Mkhuze Game Reserve

A Reserve A Fraction Of Hluhluwe'S Size Holding A Bird List Over Four Hundred Species, The Rare Sand Forest That Grows Almost Nowhere Else On Earth, And The Nsumo Pan Hides That Birders Travel Across Continents For With Black And White Rhino, Elephant, Leopard And The Mkhuze River'S Fig Forest, In A MALARIA AREA · Mkuze, KwaZulu-Natal

Birders fly to South Africa and drive straight past Hluhluwe to get here, which tells you most of what you need to know. Mkhuze is a fraction of the size of its famous neighbour and holds a bird list over four hundred species, in part because three habitats meet inside one fence: the Mkhuze river's fig forest, the broad Nsumo pan, and sand forest that grows on ancient dune cordons almost nowhere else on earth. The hides at Nsumo and at the waterholes are the real architecture of the place - you sit still in one for two hours and the reserve comes to you, which is the opposite of how game viewing usually works. There is big game too, black and white rhino, elephant, leopard and buffalo, in country open enough to see them, and the reserve is quiet enough that you will often have a hide to yourself. Two things to know plainly: this is a malaria area, and the pan can be low or dry in a poor rainfall year.

In northern KwaZulu-Natal off the N2, on the western edge of the iSimangaliso wetland system, Mkuze, KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa

Gate hours run roughly dawn to dusk with the usual seasonal shift, and you must be inside your camp or out of the gate before dark. SELF-DRIVE IS PERFECTLY POSSIBLE and most of the loop roads take a normal car in dry weather, but THEY ARE SAND AND GRAVEL AND SOME CLOSE AFTER RAIN - ask at the gate rather than trusting a map. The Nsumo pan hides and the waterhole hides are the point of the reserve and are open through the day. Guided drives and night drives are bookable at the camp. There is a shop with basics, fuel is at Mkuze village outside the gate, and the restaurant and camps are modest. THIS IS A MALARIA AREA - take advice before you come, which the row says because the neighbouring highland rows are not. It is about three and a half hours from Durban.

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