No visit to Africa would be complete without going on a 'Big 5' safari. For our Big 5 tours guests are taken in the Hluhluwe iMfolozi Game Reserve (previously known as the Hluhluwe Umfolozi Park), a stunning game park rich in wildlife and scenery, in fact it was voted one of South Africa's and Africa's most scenic wildlife parks. We leave St. Lucia early in the morning to arrive at the Hluhluwe iMfolozi as the sun rises, because animals are more active during the cooler hours. However, guests who would prefer a later start can join an afternoon Safari instead.

A trip in the Hluhluwe iMfolozi Park gives us a unique opportunity to look back in time to what life would have been like on this continent 100 years ago. Hluhluwe Umfolozi is the oldest game reserve in Africa, one of those places where time stands still, the world around us forgotten. Hluhluwe iMfolozi gets its name from the 3 major rivers which flow through the park, the White Umfolozi, Black Umfolozi, and the Hluhluwe river, all excellent ares for game viewing.

The Hluhluwe iMfolozi Park is home to all of the Big 5, cheetah, wild dog and hyena, with various game species a common feature. A vast range of birds also frequent this area like the Lappetface Vulture, bizarrely elegant Secretary birds, the tiny Pygmy Kingfishers and colorful Bee Eaters. Hluhluwe iMfolozi offers something for everyone and your day promises to be a truly unique and informative experience.

Your guide for the day has 10 years experience in the bush and has spent many years learning the habits of game, both from vehicles and on foot, offering you the best possible chance of seeing as many species as possible and learning as much you can. Hluhluwe iMfolozi is a huge park, 80km long and 30 km wide at the widest place, so it helps to have a guide who had spent years getting to know where to go to find the animals.

Hluhluwe Imfolozi Park tours are offered as both half day and full day trips with all meals included. There is also the option of having your safari in a traditional African open game drive vehicle or in a closed safari 4x4, with air conditioning, for your comfort.

WHAT TO BRING on a Hluhluwe-iMfolozi Safari: Camera, sun cream and hat. Our guides always have a set of binoculars with them but if you have your own we recommend that you bring them.

For  more information on our Big 5 Drives and Safaris to Hluhluwe-Imfolozi Park or other products that can be combined with a Game Drive or Hluhluwe Safari, please click on one of the links at the top of the page. Alternatively contact one of our team members for further assistance.

The History Of Hluhluwe iMfolozi Park

For hundreds of years, the different Zulu kings used the area now called the Hluhluwe-iMfolozi park ad their royal hunting ground. Hunting there was done on special occasions and was protected from indiscriminate hunting and trapping of wildlife.

When European farmers arrived in the Hluhluwe iMfolozi area in 1880 with their cattle, they thought it would be perfect for cattle farming, but when the cattle arrived, they started dying from nagana, a parasitic disease transmitted by the tsetse fly. Initial attempts to eradicate the disease were unsuccessful and the cattle farming was abandoned and the land deemed useless. It was actually due to the presence of the tsetse fly that the Hluhluwe game reserve was proclaimed in 1895. 20 years later, the Umfolozi Game reserve was established mainly to protect the small population of white rhino living between the Black Umfolozi and the White Umfolozi Rivers.

In 1980, the Hluhluwe Game Reserve in the north was joined to the Umfolozi Game Reserve, the fences between the parks were removed and the Hluhluwe-Umfolozi Park was created. The name has now been changed to the Hluhluwe-iMfolozi Park.
Interesting Facts About the Hluhluwe-iMfolozi Park

Size - 120 000ha

Established in 1895

Hluhluwe- Mfolozi Park exists because of the presence of Tsetse flies, the carriers of nagana.

3 rivers flow through the Hluhluwe iMfolozi Park, The Hluhluwe, White Umfolozi and Black Umfolozi Rivers.

Hluhluwe and Umfolozi Were separate until 1980 and joined to create the Hluhluwe iMfolozi Park