07 June 2010 – Monday

We went with the Zone to Umfolozi and spent about 4 hours touring the park. We were only inside the park 2 K or less when we came upon a group of 6 lions lying in the grass about 200 yards from the edge of the road. Unfortunately they were pretty much hidden by the grass and trees but some of them got up and walked around so the elders did get to see them clearly. It was the first game drive for elder Webster and imagine his camera was really clicking. Later we saw a group of five lions resting on the bank of the river and although they were quite a distance away they could be more clearly seen through our binoculars.

We managed to find a large herd of Cape buffalo, 3 rhinos – one of them quite close and drinking from the river, and one lone elephant. Of course there was the usual zebras, nyalas, wildebeests, and wart hogs. We only saw one giraffe but it was also drinking and that is always an interesting site. Since the elders wanted to get back to do their shopping and e-mail we had a quick lunch and said goodbye to them.

We then went on to the Hluhluwe. We were not having much luck in finding any animals – not even zebras or nyalas. We did have one elephant come out of the bush just as we were passing and storm across the road behind us. But that was it until we got to the part of the loop where we had found the large herd of elephants when the Mickelsens were with us.

We found a family of five rolling in the mud and then throwing dirt over their back. They were just finishing up when another group came in and this continued until we actually got tired of seeing them roll in the mud and decided to go further down the road. We did manage to see a small herd of wildebeest that we scared off the road as we came up but nothing else until we got back to the elephant hole where new ones had moved in. We watched a little while longer and then left them to enjoy the mud. We did get lots of pictures.

On another loop we found two cape buffalo having a great time in a large mud hole. The female even got up and showed off for us. As we continued down the loop Mary mentioned that we had seen only the one giraffe and she really would like to see more. Five minutes later we came across a herd of them spread out on either side as well as on the road and so we watched until we were again tired of seeing them.

We continued the loop and had to pass once more where we found the giraffes and they not only had not moved, but more had come. One of the big males took up a position blocking about half the road and since we had heard that their kick could easily break out a window or seriously dent the car we decided to wait until he moved. But he was not about to move and it was only when I started honking the horn that he moved enough to let us get safely by. It is not often in a lifetime that you get trapped by a stubborn giraffe. We then went to a lookout where we could see another large herd of giraffes mixed with zebras. Mary certainly could not complain about  not  seeing many giraffes.

As we headed for the Memorial Gate to come home, I said that we had a great day but we had not really got anywhere near a rhino. We had seen two at a long distance and one other one lying down under a tree but none standing where we could get a good look. Less then a minute later as we were driving along I noticed a rhino coming out from behind a bush and then noticed that there were a couple more already out. We stopped the car and a total of 6 rhinos came out to munch on the grass. They kept moving closer and closer to the road until one was about  20-30 feet away at the most. We got lots of great pictures but I carefully kept the car running and in gear just in case one of them decided we were upsetting their meal time.

As we left the rhinos I said I wondered if we started complaining about not seeing any leopards that a group of them would come walking out of the brush and pass by the car. Unfortunately what worked for giraffes, rhinos and elephants did not work for leopards. But we still had a wonderful P-day at the game park.

The drive home was not fun at all. The N2 was very busy, there was construction, and lots of slow trucks and high-beam lights. It seemed like it was a lot longer than a one hour drive from the gate. I was more than ready to pull into our garage and turn off the car after being in it for almost 12 hours.