In the Picture: Tembe Elephant Park

Ryan Tippet, senior instructor at Bhejane Nature Training and a FGASA Level 3 guide is passionate about the Tembe Elephant Park! Below his view on this gem of KZN North. 

“Tembe Elephant Park is an altogether different experience from the others. It is an expanse of dense sub-tropical woodland, sand forest and swamp that carries a distinct wilderness feel. Entrance to the park is kept to a daily limit and a four wheel drive vehicle is essential. This means that one often gets do drive around and not have to see another soul the entire day. The reserve lies adjacent to the Mozambique border and has a hot and humid climate. The thing on most people’s minds when they arrive at Tembe is the elephants. These herds are the last naturally occurring elephants in Kwazulu natal. They are also unusually large elephants and are amongst the biggest in the world. As if this wasn’t enough, some of the older bulls are now also amongst the biggest tuskers in Africa. To see one of these immense bull elephants is a truly wonderful experience. There are currently around 250 elephants in the park and the chances of seeing them are high. You need a lot of luck, however to lay eyes on one of the giant bulls. They are usually seen alone and are often out of sight in the wilderness areas of the park. Tembe is not only notable for its elephants; it is in fact home to all of the big five. There is a healthy lion population and they are often seen. The buffalo herds tend to confine themselves to the swamps that run up the eastern flank of the reserve. They are not fond of the dense, dry woodlands and forests that span most of the reserve due to the paucity of water. There are good numbers of both black and white rhinos and Tembe is a key reserve in their continued fight for survival. The often shy black rhinos are seen regularly and they seldom fail to entertain with their quick tempers and nervous temperament. The last of the big five is the one you’re the least likely to see, the leopard. They are around but remain elusive. The dense bush in the reserve does not help in spotting them either. Since a couple of years, also Wild Dog roam free in the park. I always associate Tembe with the chance to see something different, rare or unusual. On previous visits I’ve seen Side-striped Jackal, Tonga Red Squirrel, Selous’ Mongoose, Striped Polecat and African Civet. Other mammals that are often seen include Nyala, Kudu, Giraffe, Samango Monkey, Blue Wildebeest, Water Buck and Bushbuck amongst others. Tembe’s sub-tropical bushveld is also home to several bird species close to the southern limits of their distribution. These include Retz’s Helmet Shrike, Barred Owlet, Plain-backed Sunbird, Woodward’s Batis and Bat Hawk. The birding is very rewarding and the majority of the regions ‘specials’ can be seen here. The opportunity to view game amongst patches of forest containing huge trees and colossal termite mounds, gives you an entirely different perspective of the bush, indeed one you won’t find anywhere else in South Africa.” Northern KwaZulu Natal can definitely be considered as an absolute mecca for nature guiding!

Below 10 photos from a futile attempt to catch at least some of the beauty. Click on the photo for an enlargement.

White Rhino on morning game drive

Elephant at sunset

Herd of buffalo approaching through the savanna

Parade of elephants

Elephant youngster quenching its thirst

Grumpy old fella

Beauty Queen

Isilo, said to be the biggest tusker in the Southern Hemisphere

Isilo once again

And Isilo again

In The Picture: The Eastern Shores of the iSimangaliso Wetland Park

Todays 'In The Picture' features one of the gems of the KZN North Region: the iSimangaliso Wetland Park! The iSimangaliso Wetland Park is the ‘new’ name for the Greater St. Lucia Wetland Park, and is considered the oldest game reserve in South Africa, being established in 1895. In December 1999 it became South Africa’s first Natural World Heritage Site. It got this title for a reason: The 332.000 hectare park, stretching from just South of the town of St. Lucia all the way up to Mozambique, contains three major lake systems, 8 interlinking ecosystems, 700 year old fishing traditions, most of South Africa’s remaining swamp forests, Africa’s largest estuarine system, 526 bird species and 25.000 year old coastal dunes – amongst the highest in the world. It is a park where one can see elephants and whales or turtles in one day, where one can dive in the morning, go on game drive in the afternoon, and go on a turtle walk on the beach in the evening.

