hluhluwe & mosambique.
Mar 30, 2010 by leo in miscellaneous | Tags: None
last tuesday we started a short trip to durban, then further to the zululand reserves imfolozi game reserve & hluhluwe game reserve and finally for surfing to ponta do ouro in mosambique.
ponta do ouro is known for his good surfing spot & the scuba diving, snorkeling and fishing conditions.
but let’s start from the beginning.
tuesday morning 5 o’clock, the alarm is ringing and we are getting ready to drive to the cape town airport where we catched the 7am mango flight to durban.
after the arrival we picked up our rental car and were surprised that we got a free upgrade on the car. luckily we got a nissan x-trial which is something like a SUV.
our first stop was the fifa worldcup “moses mabhida stadium” where we took the skycar. this is a kind of an elevator on the bow which is over the stadium. on top of the stadium we had an awesome view over durban. I took some nice shots from the city and the stadium befor we continued our drive to the imfolozi & hluhluwe game reserves.
these game parks are a 2,5 hrs drive up north-west from durban, were etablished around 1895 and you can find the big five (elephant, rhino, buffalo, lion, leopard,) in there.
we entered the imfolozi reserve park in the south and drove directly to our lodge (mpila camp site) which is also inside the park. on the way we already saw some giraffes, a rhino some warthogs and nyalas. around 6 pm we got to our camp site, a small 1 room house with a little kitchen and a bath.
after a refreshing shower we had some nice cape town noodles and some cold white wine while sitting on the terrace. at 10pm the electricity was shut down by the camp. it was so dark and lots of noises surrounded us, after a while we turned the flash light on and we saw a spotted hyaena which came very close to our terrace. luckily they don’t like the flash light and it disappeared again. we played this scary game now for a while and I tried to took a picture, but it was very difficult….
the next morning at 5am we packed everything, took a small breakfast and left the house round 6am to drive thru the park. when you want to see the animals you have to stand up early early…
on our drive we saw lots of them like zebras, kudus, giraffes, rhinos, elephants, nyalas, apes, a small crocos, lots of different kinds of boks & many many birds.
after a 4 hrs drive thru the imfolozi park we had a quick coffee and then we had to move on towards mosambique. we decided to take the route thru the hluhluwe game park which was another 60 km drive, but this time on a tarred road and not on a gravel road, the drive was a bit faster, though.
after another 2 hrs drive we left the hluhluwe park at the memorial gate in the north-east. from the park exit we drove thru hluhluwe town to mbazwana directly to the kosi bay / farazela border post.
at the border we left our car on a parking lot, cause you defnetly need a 4×4 for the 30 min. drive to ponta do ouro. it’s so funny, cause you drive on a tarred road till the border post and after crossing the border it’s just a 4×4 sand road.
temba, our pick up service driver came a bit late, so we had to wait for 1.5 hr. and then after 2 min. driving his car broke down, something with the steering was wrong… but another car stopped and gave us a hand, he repaired the problem with a piece of rope. verybody was very friendly and “muito tranquilo”. in the end we arrived in ponta do ouro around 5.30 pm.
our little cabana was in the first row, directly on the beach including a nice view to the surf spot. the air was very hot with 30 degrees and the water temp was something around 28 degrees. so a swim was not really refreshing…. and also the night were really hit, the fan was running and it was still so hot that I swet without a blanket. luckily there was a bit of a sea breeze.
the swell wasn’t that good, but in the late afternoon I gave the waves a try and it was better than it looks like. the waves in ponta was very powerful what me suprised most. at least it’s so much nicer to surf just in a boardshort instead of a wetsuit.
for dinner we went to the delicious seafood restaurant cafe do mar. we took the catch of the day, prawns and some white wine on the side.
for friday morning we organized a dophin snorkeling at 5am with dolphin ecountours. the briefing started at 5:15 am and diana gave us some informations about the dolphins and some absolutely no go’s (no touching, no dive down, no chasing).
around 6 am we went to the boat and drove from the inside of the bay thru the waves to outside were we were looking for dolphins.
we saw them playing & hunting in the waves and making love while next to us. some of them came so close to us, I guess sometimes closer than 1m. we also could interact with them like swimming in circles and they followed us doing the same…
it was an awesome experience to swim, play & interact with these wild animals. the crew of the dolphin ecountours was very friendly and gave us so many informations about the dolphins & the coastline, so if you go there sometime, check them out, they doing there buiseness here in ponta since 1995 and they are also running a research & care dolphin programm. thank’s a lot to them!
in the afternoon I gave the waves another try…..but this time it was a big mess and I quit after half an hour. the rest of the day we chilled on the beach, extend our stay and had a look in the small village of ponta.
on saturday we chilled all the day and in the late afternoon I gave the messi waves another try. for sunday morning we booked another dolphin snorkling. the weather was completly different. cloudy, a bit of sea fog and rain. even the dolphins were different cause the big group we met was sleeping and chilling. they had no interest to interact with us. after this trip we packed everything and took the transfer to the sout african border to pick up our car.
after that we made the plan to drive again for one night into the hluhluwe game park. and this decision was a big deal, cause after 1,5 hrs drive thru the park we already saw the big 5 (elephant, rhino, lion, buffalo, leopard)… the leopard just for 5 seconds, he was just crossing the street while pass by, but from the other 4 I’ve got some nice shots. later in the night I got a cold from our dolphin swim in the morning and I went to bed at 9 pm. with not much sleep, cause of the cold we started at 6 am in the morning for the next drive thru the park. but this time we were not that lucky. just a few buffalos, giraffes, boks, rhinos and pigs were also awake and said good morning to us.
around 11 am we drove out of the hluhluwe park and started our way back home to cape town via durban airport. our flight was delayed and we had to wait for 2,5 hrs at the gate, not the best thing after sitting 11hrs in the car. but today, with laptops & iphones there is always something to do. at 11 pm we arrived finally in cape town and drove straight back to blouberg for a shower and our beds… in the end an unbellievable trip, lots of impressions, friendly people and some god waves. seeya later…
to see all the pics of the trip, just follow this link to the gallery: check the hluhluwe & mosambique gallery
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