Hey Guys
This is just a quickie TT from a 2-night weekend trip up to Imfolozi in March this year.
It’s a mission nowadays to accommodate everyone’s calendar with Varsity, work and teaching commitments, so our only option for a family trip that includes everybody is long-weekends or school holidays. The 21st of March was a public holiday and a Friday, so I put the options to the family of midlands fishing trip or an Imfolozi trip. We have had plenty rain in KZN lately, way more than the normal average rainfall, so I knew that the bush at Imfolozi would be super thick, therefore I secretly hoped that the fishing trip option would win the vote, but Imfolozi won the vote, which in hindsight was fortunate as we had some great cheetah luck.
Hawkeye’s boyfriend, Sasquatch, had arranged to loan his dads double cab bakkie, which was also fortunate as many of the dirt roads in Imfolozi are totally stuffed from all the rain and some roads possibly aren’t even drivable with a normal car in my opinion. The trip timing didn’t suit Bushpig’s & Albert’s boyfriends who are overseas at the moment, so it ended up 6 of us who were able to make the trip and we booked the 7-sleeper chalet.
Currently Ezemvelo still aren’t doing a particularly good job at managing the reserve and certain staff, not all, seem to have very little interest in my opinion. The fences are continually cut in some areas and poaching has escalated dramatically over the years resulting in a marked decrease in the number of rhino sightings. I normally wouldn’t post rhino sightings, but this trip was many weeks ago, so I doubt that the odd picture will have any impact. (I will keep locations vague just in case).
To be continued
Imfolozi Browns March 2025
Re: Imfolozi Browns March 2025
Friday 21st March
We arranged a house sitter to look after the dogs, cat, rabbits, fish and granny, but she could only arrive after 9am and I wasn’t prepared to wait, so we left granny in charge, hit the road in convoy just after 6am, and arrived at Nyalazi gate at around 9:30am.
We could only book in at Mpila camp at 1pm (it’s an hour earlier than Kruger camps) so the plan was to cruise slowly towards Mpila camp, stop for a leg stretch/loo break and then, depending on the time, to do some of the dirt roads west of Mpila and possibly stop for a lunchtime braai/boerewors roll at Sontuli picnic site before returning to Mpila camp to book in.
It was going to be a hot weekend according to the weather forecasts, but there had been major rains earlier in the week and we immediately noticed large puddles of water in many places where we had never seen water before. The water even seemed to be seeping out of the ground and onto the tarred road all over the place and the bush was thicker than we had ever experienced in Imfolozi, but there were thousands of butterflies flying around which was something different to experience and amazing to see.
The 18km stretch from Nyalazi gate to Mpila camp produced most of the usual gang, including some zebra, boons and warties that we took pics of.
We stopped at Mpila camp and investigated the camp shop, which is normally pathetically managed, and there was unfortunately no change. It was the start of a long-weekend and the camp was fully booked, but the shop had zero stock and there were only some bottled waters left in all the fridges, so the planning/ordering skill set is still a problem.
It was now around 11am and we still had 2 hours to kill before we could book in, so we decided to continue west onto the dirt roads towards view point 17 and then loop around via the Ngotsha loop back towards camp.
The current state of the dirt roads quickly became apparent and as a comparison, the worst dirt road that I have ever driven in Kruger was still better than the vast majority of the dirt roads we drove in Imfolozi this trip. It was also initially rather quiet sighting wise, but we did find some ellies next to the road and then a tortoise in the road that got the Cow excited.
We arranged a house sitter to look after the dogs, cat, rabbits, fish and granny, but she could only arrive after 9am and I wasn’t prepared to wait, so we left granny in charge, hit the road in convoy just after 6am, and arrived at Nyalazi gate at around 9:30am.
We could only book in at Mpila camp at 1pm (it’s an hour earlier than Kruger camps) so the plan was to cruise slowly towards Mpila camp, stop for a leg stretch/loo break and then, depending on the time, to do some of the dirt roads west of Mpila and possibly stop for a lunchtime braai/boerewors roll at Sontuli picnic site before returning to Mpila camp to book in.
It was going to be a hot weekend according to the weather forecasts, but there had been major rains earlier in the week and we immediately noticed large puddles of water in many places where we had never seen water before. The water even seemed to be seeping out of the ground and onto the tarred road all over the place and the bush was thicker than we had ever experienced in Imfolozi, but there were thousands of butterflies flying around which was something different to experience and amazing to see.
The 18km stretch from Nyalazi gate to Mpila camp produced most of the usual gang, including some zebra, boons and warties that we took pics of.
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We stopped at Mpila camp and investigated the camp shop, which is normally pathetically managed, and there was unfortunately no change. It was the start of a long-weekend and the camp was fully booked, but the shop had zero stock and there were only some bottled waters left in all the fridges, so the planning/ordering skill set is still a problem.
It was now around 11am and we still had 2 hours to kill before we could book in, so we decided to continue west onto the dirt roads towards view point 17 and then loop around via the Ngotsha loop back towards camp.
