Day 14: Hluhluwe-Imfolozi

Another early start to our day, 08:15, as we piled into our safari vehicle. Chantal, one of the employees at the guest house, was to be our driver and guide as we went into the Hluhluwe-Imfolozi Game Reserve. As we passed the entrance gate (complete with electrified wires on the ground), we slowed down to a leisurely pace as Chantal kept one eye on the road and another on any wildlife lurking in the forest. Sightings were few and far in between; it had rained in the park yesterday, so most of the animals didn't need to come out to watering holes or the dry riverbeds. We passed many vehicles on the roads (they must have been up for 06:00!), and the drivers exchanged details of sightings and conditions.

We broke for lunch at a picnic site, a little disappointed that we had seen so little, but you never know what you'll see on safari. Our guide told us stories of elephants charging and snake bites and lion attacks that left us in awe.

The puttering of the engine, the monotony of staring at the landscape and gentle rocking over the potholes left a lot of people in the 4x4 sleepy. I was wide awake, keeping my eyes peeled for animals, but I was never able to spot any wildlife before our guide did.

Towards the end of the afternoon, we saw giraffes grazing on a hill. Then, we spotted a herd of giraffes. As we were all ooh-ing and aah-ing and snapping photos, all of them suddenly turned their heads to the right. We followed their gaze and saw a huge group of antelope accompanied by a wildebeest. There was some sort of commotion and the entire group began to move across the road, and up the hill:

Suddenly, we saw the reason they were skittish: a leopard walked right across the road in front of us! It jumped into the grasses and was gone in a minute. Chantal said that sightings of big cats often happen like this, unpredictable and fleeting. So, after spending an entire day riding in the safari vehicle, the most exciting part of the drive came right at the end.

S and I left for Durban soon after we got back to the guest house. We weren't able to get a table at our favourite Italian restaurant due to it being Easter weekend, so we settled for takeout and had our last meal on our balcony in Umdloti.

Complete set of South Africa pictures in my Flickr set.