Travel Snippets from Kruger, Swazi & KZN (2) *

[Toko]

Day 12: Swaziland - From Hlane Royal National Park to Mlilwane Wildlife Sanctuary

We left Hlane in the morning







As far as I remember, my first visit to Hlane was in 2001 and since then I have returned six times, so obviously I love the place. Well, it is not a big five reserve, it is small and it is not really cheap, the double cottage at Ndlovu camp is R300 pp and the guided activities are expensive (sunest game drive 2.5hrs is R295). For the overseas visitor additional costs are the cross border permit for the rental car (and a road fee to pay at the border post). At least some of the guides are not very knowledgeable and don't expect them to show you birds or smaller gems.
The attraction however is Ndlocu camp which is unique to me. There are 14 thatched rondavels with twin bedded en suite rooms with a shower. Rooms have all the comforts that you would need and there are oil-lamps and candles for lighting at night. There are also 2 family cottages that are equipped for self-catering and great for families. Staff is more than friendly and they try to do their very best to run the camp, before sunrise somebody will come and light your lamps. In the previous night it went like this: A young lady came, with a big smile said "good evening, is anything alright here? Are you fine? I am going to light the lamps for you." She entered the chalet and then said: "Wow, this smells very nice. What is it?" I said, it was italian pasta with seafood and invited her to share the meal with us. And yes, she did and we had pasta, steaks and salads and one or two glasses of wine -O and some interesting conversation
But besides a friendly atmosphere there, the real wow factor is the camp location with the chalets (only at Ndlovu camp, don't book the Wisteria village) overlooking a well frequented waterhole. A stay at Hlane is about out-door sitting and enjoy a drink and some food watching rhino and antelope coming to quench their thirst. It's one of the best (and still affordable) camps in Southern Africa to spend a relaxed afternoon or morning in camp and it is never noisy or crowded .
Hlane is a great option for people travelling between Kruger and Natal and you might like a stay at Ndlovu for one day if you like rhinos.

[Toko]

Day 12: Swaziland - From Hlane Royal National Park to Mlilwane Wildlife Sanctuary

Mlilwane Wildlife Sanctuary covers 4,560 hectares and is Swaziland's pioneer conservation area. It is situated in the Kingdom's Ezulwini Valley, 'Valley of Heavens' between Mbabane and Manzini. The Sanctuary has a central/southern and northern section. The southern section's grassland plains stretch up to the mountains. In the northern section there are no roads, it's only accesible by hiking.

At Sangweni maingate you can buy a huge map of the central and southern areas and most likely you will be confused by the number of roads and trails -O

The reception huts at the main gate

From the backside of the map:



The reserve is advertised as a hiker's and mountain biker's paradise and you will not get much further information and lots of visitors are not aware of the hidden secrets of Mlilwane .

It's not a big five destination and there are none of the "exciting" animals, though it's antelope's heaven with an impressive species list of antelope:

Grey Duiker
Grey Rhebuck
Mountain Reedbuck
Oribi
Red Duiker
Steenbok
Waterbuck
Blesbuck
Blue Wildebeest
Bushbuck
Impala
Klipspringer
Kudu
Nyala
Reedbuck
Roan
Springbok
and Blue Duiker & Suni

There is Roan breeding project.
With a donation from the Marwell Zoological Park in the UK, three females and one male roan antelope were introduced in 2003. A further group of four females and one male joined them in 2004. And the first calf was born in 2005.
Another source of roan antelopes for the project is Dvur Kralove Zoo in the Czech Republic, which joined the project in 2007. Today there are quite a few of these pretty antelope and they are easy to find if you know where to go to within the reserve .




Here are some pics from the main camp

Beehive village



Grass hut



Cottages

Hippo Haunt Restaurant

Hippo Pool in the camp



And some blurred residents





Olive Woodpecker

[Toko]

Day 12: Swaziland - From Hlane Royal National Park to Mlilwane Wildlife Sanctuary

Some antelope in the grassland plains of Mlilwane

Blesbok



Springbok



Roan





Waterbuck

Kudu

Blue Wildebeest


... and an incredibly lucky sighting

Oribi


-O and a herd of Zebra

[Toko]

Day 12: Swaziland - From Hlane Royal National Park to Mlilwane Wildlife Sanctuary

Mlilwane might be a nice stop over. But it is already a bit over-commercialised. When I visited first (15 years ago or so) it was a remote place, the camp had only some wooden chalets and very few beehive huts, no electricity. Now it's quite a big camp and I don't like this tourist village like atmosphere at all . You can consider to stay at luxurious Reilly's Rock Hilltop Lodge. It is located on a hill with great views in a botanical garden and you might be lucky and spot blue duiker and bushbaby there.

However it's a great hiking destination, the best of the self-guided walking trails is the Macobane Hill Trail, an easy, three-hour hike through the mountains. The more energetic ones can climb to the top of Nyonyane, the Execution Rock in the north. For the lazy one there is the Hippo Trail, starting from the camp, the route runs parallel to the road, along the edge of the shallows, a man-made wetland area connecting the large dam with the hippo pool in the camp, there you can spot game and lots of birds. Crossing the dam wall, you go to the the far side of the dam and leave the grassland and are for a change in a gum forest. Then the trail climbs up through lots of dongas resulting from the former tin mine. But the tall red banks are popular amongst birds. There is a large nesting site of White-fronted bee-eaters. At the top end of the circle the trail crosses to the Mhlambanyatsi River, and to the north you can enjoy the view of the Rock of Execution. You walk along the river, returning to the camp, there are more splendid views across the plains below.



Some parts of the reserve still look like farm land.

burnt forest


Here are some pics of the large dam and the shallows (a beautiful spot to have a sundwoner with the birds, only a short walk from the camp )

[Toko]

Day 12: Swaziland - From Hlane Royal National Park to Mlilwane Wildlife Sanctuary

Driving up to Reilly's Rock Hilltop Lodge

On the edge of the grassy plains a close encounter with Blue Cranes, Mountain Reedbucks and Red Hartebeest






















And the other way down








and voilà ... this is the habitat for ....



this tiny little blurry cutie Suni

great capture!

[Toko]

Day 13: From Mlilwane Wildlife Sanctuary to Ithala Game Reserve


Video: Mlilwane Wildlife Sanctuary

Video: Main Camp Mlilwane

The next morning we left Mlilwane and the pretty Weeping Boerbeen





off to Ithala GR

[Richprins]

Incredible...how many antelope species did you see!

Certainly no blue duiker in Swaziland!


Did you notice a female nyala with horns in one of your pics, maybe more?

[Toko]

Certainly no blue duiker in Swaziland!

certainly there this one though might be no longer alive

Did you notice a female nyala with horns in one of your pics, maybe more?

These are known as red bulls and you find them in iMfolozi and Tembe