The current state of the dirt roads quickly became apparent and as a comparison, the worst dirt road that I have ever driven in Kruger was still better than the vast majority of the dirt roads we drove in Imfolozi this trip. It was also initially rather quiet sighting wise, but we did find some ellies next to the road and then a tortoise in the road that got the Cow excited.
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Re: Imfolozi Browns March 2025
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There was no action at view point 17 except for some distant buffalo, so we quickly continued on around the Ngotsha loop and as we approached the section between 22 & 23, we spotted a couple of cars moving slowly towards us, so I started chirping.
“They are following something!” “What do you see, look there!”
“I don’t see anything!”
I jumped on the cheap Chinese walkie talkie to Hawkeyes and Sasquatch who were behind us.
“You guys see anything!”
“Nope”
Suddenly a cheetah jumped onto a rock about 50m in.
“THERE!”
“What, where?”
“THERE…...the rock!”
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A few seconds later 4 more cheetah jumped up onto the rock.
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Re: Imfolozi Browns March 2025
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The cheetahs parked off on the rock for a few minutes, but the collared mother cheetah seemed to be scouting the area and then she locked onto some impala on the other side of the road and started to approach with her large teenagers/young adults following along.
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Suddenly the mother cheetah and kids burst into full sprint and they came flying across the road in a second which, as per normal, caused drama in our car.
“$*#*………I need to reverse!”
“Mind the bush!”
“Did you get pics!”
“They were too fast……. $*#*”
“Did they get an impala?”
“Mind the bush!”
“Stuff the bush”
“You going to damage the car!”
The mother cheetah then reappeared and started calling for her clan who popped out of the grass in different places, so they had obviously duffed the hunt.
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Re: Imfolozi Browns March 2025
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The young adult cheetahs then started to approach the road again which caused further drama in our car because we were still in the wrong position and I was still dodging bushes on my reverse mission.
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The 1 young adult seemed lost or lazy as she was still on the original side of the road, but 3 of the young adults cruised past us and settled next to Hawkeyes and Sasquatch behind us.
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Re: Imfolozi Browns March 2025
The cheetahs then all crossed the road again, linked up with the lost/lazy cheetah, and settled under a bush about 30m in.
To be continued
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To be continued
Re: Imfolozi Browns March 2025
Friday 21st March continued
It was now getting closer to the 1pm book in and the cheetahs seemed to be settling in for a team family sleep in the shade, so we turned and headed back towards Mpila camp for book in and our lunchtime boerewors braai at our unit rather than Sontuli picnic site, but stopped for the odd pic of sightings while on route back to Mpila.
The 2 x 7 sleeper units at Mpila camp are slightly separated from the other units and are on their own at the end of the camp. We had number 15, which is the very last unit with no neighbours on the 1 side, and the other 7 sleeper, unit 14, wasn’t booked, so we had our own little private unfenced section which had my teeth hanging out.
After the move in mission, we started the fire immediately and relaxed on the veranda to watch the numerous animals in camp around the unit.
It was now getting closer to the 1pm book in and the cheetahs seemed to be settling in for a team family sleep in the shade, so we turned and headed back towards Mpila camp for book in and our lunchtime boerewors braai at our unit rather than Sontuli picnic site, but stopped for the odd pic of sightings while on route back to Mpila.
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The 2 x 7 sleeper units at Mpila camp are slightly separated from the other units and are on their own at the end of the camp. We had number 15, which is the very last unit with no neighbours on the 1 side, and the other 7 sleeper, unit 14, wasn’t booked, so we had our own little private unfenced section which had my teeth hanging out.
After the move in mission, we started the fire immediately and relaxed on the veranda to watch the numerous animals in camp around the unit.
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Re: Imfolozi Browns March 2025
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The wartie locals seemed rather used to people and as soon as the rolls got placed in a tray on the veranda, the warties roared in to cause some major commotion and a veranda evacuation, so I had to charge in with the normal SA lingo that all animals seem to understand.
“Voetsak, go on, Voetsak!”
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The boerewors roll lunchtime braai extended into the afternoon and then we went on a little exploration around camp to check out the safari tents which we had heard were stuffed and I can confirm that many aren’t in a rentable condition, so they must have been removed from the booking list. I personally wouldn’t book the “useable tents” either as they are now very “rustic” and should be rented out at half their current price if one is looking for value for money.
It was a rather lazy relaxing afternoon around camp and there was plenty general game cruising around all over to entertain, but just after 4pm we got together to come up with a plan for another short evening drive. I wanted to go back to where we had left the 5 cheetahs sleeping under a bush and others wanted to visit Bhejane hide since we had already seen the cheetahs, so we decided to visit the hide 1st and then see if time allowed us to explore further.
The drive to Bhejane hide produced more of the usual locals, including 3 x rhinos that were getting acquainted though some mild pushing and shoving.
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Re: Imfolozi Browns March 2025
The hide roof still hasn’t been fixed since our last visit in September 2024 and the bat “s@#t” is still full-up on the 1 side of the hide benches, but at least there was some water in the waterhole, which was to be expected though due to the large amount of rain, however there was also very little action at the hide for the same reason as there were puddles in the bush all over the place.
