Hluhluwe Umfolozi Park, Zululand, South Africa
Hluhluwe Umfolozi National Park is the oldest game reserve in South Africa and is one of the most popular big 5 wildlife safari and tour destinations in Africa. Hluhluwe Umfolozi is situated in the hart of Zululand, KwaZulu Natal and was established by the former Natal Parks Board.
The wide range of plant life in the park gives rise to a diversity of mammals, birdlife, reptiles and amphibians, and Hluhluwe -Umfolozi Park is renowned for its wide variety of bird and animal life. Besides the big five - elephant, lion, leopard. buffalo and rhino, there are elusive cheetah, wild dog and nyala along with many other well-known bushveld species, inhabit the park, offering visitors an excellent game viewing experience.
When uncontrolled hunting brought many big game species to the brink of local extinction, Operation Rhino increased the white rhino population in Umfolozi through anti-poaching control, and today the Zululand reserves contain some of the largest concentrations of black and white rhino in the world. It is also almost entirely responsible for re-populating the depleted rhino stock in many of the reserves in South Africa, and southern Africa.
The Hluhluwe-Umfolozi park boasts one of the best conservation teams in the world, and has gained world wide acclaim for its conservation efforts. Many species of animals which were eradicated from the park through the nagana campaign have been successfully reintroduced, including lion in the early sixties, and elephant in the eighties. Giraffe have been extremely successful in inhabiting the park, although there is no fossil record of them ever existing in the area before. Hippo were eradicated, but a small group found their way into the park, possibly from St Lucia, and the population is slowly rising. The Wild dog are one of the park's major conservation priorities, as they are Africa's most endangered carnivore.
The park covers 96 000 hectares, and comprises three reserves: Hluhluwe, Umfolozi - two of Africa's oldest game reserves, both founded in 1895 - and the linking Corridor Reserve, proclaimed in 1989.
To aid in the valuable work done by the heroes of conservation, you can visit the Centenery centre, which offers tours and sightings of rhino and other game which have been captured or scheduled for release.
There is a wide variety of accommodation on offer, both in Hluhluwe and in Umfolozi, from bush camps to luxury lodges, and the three star chalets to be found at Hilltop Camp which has its own restuarant.
Amatikulu Tours offer guided tours and safaris to Hluhluwe-Umfolozi Park. For those who prefer to self drive, we will place your accommodation booking at no extra charge to yourselves. Find out about the accommodation on offer here, prices here, and bookings here.
* We have plenty of information on good accommodations outside the Reserve, so if there is no availability in the park for the dates you require, we will send you information on substitute Bed & Breakfasts, and Lodge accommodation located in the nearby area.
