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Durban Game and Nature Reserves

The uKhahlamba-Drakensberg Park


The uKhahlamba-Drakensberg Park is in the KwaZulu-Natal province of South Africa, covering 242,813 ha (2,428 km2) of area. The park includes Royal Natal National Park, a provincial park, and covers part of the Drakensberg, the highest mountain range in Southern Africa.

The park and the adjoining Sehlabathebe National Park in the Kingdom of Lesotho are part of the Maloti-Drakensberg Park, which was first declared a World Heritage Site on 30 November 2000. It is described by UNESCO as having "exceptional natural beauty in its soaring basaltic buttresses, incisive dramatic cutbacks, and golden sandstone ramparts... the site’s diversity of habitats protects a high level of endemic and globally threatened species, especially birds and plants... [and it] also contains many caves and rock-shelters with the largest and most concentrated group of paintings in Africa south of the Sahara".
Plans to boost tourism in the area include a long-awaited cable car project by the KZN Economic Development, Tourism and Environmental Affairs Department.

Fauna

The Drakensberg mountain range is characterized by a high level of endemism of both invertebrates and vertebrates.

Conservation

Most of the higher South African parts of the Drakensberg mountain range have been designated as game reserves or wilderness areas. The uKhahlamba-Drakensberg Park is also in the List of Wetlands of International Importance (under the Ramsar Convention). Adjacent to the park is the Cathkin Estates Conservation and Wildlife Sanctuary, which spans 1,044 ha (10 km2) of virgin grassland and represents the largest privately owned game park in the KwaZulu-Natal Drakensberg region.
Address: Mkhomazi Wilderness area, Drakensberg, 3257

uMkhuze Game Reserve


uMkhuze Game Reserve is situated in Northern Zululand, roughly 335 km from Durban. The reserve was established on 15 February 1912 and is 40 000 ha in extent. Today it forms part of the iSimangaliso Wetland Park.

Mkhuze in the iSimangaliso Wetland Park is well known for its excellent birding opportunities with at least 400 species present, but that's not all. This KwaZulu-Natal nature reserve offers great contrasts and therefore a wide range of wildlife habitats.
Animals present in the reserve include Elephant, Black and White Rhino, Wild Dog, Hippo and Blue Wildebeest, Giraffe, Eland and Kudu plus many other antelope species. Rarer animals that live in the reserve include Cheetah, Leopard, Hyena and Suni.

Mkuze is made up of mostly dry and flat landscapes which are broken by ancient dunes that have turned into sandy ridges. You'll also find rare sand forest, riverine forest, swamps and acacia savannah leading to the Lebombo Mountains in the west.

Accommodation is mainly at Mantuma which offers a variety of options including chalets, cottages, rest huts and campsites. There is also the Nhlonhlela Bush Camp which has an 8-bed lodge.
Gate entry times: Summer (1 October – 31 March) 05:00 – 19:00, Winter (1 April – 30 September) 06:00 – 18:00. These times are strictly enforced.

Getting there: From the south, the turn-off to the uMkhuze Game Reserve is signposted 35 km north of Hluhluwe. From this point, the road is gravel. Approximately 15 km further turn right onto another signposted road through the Lebombo mountains. The entrance is 10 km along this road and the route is clearly signposted.

Visitors from the north should take the road through Mkuze Village, which is 18 km from the entrance gate and 28 km from Mantuma camp. This road is well signposted.
Address: UMkhuze Game Reserve, Mkuze
Phone: 035 590 1633
Website: www.kznwildlife.com

Ithala Game Reserve


Ithala Game Reserve is situated in 290 km2 of rugged, mountainous thornveld, about 400 km north of Durban, in northern KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa. It is one of the youngest game parks in South Africa. The altitude varies from 400 m along the Phongolo River to 1,450 m along the Ngotshe Mountain escarpment. The reserve consequently encompasses a great variation of terrain, from densely vegetated river valleys and lowveld to high-lying grassland plateaus, mountain ridges and cliff faces.