The hide waterhole produced some terrapins on a rock together, a water monitor checking us out from his fallen tree outpost, and then some kingfisher models, a malachite and what I think is a striped kingfisher, watching the water for movement.
The hide waterhole produced some terrapins on a rock together, a water monitor checking us out from his fallen tree outpost, and then some kingfisher models, a malachite and what I think is a striped kingfisher, watching the water for movement.
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Re: Imfolozi Browns March 2025
Once back in the Bhejane hide car park I checked the time and it was possibly doable to make to where we had seen the cheetahs earlier in the day, but it would mean that we would have to rush at any other potential sighting which is what we hate, especially with the current road conditions, therefore we decided to abandon the idea and to rather travel slowly back to camp on the same route since it was much quicker.
The drive back to camp produced more rhinos and the usual stuff, but I hit the brakes just before the Sontuli loop intersection as a smallish python entered the road in front of us and slowly crossed.
Confusion about the March gate closing time set in halfway back to camp as our book in form stated 7pm and I also remember it being 7pm during previous March trips, but some other paperwork at the unit had stated 6:30pm and our Imfolozi map book stated 6pm, so we decided to work on 6:30pm. When we arrived back in camp just before 6:30pm it was already nearly pitch dark, but the reception was still open and there seemed to be too much movement for gate closing time, (not that there’s a gate at Mpila to close), so the Cow ran into reception and got confirmation that gate closing in March is 7pm. The gate closing time in March in KNP is 6pm, so Imfolozi allows an extra hour out for the same time of the year which I found strange since it’s already dark by 6:30pm in March.
The night time braais at Mpila camp are always entertaining because there are no fences and to top it off our units outside light wasn’t working as per usual, so it was pitch black, but fortunately Albert had her portable battery powered light with her and we made a “Heath Robinson” hanging contraption for it in the tree next to the braai.
There were still numerous antelope cruising around in the dark and one never knows when the local bushpig raiders are going to come through camp. The bushpig feel nothing and will charge, so a few family members were like paranoid meerkats for every movement which added to my entertainment, however we finished braaing and eating without further action.
We parked off chatting for another hour or so and then people started to move off towards bed before the power got switched off at 10pm.
I bailed into the paint peeling mould infested shower and just as I was rinsing off the Cow sounded the pig alarm, so I roared out the shower still soaking wet, did the splits on the wet floor, recovered, checked everything was still intact, grabbed a towel, and ran to find the clan crowded around our veranda door watching a female bushpig charging around outside, so quickly sprinted to the room to throw on a pair of shorts and galloped back.
I grabbed the camera and snuck outside to get some quick pics, but the pig started giving me the hairy eyeball and then suddenly charged which caused commotion in the doorway because the clan were still in the doorway and slow to react, so we had a minor rugby impact incident in the doorway and I just managed to close the door before the pig got in the house.
Delayed shrieking and laughter followed and this didn’t impress the pig, so it moved off the veranda again, therefore I snuck out again and managed some pics before the next charge.
The drive back to camp produced more rhinos and the usual stuff, but I hit the brakes just before the Sontuli loop intersection as a smallish python entered the road in front of us and slowly crossed.
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Confusion about the March gate closing time set in halfway back to camp as our book in form stated 7pm and I also remember it being 7pm during previous March trips, but some other paperwork at the unit had stated 6:30pm and our Imfolozi map book stated 6pm, so we decided to work on 6:30pm. When we arrived back in camp just before 6:30pm it was already nearly pitch dark, but the reception was still open and there seemed to be too much movement for gate closing time, (not that there’s a gate at Mpila to close), so the Cow ran into reception and got confirmation that gate closing in March is 7pm. The gate closing time in March in KNP is 6pm, so Imfolozi allows an extra hour out for the same time of the year which I found strange since it’s already dark by 6:30pm in March.
The night time braais at Mpila camp are always entertaining because there are no fences and to top it off our units outside light wasn’t working as per usual, so it was pitch black, but fortunately Albert had her portable battery powered light with her and we made a “Heath Robinson” hanging contraption for it in the tree next to the braai.
There were still numerous antelope cruising around in the dark and one never knows when the local bushpig raiders are going to come through camp. The bushpig feel nothing and will charge, so a few family members were like paranoid meerkats for every movement which added to my entertainment, however we finished braaing and eating without further action.
We parked off chatting for another hour or so and then people started to move off towards bed before the power got switched off at 10pm.
I bailed into the paint peeling mould infested shower and just as I was rinsing off the Cow sounded the pig alarm, so I roared out the shower still soaking wet, did the splits on the wet floor, recovered, checked everything was still intact, grabbed a towel, and ran to find the clan crowded around our veranda door watching a female bushpig charging around outside, so quickly sprinted to the room to throw on a pair of shorts and galloped back.
I grabbed the camera and snuck outside to get some quick pics, but the pig started giving me the hairy eyeball and then suddenly charged which caused commotion in the doorway because the clan were still in the doorway and slow to react, so we had a minor rugby impact incident in the doorway and I just managed to close the door before the pig got in the house.
Delayed shrieking and laughter followed and this didn’t impress the pig, so it moved off the veranda again, therefore I snuck out again and managed some pics before the next charge.
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