First Visit to Hluhluwe-iMfolozi Game Reserve

The slideshow above features photos taken on the first Gandhi Satyagraha Tour of South Africa one day optional excursion from Umhlanga Rocks, Durban to Hluhluwe-iMfolozi Game Reserve.

The Hluhluwe-iMfolozi Game Reserve is situated on the east coast of South Africa; it’s the oldest game and nature reserve in KwaZulu Natal, in central Zululand.  The game reserve features the Big 5, it’s where King Shaka used to hunt and known as his royal hunting grounds. It has the largest population of the white rhino in the world. Most of the rhino’s in zoos and other safari reserves come from the Hluhluwe-iMfolozi Game Reserve.  This reserve was established as a safari park in 1895 and the closest city is Durban. It is three and a half hours outside of Durban and about one hour from the Mozambique boarder.  President Mandela visited the park in 1995 when he was the leader of the country on the park’s 100th anniversary. 

Upon arrival, I noticed an obelisk structure off to the side of the Central Memorial Gate entrance of the game reserve; I walked over to discover a granite monument known as “Peace Pillars’ with a Hindu Om Universal Prayer inscribed into the tall obelisk shaped structure.  It was unveiled by Zulu King Goodwill Zwelithini on December 14, 2011.  There are 4 sides to the granite Peace Pillar with an inspirational inscription on each side.

A typo on the inscription was evident at the unveiling of the Peace Pillar, but the decision to unveil it anyway was made and the blunder could peacefully be fixed after the fact without making anyone wrong.  When an editor tried to make it out an example of incompetence and a disgrace and called for a formal apology, the man (Ian Player) whose name and quote contained the error released a public statement.  “Everyone can make mistakes like this.  I did not take umbrage and don’t think an apology is necessary for something so trivial.”  Ian Player.

As we entered the game reserve we immediately began spotting wildlife.   We had an amazing encounter with a pride of lions making their way down to the lowlands of the Umfolozi River beds.

We spot a vulture’s nest, high in the tree, with two baby vultures in the nest as we passed the Umfolozi River, steep hills, wide and deep valleys, grasslands and woodlands.  The park has a diverse variety of flora and shrub species.  We were enjoying the magnificent views, like scenes from the movie, “Out of Africa.”  

We spotted a large troop of baboons, elephants (eli’s), a herd of the African Cape Buffalo, a tower of giraffes, a family of zebra’s (the African sacred horse) grazing on the grass, bush pigs, a herd of impala, nyala, elands, a crush of rhino, and warthogs.

Stunning Zulu’s practicing a traditional dance and chant at a local community center in South Africa close to the Mozambique boarder. We happen to spot the group as we were driving down the road after leaving the Hluhluwe–iMfolozi Safari Game Reserve on our way back to Durban.  Zulu Traditional Dance Blog

Lynnea Bylund is managing director of Gandhi Legacy Tours, Director of Gandhi Worldwide Education Institute, founder of Catalyst House and has nearly three decades of experience in administration, marketing and business development. She was a nationally recognized spokeswoman for the emerging alternative video and information delivery industries. She has a degree in holistic health-nutrition from the legendary and controversial health educator and activist Dr. Kurt Donsbach, she is the founder of two not-for-profit small business-based wireless trade associations and has lobbied on Capitol Hill and at the FCC where she has spoken out strongly against the cable TV monopoly, illegal spectrum warehousing and ill-conceived congressional schemes to auction our nation’s precious airwaves to the highest bidder.

Ms. Bylund is a founder and former CEO of a Washington DC telecommunications consulting and management company with holdings in several operating and developmental wireless communications systems and companies. In 1995 Lynnea became the first female in the world to be awarded a Broadband PCS operating permit – she was one of only 18 winners, along with Sprint, AT&T, and Verizon in the biggest cash auction in world history, raising a whopping $7.7 billion. Lynnea also spear-headed the successful effort to launch the first cable TV network in the South Pacific islands.
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