While we were staying in St. Lucia, we took a day trip to do a self-drive safari in the Hluhluwe Umfolozi Park. I called it the Hula something park because I never could remember it! The park was less than an hour away and it was our last chance to see lions (we didn’t see any in Kruger).
We entered through the Nyalazi Gate on the Umfolozi side of the park and registered for a day drive at the Reception office. Our wild card came in handy once again!
At first the drive was disappointing. We weren’t seeing any animals, not even antelope. Then suddenly I spotted a lion – “Stop!” First one lioness strolled out, then another. They were followed by two males. My son got a lot of good photos before they all flopped down in the brown grass and disappeared from sight. They were a far enough distance away that we didn’t worry about our windows being rolled down.
We continued our drive and came upon a small water hole. There were wildebeest play-fighting, Impala and zebra. We were very close to them and it was wonderful.
On our way out of the park we saw two rhinoceros very close to us! One seemed to be peering at us so we were very quiet.
Just down from the rhinos we saw a troop of baboons. Marvelous!
The park was nearly empty of cars; for each viewing we were by ourselves. It was a wonderful day.