Game

Grazers include Impala, Red hartebeest, Tsessebe, Blue wildebeest, Eland and Reedbuck. With the exception of Reedbuck, they been observed to produce young seasonally around November to December in Ithala, when ample green forage is available. The browsers include duiker, Bushbuck, Nyala, Kudu and Giraffe, which deliver their young at any time of the year.
Address: 4 Klein St, Louwsburg, 3150
Area: 290 km²
Phone: 034 983 2540
Established: 1973
Website: www.ithala.info


Hluhluwe–Imfolozi Park


Hluhluwe–Imfolozi Park, formerly Hluhluwe–Umfolozi Game Reserve, is the oldest proclaimed nature reserve in Africa. It consists of 960 km² (96,000 ha) of hilly topography 280 kilometres (170 mi) north of Durban in central Zululand, KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa and is known for its rich wildlife and conservation efforts.The park is the only state-run park in KwaZulu-Natal where each of the big five game animals can be found. Due to conservation efforts, the park now has the largest population of white rhino in the world. However, the rhinos and the park's wilderness areas are now threatened by plans to build an open-cast coal mine right on the park's border, a plan that a growing coalition of organisations is fighting to stop.

History
Throughout the park there are many signs of Stone Age settlements. The area was originally a royal hunting ground for the Zulu kingdom, but was established as a park in 1895. The Umfolozi and Hluhluwe reserves were established primarily to protect the white rhinoceros, then on the endangered species list.The area has always been a haven for animals as tsetse flies carrying the nagana disease are common, which protected the area from hunters in 
the colonial era. However, as the Zululand areas was settled by European farmers the game was blamed for the prevalence of the tsetse fly and the reserves became experimental areas in the efforts to eradicate the fly. Farmers called for the slaughter of game and about 100,000 animals were killed in the reserve before the introduction of DDT spraying in 1945 solved the problem. However, white rhinoceros were not targeted and today a population of about 1000 is maintained. On April 30, 1995, the then President Nelson Mandela visited the then Hluhluwe Game Reserve to celebrate the park's centenary. Hluhluwe–Imfolozi was originally three separate reserves that joined under its current title in 1989.

Geography and climate

The park is located in the province of KwaZulu-Natal on the east coast of South Africa. The park is closest to the town of Mtubatuba , Hluhluwe village and Hlabisa village. The geography of the area differs from the north, or Hluhluwe area, to the south, or Umfolozi area. Hluhluwe–Imfolozi Park is partly in a low-risk malaria area.

Umfolozi

This area is situated between the two Umfolozi Rivers where they divide into the Mfolozi emnyama ('Black Umfolozi') to the north and the Mfolozi emhlophe ('White Umfolozi') to the south. This area is to the south of the park and is generally hot in summer, and mild to cool in winter, although cold spells do occur. The topography in the Umfolozi section ranges from the lowlands of the Umfolozi River beds to steep hilly country, which includes some wide and deep valleys. Habitats in this area are primarily grasslands, which extend into acacia savannah and woodlands.

Hluhluwe

The Hluhluwe region has hilly topography where altitudes range from 80 to 540 metres (260 to 1,770 ft) above sea level. The high ridges support coastal scarp forests in a well-watered region with valley bushveld at lower levels.The north of the park is more rugged and mountainous with forests and grasslands and is known as the Hluhluwe area, while the Umfolozi area is found to the south near the Black and White Umfolozi rivers where there is open savannah.
Area: 960 km²
Phone: 033 845 1999
Established: April 30, 1895


Lake St. Lucia


Lake St Lucia (Lake Saint Lucia) is an estuarine lake system in northern KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa. It is the largest estuarine lake in Southern Africa, covering an area of approximately 350 km 2, and falls within the iSimangaliso Wetland Park (a World Heritage Site). The lake was named Santa Lucia by Manuel Perestrerello on 13 December 1575, the day of the feast of Saint Lucy.[1] It was later renamed to St. Lucia. St Lucia Lake harbours rich fauna, including crocodiles, hippopotami, various birds and invertebrates.

Flora

More than 2,180 species of flowering plants have been documented in the St Lucia lake system.