Nselweni For Kerry’s 30th

It seems that Nselweni has fast become the venue of choice for big celebrations in our family. A few years ago my mom held her 60th here and, since my sister sadly missed it, she decided to host part of her all-African 30th birthday adventure in the same camp.

For the majority of the party group, the adventure began in Mozambique where they spent the days on the beach, sipping R&Rs, and going for the odd dive. Sadly Sharon and I were unable to make this leg of the adventure and therefore met up with the group on Thursday morning at Nselweni.

We arrived at the Nyalazi gate (the main iMfolozi entrance) at 7am and took a leisurely drive to the Centenary Center where Emma got an opportunity to stretch her legs. We browsed the curios and then meandered through the small museum showing how the park had rehabilitated the southern-white rhino in years gone by. The center is definitely worth a visit and something that I always find inspiring due to the current plague of rhino poaching in Southern Africa.

From the Centenary Center we headed straight to Nselweni bush camp, hoping to meet up with our family and settle into our room. Sadly however everyone was out on game drives, and the camp staff were a little sticky about letting us unpack before the 2pm check in. We therefore headed back out towards Mpila, in the hope of either running into some lion, or the rest of the party group.

We stopped briefly at Mpila for a cold drink and the mandatory checking of the sightings board. It revealed some lion just 2 kilometers out of camp, and so we headed off in that general direction. We didn’t however make it that far as we ran into the rest of our crew, and therefore headed back to Nselweni where Kerry reluctantly handed me back my Fortuner keys as she’d borrowed it for the Mozambique leg.

Back in camp we unpacked the car and then gathered on the deck for a lunch of hot dogs, cold meats, and salad. I then relaxed on the deck, overlooking the river, while the rest of the crew headed off for their afternoon naps. The river was kind to me as I enjoyed the company of elephants playing in the water, nyala bulls fighting, baboons, kingfishers, and more.

As the afternoon approached I was slowly joined by others on the deck, until everyone had returned and we headed out for our 3pm drive. The chosen route was a relaxed drive to point 17 (skipping Sontuli since sightings had apparently been poor) in the hope of finding the resident cheetah and her 3 cubs. Sadly it was not to be, so we relaxed and enjoyed a beer at one of the many viewpoints overlooking the river instead.

At this stage it was getting late so we turned around and headed back to camp. It had been a relatively quiet drive but as we neared Mpila, and the light was beginning to fade, we came across 4 lion. Although they were only 30 odd meters off the road, it was a tough sighting due to the thick bush between us. That said they were clearly visible from one spot, but you had to wait your turn to enjoy it.

Back at Nselweni we fired up the braais and cooked two beautiful beef fillets for dinner. The hyenas, obviously enjoying the smell, promptly joined us for the evening – although they did seem to favour Carla’s tent, much to her disgust. The youngsters, a group Sharon and I are clearly no longer members of, sat drinking by the fire well into the night while the rest of us headed off for a good night’s rest.

The next morning we were up by 5am, ready to head back into the bush. We enjoyed a quick rusk on the deck alongside a hot cup of coffee, and then climbed back into the cars. This time we decided to head for Bhejane hide which has always been a favourite spot of ours. Amazingly, despite the weather being a lot cooler than the previous day, game viewing was still slow.

We spent 30 minutes in Bhejane hide before deciding to head back to Nselweni for an early lunch. On route we stopped briefly at Mpila to pick up a few odds and ends from the shop. This turned out to be a great move as we got chatting to several other visitors and quickly heard about a cheetah just 100 meters outside of camp. We clambered back into the vehicles and headed out in force, in search of the cat.

Thankfully the cheetah was still there and we got to watch it wondering carelessly through the bush, until it was virtually on the lawns of the Mpila chalets. It was amazing to think that people were sitting on their balconies, mere meters from the cat, without any knowledge of it’s presence. It just goes to show how careful you need to be in the bush.

Back in camp I had an intense feeling of deja vu – cold meat rolls for lunch, and then everyone heading off for naps. I in turn headed back to my chair on the deck and listened to the sounds of the African bush over an ice cold beer.

Having learned the previous day that time in the bush passes quickly, we climbed into our cars slightly earlier for the afternoon drive. We then headed further west into the park, stopping this time at the Mphafa hide where lion had been previously sighted. It never ceases to amaze me how you walk 50 odd meters, unprotected, through the bush to reach this hide. Sadly the lion were nowhere to be seen, but maybe that was a  good thing?

We continued on around one of the larger loop roads, before heading back to camp for our evening braai. Game viewing was slow, but when you’re in the bush surrounded by Africa’s sights and sounds, there’s always something to enjoy. In this instance it once again appeared on our way home when we came across Africa’s favourite roadblock, elephants.

It was one certainly of the largest herds I’ve seen, with the elephants spread out onto the hills as far as the eye could see in all directions. In front of us was a particularly cocky youngster who insisted on pushing us backwards for several hundred meters, as the light faded. Unperturbed we let him have his way until he eventually got bored and moved off into the bush. We quickly snuck by and continued on to Nselweni.

Arriving in camp after dark we lit the fires, and then enjoyed a fantastic dinner of chicken kebabs, salads and potato bake. Sharon, Emma and I then drifted off to bed, again leaving the younger generation drinking around the fire.

Being Halloween this walk back to our chalet was not uneventful. Warwick had cunningly hidden himself en route, donned with a scary mask. As we rounded the first corner to our chalet he jumped out with an almighty yell. I can proudly say that I got only the slightest of frights. Later that evening, while relaxing in bed, Sharon and I got to hear his next prank. And judging from the yells it was somewhat scarier than his first attempt on us. So go Warwick!

The next morning we once again headed out for an early drive, knowing we had to be out of camp at 10am. This time we opted to do Sontuli loop as it allowed us to get in some good viewing while still making it back to camp by 10am. We had a quick breakfast, consisting of coffee and rusks at the picnic sight, and then rushed to Bhejane hide in the hope of seeing some lion. It was not to be, although we did see some fantastic rhino as well as a lot of Emma’s favourite animal, giraffes.

Back at camp we hurriedly packed the cars and said our goodbyes. A few of the other families headed off for drives while Sharon and I headed straight for the gate, knowing that Emma had had enough long stints in the car and needed to get home. It was another fantastic trip to Nselweni and iMfolozi, this time for Kerry’s 30th, and yet another reminder of just how lucky we are to live in Africa.