Hluhluwe-iMfolozi Game Reserve

Lots of animals to see, but may take time to find.

Hluhluwe-iMfolozi is huge! There are lots of animals, but if you are driving yourself through (as we did), they may be hard to find (probably depends a bit on the season). We had a couple stretches of maybe 45 minutes where we didn't see anything. We spent about 5-6 hours there and probably only covered 60-70% of the park. The roads are fine, though there are lots of potholes on the tarred roads. The dirt roads we did drive were borderline too much for our small car, but manageable. We had a nice time, enjoyed seeing all the animals we did find and got some good pictures. There are plenty of facilities available throughout the park, so it made for an easy place to spend the day. Several picnic areas are available as well. I think that if we go back, we'd try to go at a different time of year, because all of the watering holes were dry and I suspect many animals were sticking close to certain areas with water that we didn't find.

We saw many more big game animals there, which was particularly exciting for us as we often travel to spectacular / beautiful parts of the world but don't often see big game!

Hluhluwe - Umfolozi a great park to find vegetarian animals.

I live very close to Hluhluwe (2 hours drive) so I am going to this game reserve a lot because is the best in the area.

Hluhluwe - Umfolozi is not with a lot of predators so it's give the opportunity to see animals that are vegetarian and even there is not a lot of predators you can see them sometimes (about 1 a day). In the park there is a lot of elephants and massive amount of Rhinos, and a same as any other park a lot of Impala and Niala.

In the game reserve there is a nice view on the river and there is a big chance to see animals drinking from the water, in the park there is also huge amount of birds that is perfect for birding. In the game reserve there is also a lot of reptiles to see such as monitors and even some snakes.

The park is little comparing to Kruger National park but there is a lot less visitors which give you your enjoyment of nature without other people. This game reserve is perfect if you want to see vegetarian animals and a bit of the predators.

Being a national park the animals are more spread out and there was definitely a drive or two we didn’t see much, but the bush walk was amazing.

Visited 5 years ago (2012)

Wildlife - we had neat views of Rhino as well as lots of Nyala and buffalo.
This park has gorgeous scenery, especially close to the hilltop camp (we were only in Hluhluwe). Amazing long views over the park gave the illusion of being in an alpine zone.
Bush vibe was not really evident - a major road cuts through this park. The main park road is paved and the hilltop camp is fairly fancy.
Birding - quite good here. Highlights included Woolly-necked Storks and an African Harrier-Hawk.

Great Park
Quite big
Lots of game, also big 5, many rhino.

Being nearer to the Coast, it is a more humid climate, and thick vegetation can make game viewing a bit of a challenge. Facilities are a bit meagre compared to some other reserves, but on the whole it is a great breakaway destination and gives that full Night in the Bush feeling.

I liked more Kruger National Park, perhaps beacuse of the guide

The highlight of Hluhluwe was watching a pack of wild dogs playing in the grass as the sun rose - that was actually likely the rarest animal that we saw in visiting Hluhluwe and Kruger. We also saw quite a few rhinos, giraffe and Cape Buffalo while there as well. We did not see elephants or lions, other than from quite a distance. Nonetheless, it was a great experience and we had a terrific guide on the drive. I would definitely go back, but if I had to choose between Hluhluwe and Kruger, Kruger would win hands down.