Tembe Elephant Park

Sand Forest And Swamp On The Mozambique Border, Holding Elephant With Some Of The Largest Tusks Left In Africa Animals That Crossed Back And Forth Through The War Years And Are Known For Being Genuinely Bad Tempered On Land Co Managed With The Tembe Community Whose Ground It Is. 4X4 ACCESS ONLY BEYOND THE GATE, And IT IS A MALARIA AREA · KwaNgwanase, KwaZulu-Natal

The elephants here have a reputation and they have earned it. Tembe sits against the Mozambique border in the far north-east corner of KwaZulu-Natal, and through the Mozambican civil war its elephants moved back and forth across a frontier where they were shot at from both sides. The survivors stayed, the fence went up in 1989, and what is inside it now is a population that includes some of the largest tuskers left in Africa and a collective temperament that rangers describe with care. The park is sand forest and swamp on Maputaland's old dune cordons, it is co-managed with the Tembe community whose land it is, and it is quiet in a way the famous reserves are not. Three practical things. Beyond the gate it is four-wheel-drive only. It is a malaria area, which the highland rows a few hours south are not. And you do not get out of the vehicle, and that instruction is about the elephants rather than a general precaution.

On the Mozambique border in far northern KwaZulu-Natal, north-east of Jozini, KwaNgwanase, KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa

GATE HOURS RUN ROUGHLY DAWN TO DUSK with a conservation fee per person and vehicle. THE CRITICAL PRACTICAL FACT IS ACCESS: BEYOND THE GATE THE PARK IS DEEP SAND AND IS FOUR-WHEEL-DRIVE ONLY - an ordinary car will be turned back or will bog down, and the park runs a transfer from the gate for visitors without one, which must be arranged in advance. There is a tented lodge and camping inside, both booked ahead, and guided drives and hides. THIS IS A MALARIA AREA - take medical advice before you come, which the highland rows a few hours south do not require. KwaNgwanase and Jozini have fuel and basic supplies. Durban is about five hours away and the park is roughly 90 km from the coast at Kosi Bay.

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