We had an amazing time on safari in South Africa.  We visited the St Lucia wetlands, Hluhluwe–iMfolozi Park and finished up at a private reserve called Leopard Mountain within the Zululand Rhino Reserve. Our first venture into a Big 5 safari park was with Monzi’s Safari in Hluhluwe game reserve. We also stayed at the Monzi Safari tented camp in St Lucia; lovely new accommodation with great facilities. Makes you feel like you’re having the real safari experience even though it was right in town.  Something we found very worthwhile was going on our first game drive with a tour operator (from the park or a private company) as you will gain valuable information.  On safari you will be entering the backyard of  the Big 5. Important things like:

• How close to a group of elephants is considered safe? And what to do if surprised by them!
• Temperament of white rhinos verses black and how they behave (black much more aggressive)
• That solitary buffalo and wildebeest are very dangerous

All of this information was valuable and made us feel much more comfortable during some close encounters. Our relatively tiny Hyundai i20 got caught in the middle a rhino fight for 15min but luckily they were white rhino so did not attack us. We also laid very quiet in our car while a large group of elephants walked by just metres away. We turned the car around when a large male buffalo walked in front of us down a narrow lane. Thankfully we reacted wisely during these hairy moments because of the knowledge we gained during the organised tour we took on our first day safari.

Hyundai i20 you say…. yes, the car was fine during safari but the low clearance/elevation made it difficult to spot animals when the grass was high and front wheel drive made some steep hills into adrenaline pumping events with it skidding and sliding around. The compact car will suffice if you have a budget but an SUV would be better for safari. Greater clearance and height in seats to see over the grass!

Stay tuned for part 2!