LAKES AND WILDLIFE BUSH LODGE SAFARI
(Six day, self catering)

DAY ONE
NHLONHLELA BUSH LODGE
MKHUZE GAME RESERVE
Stocking up on supplies for outdoor living with lots of fresh tropical fruit and the tipple of your choice, drive to Mkhuze Game Reserve. During the formalities at Mantuma Camp, book the field ranger who will accompany you on your bush walks. Drive through to Nhlonhlela Bush Lodge set on the cliffs overlooking Nhlonhlela pan. Use the afternoon to relax after your journey and enjoy the lodge`s beautiful surroundings and the animals and birds that inhabit the pan and the surrounding bush.

DAY TWO
NHLONHLELA BUSH LODGE
MKHUZE GAME RESERVE
Rising with the sun, meet your field ranger guide for the morning and walk from the camp, or drive to a selected area. Your guide is highly trained and knowledgeable and will enhance your experience. Make sure you use an insect repellent on your feet, legs and clothing to keep ticks and mosquitoes at bay. Lunch on your balcony looking out over the pan. As it starts to cool off in the afternoon take a drive along some of the game viewing roads where you can visit one of Mkhuze`s game viewing hides which offer a view into the secret lives of the birds and animals in this fascinating reserve and where photographic opportunities are incomparable.

DAY THREE
LAKE BHANGAZI BUSH LODGE
THE GREATER ST LUCIA WETLAND PARK
Rising early, pack your vehicle and before leaving this beautiful park visit the KwaJobe Cultural Village where you can experience the lives and artifacts of these Zulu people. As you drive down the N2 via Hluhluwe and Mtubatuba, use the opportunity to restock your supplies of fruit and vegetables from the well stocked official roadside stalls. Make your way to St Lucia Estuary and turn north to Cape Vidal, where at Cape Vidal office you complete the formalities.  The opportunities at Lake Bhangazi are endless, where, on any single day it is possible to see hippos, crocodiles, buffalo, elephants, whales on their northern migration, dolphins and an extraordinary variety of water, forest and grassland birds. Spend the afternoon on the self guided walking trails which meander through wetlands and forests along the lake shoreline.

DAY FOUR
LAKE BHANGAZI BUSH LODGE
THE GREATER ST LUCIA WETLAND PARK
Waking early, go on a walk with the field ranger through the Tewate wilderness to the shoreline of Lake St Lucia. Take a packed brunch and suitable drinks which you can enjoy at a scenic spot along the way. This World Heritage Site offers a wonderfully unique birding and game viewing experience set against the backdrop of the lake and ocean. Returning to the bush lodge in the heat of the day, drive through to Cape Vidal and cool off in the sparkling Indian Ocean. Explore the Cape Vidal coastline with its lush dune forests with  unique bird life and small animals like samango monkeys and red duiker.
Enjoy a leisurely evening watching the wildlife on Lake Bhangazi from the deck at the lodge.
 

DAY FIVE
GQOYENI BUSH LODGE
IMFOLOZI GAME RESERVE
Pack early and make your way back to St Lucia. Visit the Crocodile Centre which boasts the three African croc species, the American alligator as well as most of the KwaZulu-Natal snake species. Here you can have breakfast in the restaurant overlooking the croc enclosures. Later in the morning, make your way to the jetty at the Mfolozi river bridge and board the St Lucia river boat for a trip through the southern end of Lake St Lucia with close-up views of hippo pods, crocodiles and fish eagles in the mangroves that line the waterways. Head back inland through Mtubatuba and take the Nongoma road to enter Hluhluwe Imfolozi Park through the Nyalazi gate.

On your way to Mpila Camp to book in to your bush lodge, call in at the Centenary Capture Centre and spend some time in the museum of game capture and visit the capture pens where wild animals are held and habituated for translocation and sale. After booking in at Mpila, make your way along the Sontuli loop road to Gqoyeni Bush Lodge on the banks of the Black Mfolozi river. Relax for the evening in the magnificent surroundings of your camp in the heart of big five country.

DAY SIX
GQOYENI BUSH LODGE
IMFOLOZI GAME RESERVE
An early start with the field ranger who will guide you through this, the oldest game reserve in Africa. White rhino, elephant, buffalo and lion abound on the plains through which the Black Mfolozi flows as well as giraffe, zebra, wildebeest and many antelope species. Your walk through the aromatic African bush is punctuated by the repeated calls of the emerald spotted wood dove as it morns its lost family and its heart goes ‘du, du, du’ according to Zulu folklore. Lunch on your balcony and laze in the noon heat as a procession of animals make their way to the river to drink. An afternoon game drive on one of the loop roads will complete your day. Stop frequently at key points such as waterholes, river crossings and clumps of thorn trees and just look and listen and you will be rewarded with wonderful memories to draw on back in the workaday world.