met our guides, and caravaned 3 hours to the gates of the Kwazulu-Natal Game Reserve. On the way in our group of 19 saw stunning zebras, an abundance of impalas (deer-like animals with gorgeous brown, white, and black markings), and kudu (a kind of antelope). I earned the nickname of ‘Eagle-Eyes’ for my animal-spotting abilities (which is better than my other nickname of ‘Four-Eyes’). We arrived in the heat of the day, so felt fortunate to see any signs of wildlife.

An hour’s drive brought us to the Sontuli camp by the Imfolozi River. It was everything one pictures when imagining the African bush: impressive umbrella trees, swaths of tall, lush grasses, wide, dusty riverbed with a small stream of water. Our rustic campsite included large tents on platforms and A-frame wooden structures with thatched roofs. No mosquito netting, but fortunately we didn’t seem to need it or the 100% DEET we’d brought. Not sorry about taking malarone, though, because where malaria is concerned, it is better to be safe than sorry. There was running water (which we were warned not to drink) but no electricity. ‘Mama Cook’, a rotund black woman, prepared our delicious meals over a propane stove, and a 3-day supply of ice kept perishables fresh.

As the sun set we rode through the park looking for wildlife, and we were not disappointed. Most fascinating was coming across a herd of impala being carefully watched by a male and a female lion! The impala knew of their presence a few hundred feet away, for they would occasionally freeze and start snorting and twitching their tails to communicate the nearby danger. The lions never charged, and somehow the impala suspected they didn’t have to move away. As I write this I regret not asking our guide more about these protocols! I think lions are kind of lazy, so maybe they weren’t that hungry. A bit later we saw a mother and three little cubs near a stream, but it was quite far off and hard to tell on the photos. On the night trip our group was in one large open jeep-like vehicle with a canvas roof. (Open, I say! Apparently there was always a guy with a gun whenever we went out, but happily we never saw it.) When I spotted my first rhino right on the side of the road I gasped, alerting the others to his presence. Rhinos are utterly massive, and with an enormous horn that could easily skewer… a jeep. But our excellent guide knows how to read the body language, and sure enough, the rhino just turned and ambled away. Other thrilling sightings included a herd of buffalo, a hyena (in our camp!), stately giraffes, and finally on the last morning, across the river from our camp there was an elephant! Unbelievable!!

The remnants of Apartheid were apparent even in the bush: what seemed an innocuous comment about others in our group visiting Robben Island was met with an angry retort about how ‘politicized’ that tour is, which led to a brief but uncomfortable exchange of words. The angry comment seemed to indicate a lack of understanding about why Westerners such as me find South Africa to be so compelling. I protested against Apartheid in college in the 1980s and I am still amazed to find myself here in 2008. And although South Africa has made incredible progress in 14 years (perhaps as much as the United States has made in the century between outlawing slavery and legislating civil rights), there is still a long way to go.

South Africa is an amazing, complicated place. It isn’t hard to understand the mystique. I loved being here and would return in a heartbeat.