Advertisement
Published: November 25th 2023
Me and Rhinos
Hlane Royal National ParkDear All
My last two days in the wonderful little Kingdom of Swaziland were spent at the very special Hlane Royal National Park. I checked out of my very spacious self-catering chalet and said goodbye to its very helpful host, Lello, before taking two minibuses from the nearby Gables shopping centre to the Park.
The first minibus took a ridiculous one-and-a-half hours to drive the mere 15 miles to Swaziland's largest city Manzini, stopping off everywhere and often waiting ages for passengers - it was really frustrating. Upon arrival at Manzini's very chaotic minibus station, the minibus driver very helpfully pointed out the next minibus I needed to take heading to the eastern Swazi town of Simunye, but with an empty stomach and another potentially long minibus ride ahead of me, I thought I'd stop off in town for lunch, and to explore just a little bit. There is not really much to see in Manzini, although its orderly shop-lined streets seemed quite inviting to explore, but at least having something to eat there meant that I could say I explored it a little bit! I headed out of the busy minibus station and onto a nearby shopping centre
Hippo
Ndlovu Camp which had a Nando's, for a lovely slap-up chicken hot-pot meal and chips, before heading back to the minibus station again. It turned out that despite my little 45-minute escapade, the same minibus for my onward journey was still there, just with a few more passengers. I bagsed a good single seat next to the window with my bag, and waited outside the minibus observing the ongoings of this very frenetic little place, attracting lots of attention from interested fellow passengers. Just like with Maseru though, there was no hustle or hassle, just frenetic people going about their business, which was very welcome as I passed the time waiting for this rather large minibus to fill up. It took about an hour, and I was glad I had decided to stop off for lunch first.
This minibus was heading to a small town called Simunye, close to Swaziland's eastern border with Mozambique, and I noticed there were a couple of Portuguese-speaking passengers riding along. I was heading for the Hlane Royal National Park entrance around ten miles before town, and after the seriously slow-motioned bus to Manzini, this one was a rapid express, and only took one hour to
Crocodile
Bush Walk travel the 40 miles there. After being dropped off at the entrance, the minibus sped on its way to Simunye, and I began a short walk that I'd felt rather nervous about for quite some time now. It was a mile or so from the National Park entrance to the Ndlovu Camp which would be my accommodation for the next two nights, and I was wary of there being wild animals in the area. In the end, I walked half-a-mile to the Ticket Booth, and then a local ranger accompanied me the final half-a-mile to the camp, which was very nice of her!
Upon arrival, it was back in tourist-central again, and the place turned out to be a very busy waystation stop for families driving from Richards Bay on the South African coast to the south, and Kruger National Park to the north. I had arrived just over an hour before check-in time at 2pm, and understandably due to the busy-ness of the place, they made guests wait until then rather than being lenient with the check-in time. No biggie, but I wasn't a big fan of the mass tourism feel to the place, the unfriendliness of some
Lion
Sunset Game Drive of the families, and the corresponding unfriendliness of some of the staff members. There seemed to be an unspoken air of dislike between the two, which I couldn't really understand myself since the staff should be happy for the custom in paying their wages, while the customers should be happy for being in such a special place, which it very much was. I nevertheless did my best to be super-friendly to both, and made some good connections there I think with my efforts.
The wait was seriously worthwhile though, as the Camp is situated right next to a large waterhole which would become the focus of my wildlife-spotting attention during my time there - it was gorgeous! Upon arrival, there was already a group of around ten large white rhino literally a stone's throw away, as well as three grumpy hippos in the water. The hippos seemed grumpy as the rhinos were so close, and there was a bit of back-and-forth between the two groups before the hippos eventually swam to the other side of the pool and got out to graze there. At another point, two rhinos were also starting to square off to each other, but in
Park Entrance
Hlane Royal National Park the end it came to nothing. In the background there were various antelopes intermittently coming down to the water's edge for a drink. It was just blissful sitting there and observing everything.
When check-in time came, I joined the queue at reception and eventually checked into a very comfortable and cosy rondavel for a wonderfully rustic stay detached from the outside world - there was no phone signal, WiFi or electricity during my time there, although there was fortunately somewhere to charge up devices back in the main restaurant. In the evening, there were candles inside the huts, and kerosene lamps which the staff would light, of which I managed to break two of them on my first evening...! There were also numerous nyala grazing throughout the camp who were not shy of humans, both day and night, which made the place seem extra special.
After a lovely lie-down, I gathered to meet for a sunset game drive with a good bunch of people - a friendly Spanish family, two separate solo-travelling Italians who were there on a day trip over from Mozambique, and an English guy on a sugarcane-related business trip with his local Swazi counterpart. Although
Ticket Booth
Hlane Royal National Park the game drive was not spectacular, it was still good, and perhaps I have become a bit spoilt after the number of safaris I've taken on my travels that I should try to approach each one with renewed vigour and excitement. We saw quite a few elephants, one really close up, and a number of nyala, kudu and wildebeest. The higlights of the drive were two sleepy male lions, mostly lying down though so no great photo opportunities, apart from two very brief head raises which fortunately my camera was ready for for some good photos, and also a very rare black rhino sighting. Black rhino are much shier than their white counterparts apparently, and are very elusive to see in the wild. The driver said they often only see them once every one to two weeks, so we were very fortunate. Unfortunately it ran off into the bushes well before I'd had time to get my camera ready, so unfortunately no photos this time.
