In 2016 I visited South Africa for 10 days with family and friends. We crammed as much as possible into those 10 days including domestic flights to Johannesburg and a 2 hour road trip to St. Lucia. It was here at St. Lucia that we did the classic Safari in Africa adventure. We did a sunset boat Safari to see the local Hippo's followed by a early start for the sunrise Safari.
St. Lucia is a beautiful little town on the outskirts of Durban. We enjoyed our sunset boat Safari, explored the local pubs and restaurants before stumbling upon a street market. These are one of my favourite places to find when travelling, local people selling their local produce and art. I purchased a stunning hand painted Elephant piece and a hand carved Elephant trinket box. These pieces still have pride of place on my wall and shelves and will forever hold lovely memories and emotions. We headed back to our Safari cottage to prepare for the early morning wake up call (5am!) to ensure we got a full day out in the park.
Tucked up under our blankets, cameras and binoculars at the ready, we drove through the gates to Hluhluwe (pronounced Hsush-lu-wei)...and oh what a sight awaited us. We didn't need out binoculars because right as we drove in there was a large family herd of Elephants making their way to the other side of the park. Our guide was shocked, saying he had never seen such a large group of Elephants so close to the gates before.
There was no time to discuss the amazing sight we had just seen, before we knew it we were spotting Rhino, Giraffes and Zebra every few minutes!
We seen countless Zebra and Giraffes, some pregnant and some with young. We seen a handful of Rhinos, and while we was watching a lovely couple of Rhinos our guide got a call saying Lions had been spotted nearby. He asked if we wanted to go and see them or if we wanted to stay and watch the Rhinos...we hadn't seen any big cat yet so it was an easy choice to make!
They were far off the track and there wasn't many of them but they were there and they were spectacular! Our guide had spotted big cat tracks earlier in the day which really got our hopes up. Seeing these Lions was just breathtaking.
We stopped for a quick lunch break. All the food freshly prepared by the guide and his wife! We were joined by some mischievous pigs and monkeys too...
After lunch the animal spotting didn't slow down! We seen more Zebra and Giraffe, a lone Rhino, a hidden Wildebeest, some Gazelles and Antelope and a wonderful bird (our guide got very excited, saying they are very rare. I cannot remember the name of the species, do forgive me, I am more of a mammal person!) There was only a mild amount of panic from the guide when the lone Rhino started to charge at us!
Having only missed out on one of the big five but seen a small group of Lions, we were heading out of the reserve feeling very content and happy. As we were approaching the exit, our guide slowed down and came to a stop, he told us to look to the left and I have never quite gotten over this moment. I still get goosebumps thinking about it, the opening song to the Lion King always plays quietly in my head when I think back to this moment too...
A massive family herd of Elephants were coming our way, and my god what a sight and sound it was! Some of the Elephants stopped along the way to bathe in a small watering hole. How could it get any better than this?
They took a turn and walked right across the road, right in-front of our jeep. Young and old, babies and mommies. There were so many Elephants all slowly crossing the road in-front of us. No other jeeps around, no other animals. Just us and the Elephants. Our guide killed the engine of the jeep and we all sat in stunned silence, watching in awe as these beauties crossed our path.
I had the most amazing time in South Africa, since 2016 Africa has been a content I have been desperate to go back to. I really did want to add it on to #BillieAndTimTravelTheWorld but we decided to leave Africa and make it a trip all of its own. There is so much to see and do on the content and such a variety of animals! One day, we will be planning an epic trip to Africa and I can't wait to take you guys along for the ride.
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