That might sound all nice and well, but in reality it is still very much a park in development. But in this fact lies the beauty in my opinion. We can see this development, we can be a part of it. Only 18 years ago they started to remove all 14.000 hectare of alien pine trees, the stumps of which can still be seen in some places. We can see them rotting away, and we can see new vegetation over successive generations. Elephants, cheetah, wild dog etc have been reintroduced again to different sections of the park, and new tourist roads are continuously being built to make it more accessible for tourists. And although it is officially a 332.000 hectare big single protected area, it is currently still ‘divided’ by wilderness areas, inaccessible areas, and stretches of disputed community land, resulting in the fact that it has multiple sections with different entrance gates. What it comes down to: If you enter the iSimangaliso Wetland Park in Mkhuze, don’t think you’re gonna be able to drive to the beach and see whales, but you have a good chance of seeing cheetah and elephant. If you enter the park at Kosi Bay, you might not see any mammals but in the right season you might see loggerhead and leatherback turtles. So if you plan a visit, think about what you would like to do and see, and then see which section of the park can meet your needs and deliver your wishes. Because of this we have decide to make this blog post a bit of a sequel. In various weeks I would like to show you the different sections in a photo essay, which will allow you to make an informed decision as to which section of the park you would like to visit, if not all ;-)

For today, I would like to show you the ‘Eastern Shores’ of the Park. This section lies to the East of the Lake St. Lucia (hence the name), and in turn has the Indian Ocean on its East side. The Eastern Shores is the most popular section for bush & beach lovers, as a typical day here includes a game drive in the morning, lunch and a few hours on the beach at Cape Vidal, and then a afternoon game drive back to St. Lucia town. Highlights include:

Superb landscapes & sweeping vistas of the wetland savanna, which looks like no other savanna in South Africa. In fact, the openness of vast grasslands with only here and there a tree looks more like the classic East African Savanna, than like the usual ‘more bushy’ South African savanna.

[Typical Landscape]

Catalina Bay is a section of the St. Lucia lake, and is always worth a visit for bird lovers. Plenty of crocodile and hippo can be seen there too.

[Catalina Bay]

Chances of seeing elephant, cheetah, wild dog and lions here are remote to zero, as the latter three don’t occur here yet, and the elephants only cross the lake a couple of times a year to explore the Eastern Shores. The other days of the year one can find them on the Western Shores. However, the Eastern Shores has a large population of disease free buffalo which are often encountered, as are the rhino’s. For me one of the greatest assets are the magnificent kudu often found here out in the open. They have huge horns, and also the waterbuck are very impressive. The smaller relative of the Waterbuck, the Southern Reedbuck is very common here and easily observed. With a bit of luck one might encounter one of the many leopards in the area.

[Greater Kudu]

[Southern Reedbuck]

[Leopard]

The narrow strip of coastal forest running along the coastal dunes are home to the Sykes’ (or Samango) Monkey, which are quite habituated to humans (and photographers!).

[Sykes’ Monkey]

Once one drives over the dunes to visit Mission Rocks or Cape Vidal, a complete new world opens up. Beautiful beaches, both sandy and rocky, are great for fishing, snorkeling, surfing, swimming, sunbathing and of course photography. It is amazing how much colourful life lives on those rocks, and for the photographer patient enough hermit crabs come out of their shell, and ghost crabs out of their burrows. It can be really rewarding to sit dead still for a while.

Talking about little critters, the herpetofauna is great here to, thanks to the high diversity of ecosystems, of which most are relatively wet. For the photographer with a keen eye and the right equipment in terms of flashes, softboxes, tripods and remote releases, little frogs and chameleons are happy to pose and can yield really nice photos.

Enough for today, next month more about the Western Shores of the iSimangaliso Wetland Park.

Kind Regards,

Nick van de Wiel