Safari to Hluhluwe Imfolozi

historic hunting ground of Shaka Zulu

Hluhluwe Imfolozi is located in the KwaZulu Natal region of South Africa.

Originally a hunting ground for the great Zulu leader Shaka, Imfolozi was gazetted as far back as 1895, making it the oldest wildlife reserve on the continent.

Now combined with neighbouring Hluhluwe (pronounced ‘shesh-luwi’), the combined entity comprises 1000 square kilometres, which is pretty substantial (although still only about 5% the size of Kruger National Park).

There’s a really interesting range of ecosystems here, dominated by scrub-covered hills, but with small patches of open grasslands and substantial sections of sub-tropical forest

The area is populated by a full range of savanna wildlife, including rhinos, elephants, lions and leopards.

Hluhluwe Imfolozi is very popular with local residents, but is far less attractive to international visitors who are more likely to be drawn to higher quality and less busy safari areas like the nearby Phinda Reserve.

The total visitor numbers staying in the reserve is restricted to five hundred people at a time. Whilst the desire to moderate traffic flows is highly commendable, it’s worth noting that this level represents about ten times the guest density that one would expect in a high quality private area. Visitor numbers are swelled further by day trippers from other reserves in the St Lucia Wetlands area to the east.

Almost all of the accommodation facilities are operated by the parks authority, which means they tend to be relatively simple and low cost.

The one major exception is the relatively upmarket Rhino Ridge Safari Lodge, which offers a reasonably strong safari experience for an unusually low price. In fact it represents one of the best lower cost safari options on the continent

one stylish and well-priced lodge