|
The Royal National Park
The Royal National Park
in the northern Darkensberg in KwaZulu-Natal features magnificent mountain scenery, with the sentinel and the Eastern Buttress, two mountains flanking a huge natural amphitheatre of 500 m high stretching for five km. The Tugela River plunges over its rim in three leaps to the valleys below from where it continues its 330 km journey to the Indian Ocean. There are also black wildebeest, various species of buck and baboon and many botanical treasures.
Activities
Mountain scenery, rock paintings, Sentinel Drive, wilderness areas, day walks, overnight trails and trot fishing.
 The Hluhluwe-Umfolozi Park
The Hluhluwe-Umfolozi Park is famous for accomplishing what is probably one of South Africa’s greatest conservation success stories: saving the white rhino from extinction. At the time when Umfolozi was proclaimed a reserve area for game, in 1895, the white rhino probably numbered only about 50 animals worldwide. Due to the protection they enjoyed here, their numbers have picked up considerably, and more than 4 000 have already been translocated to other conservation areas in Africa and elsewhere.
Activities
Big game watching, self-guided auto trails and walks, guided walks, wilderness trails, backpacking, game hides, guided night drives, picnics, Mumbeni craft market and Dumazulu Village.
Itala Game Reserve
 Itala Game Reserve
has been called one of South Africa’s best kept secrets. It lies in the extreme north of
KwaZulu-Natal and is a top conservation area. Here you will find KZN’s only Tsessbe population, a reddish-brown relation to the bontebok and
blesbok, with the reputation of being the fastest antelope over short distance, with speeds of up to d100 km/h. The reserve has 80 mammal species, including four of the Big Five (there are no lions), as well as over 320 bird species.
Activities
Visitors can enjoy walking trails, game drives, picnicking and bird-watching.
The reserve has one of the flagship camps of the Natal Parks,
Ntshodwe, as well as bush camps and lodges.
Greater St. Lucia Wetland Park
 Greater St Lucia Wetland Park is the third largest park in South Africa, covering 25 000 ha of conservation areas including water, reed-covered islands, forested dunes, woodlands and papyrus swamps. Towering dunes on the eastern shores, said to be the largest vegetated dunes in the world, form a barrier between the lake and the ocean. The rich vegetation draws to it an incomparable quantity of wildlife and birds, such as pelicans, terns, flamingoes, crocodiles, turtles and other species of wildlife. The main lake is 300 sq km, and is home to about 800 hippos and 1 200 crocodiles, apart from over 120 species of fish.
Activities
Angling, birding, lunch trips, snorkeling and diving. There are also trails for hikers. Marine fossils abound in False Bay Park.
|
