July 7th we departed Umhlanga for another long drive to Hluhluwe-Imfollzi Park. The park is the oldest proclaimed reserve in Africa comprising 960 sq. km of hilly topography in central Zululand, KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa. The big 5 can be found here and through conservation efforts the park boasts the largest population of white rhinos in the world. Unfortunately a few days before our arrival 6 rhinos were killed by poachers and then several days later 3 poachers were arrested and 2 were killed by the anti- poaching patrols. We feel no sympathy for the poachers. We encountered many rhinos, elephant, Cape buffalo, kudu, giraffe, and were very lucky to see a pack of wild dogs in the distance which is a very rate occurrence but still haven’t been up close to lions yet. I’m sure we’ll see these soon in Kruger National Park. We stayed at Rhino Ridge Safari Lodge in a luxury villa suite with a private deck and incredible panoramic views of the hills and valleys of the surrounding park.