We arrived back in camp after sundown, and I visited the restaurant for a very filling buffet dinner, including a seriously tasty mushroom soup which I had two helpings of. It was a bit
unusual having dinner in the dark with just a few kerosene lamps around, and I think my eyesight compared to others is actually not too good in the dark. Returning to my rondavel, the staff had already lit my paraffin lamps, and had also left a flask of hot water, which all helped to give light and heat to my evening. It felt wonderful that night lying in my rondavel bed with mosquito net, the paraffin lamps filling the air with romantic light and an ambient whiff of burning, and the sound of the African bush all around. I was very much looking forward to my first night out there in the middle of the Swazi bush.
My full day in Hlane was as wonderful as I'd hoped it would be. After a lovely sleep in my rustic and very cosy rondavel, I started the morning off with a Rhino Drive and Walk. This was a small group of just myself, the guide, and two French girls who lived in nearby Reunion Island in the Indian Ocean. After driving around for a bit, we found a pair of white rhino and were able to get out of the vehicle
My Rondavel Accommodation
Ndlovu Camp, Hlane Royal National Park and walk up very close to them, which was very special indeed. Apparently rhinos have poor eyesight and they can't see much beyond ten metres, yet despite this it was still unnerving and exciting to be in their mighty presence without the barrier of a metal vehicle in between.
For lunch, and after a recommendation from my wonderful accommodation host back in Durban, I decided to go to the nearby Simunye Country Club and Lodge, about ten miles away along the road towards the Mozambique border. After walking the mile or so to the main road again, noticing only later the sign saying "Danger - Big game area, strictly no walking beyond this point", I thought it would have been fairly easy to catch a passing minibus there. During the first half-an-hour of waiting only one minibus had gone by, but it didn't stop as it was full, despite there being around three minibuses going in the opposite direction. In the end I decide to swallow my pride, face the constant rejection, and do the hitch-hiking thing which many people back in South Africa seem to do. After about five rejections, a car stopped with two lovely ladies who
My Rondavel Accommodation
Ndlovu Camp, Hlane Royal National Park drove me the distance into town - yay!
The Simunye Country Club and Lodge was lovely and so very friendly, a far cry from the aloof indifference of a number of staff members back in Hlane, and I learned whilst there that it is apparently the most exclusive place in Swaziland. It had a large garden with a cool pool in the middle, though the water was a bit cold for swimming during the current wintertime there. I had a seriously lovely (guess what!) steak and chips lunch, for another bargain price of just £8 - this at the country's swishest country resort! The reception called a taxi to take me back to my accommodation again, which was so much easier, and at only £5 it was well-worth avoiding the hassle of minibuses or hitching again.
Back in camp I had a short rest in my hut, before a really enjoyable Bush Walk through the park. Despite its comparative simplicity, this was very much my favourite activity I did there. It was just me alone, along with two bush guides - we walked in single file, me in between the two guides at the front and back, each
White Rhino
Ndlovu Camp armed only with wooden sticks. There were no lions or leopards in the part of the park we were walking in, though it still felt daring as there were indeed rhinos, elephants, crocodiles, hippos, and apparently jackals too. I highly recommend a bush walk in such a place to gain a real in-depth insight into the flora and fauna of the African bush, rather than rushing around in a safari vehicle trying to locate the Big Five. It felt very organic and natural, if a little scary at times. The guide was amazing, and as well as talking and explaining things to me, he had the eyesight of a hawk, regularly spotting a great variety of birdlife, and tracking giraffes which I had particularly requested to see. Highlights of the walk were indeed encountering a family of around ten giraffes, getting within metres of them, and also getting within metres of more white rhinos. Without the vehicle with us, they were much less skittish and more challenging, and twice we had to quickly walk away - one time from a mother and her baby, another from a dominant male. With the dominant male incident, the guide told me I had
White Rhino
Ndlovu Camp to go with him, even though he was walking towards the angry rhino (in order to find a path away from him), which went against all of my natural instincts but I had to do it anyway, presumably as if the three of us stuck together we would be safer than if we had split up. We also spotted a crocodile, and a couple of hippos in a watering hole which we also had to walk away quickly from when they started making aggressive noises towards us. The animals definitely have more confidence with humans when we are not in our safari vehicles! This bush walk was definitely my highlight during my time in Hlane - I loved getting so close to the nature there, and it felt raw and much more real to see the bush from on foot rather than in the comfort of a safari vehicle.
The next day I was flying back to Johannesburg for another night in my base, before doing a Kruger Safari for three nights from there. I was really excited about that one, and I'd met so many people on my journey thus far who raved about Kruger after going there
White Rhino
Ndlovu Camp - Hlane seemed to have just whetted my appetite! I loved my time in Swaziland - although a tiny country, it really packs a punch with its very friendly people and well-developed infrastructure, carrying the feeling of being pretty much "Africa in Miniature".
So, until my next one on Kruger, thanks very much for reading, and all the best for now!
Alex
Advertisement
Tot: 0.082s; Tpl: 0.017s; cc: 14; qc: 45; dbt: 0.0465s; 1; m:domysql w:travelblog (10.17.0.13); sld: 1;
; mem: 1.2mb
John Miranda
John & Miranda
Swazi
Nice rhino photographs.