Archive for Activities

Our Accommodation in Hluhluwe!

For those of you who haven’t found this post via the main website of our Hluhluwe accommodation, this is what you have to look forward to when you book at Umkhumbi Lodge.

game animals in african bush

First you are greeted by the Nyala family as you drive through the gate

 

A walk along a winding path (lit by fairy nights at light) leads to your home from home. And don’t worry about carrying your bags – we can do that for you!

Cheap accommodation near game reserve, south africa

All our rooms are located in the African bush

With their high ceilings and spacious size you’ll wish you lived here permanently!

Educational family holiday accommodation

Lounge on a luxurious kingsize bed!

safari holiday in south africa

Or choose one of our twin rooms and share the African experience

 

Don’t want to mingle with the other guests of an evening?

South african bush accommodation

Each room has a private veranda to allow you to watch our animals roaming in the bush.

 

When you’re sitting on your veranda be sure to keep an eye out for our hand-reared impala. She is all grown up now, but still likes to stay close to the houses when she is not playing with the nyala babies.

hluhluwe accommodation conservation south africa, baby impala

Baby Bella was very demanding as a little one, she let you know when it was dinnertime by squeaking... loudly!

 

Of course there are other things to do; such as luxuriate in your ensuite bathroom.

accommodation in south africa with ensuite bathroom near safari

All of our rooms are ensuite with bath and separate shower

 

When you do decide to venture to the lapa you wont be disappointed by the sunsets…

south africa best sundowners

The lapa, for breakfast, dinner, sundowners and stories around the campfire

hluhluwe accommodation, view at sunset

Pull up a pew and watch the sun paint the sky with colours

South africa, colourful sunset

Nothing beats the colours in an African sunset

taking pictures of South african sunset

Time to snap a few pictures to show to those back home

 

Not interested in the breathtaking sunsets?

relaxing treetop bar, south africa, accommodation, hluhluwe

Relax at the bar and chat to Anton and Emma your hosts

pink cocktail with lemon on dark background

Try one of our "canefire" cocktails - for the sweet toothed!

relax on the comfortable seat in the lounge with a view, south africa, accommodation

Or relax on the comfy chairs with a good book as the sun goes down

 

If you prefer, we can get the fire started before dinner so you can while away the hours there.

south african bush accommodation, firepit

Nothing truly beats "African bush TV"

night time accommodation in south africa

The lapa at night - also a good place to see the stars

 

Dinner is a 3 course meal with a choice of main dishes and includes table salad.

hluhluwe accommodation fine dining

It's all so good, how to choose?

 

You can eat on your own or if you prefer, on one table with the other guests, or even your host.

make new friends on holiday in south africa

Making new friends over fantastic food

 

After dinner retire to your room and dream of the over twenty different South African holiday activities within an hours drive of Umkhumbi Lodge, Hluhluwe.

 

Nocturnal bush baby, south africa, accommodation

Keep an eye out for the cute bushbabies who will come down to your veranda to eat the moths fluttering around the lights

 

See you soon!

The Velvet Gecko

At Umkhumbi lodge we are proud to say that each room has a resident Velvet gecko (they stay outside, don’t worry!) The Velvet gecko is on the IUCN list due to it’s rarity. One species of the Velvet gecko is so rare that it was only recently rediscovered!

They are larger than the non-indigenous Tropical house geckos that are so prominent here in South Africa. They have been known to grow up to 120mm in length (and that is just the body, add the tail on as well and you have a fairly substantial portion of gecko!).

 

Why is a velvet gecko called a vevlet gecko?

The scales of the Velvet Gecko overlap slightly giving it an almost velvet-like feel

 

So, I hear you ask, if they are so big; How on Earth do they run up the walls? How do they not fall off the ceiling?

Well, each toe is covered with large, wide pads. These pads are covered with tiny little hairs, shorter than 2 diameters of a human hair(1) and much thinner, it is these hairs that allow geckos to run up even the smoothest surface. Each of these hairs is subject to a weak molecular attraction – Van Der Waals theory – which gives geckos the ability to be able to hang from a wall by just one fingertip. This adhesive effect is very strong and the tiny hairs only become detached by changing their angle (almost like velcro).

 

How do geckos stick to the wall?

The texture of a geckos 'fingerprint' helps them stick to even the smoothest of surfaces.

 

For more information about the discovery, read this and this from the Lewis & Clark College, the University of California at Berkeley, the University of California at Santa Barbara, and Stanford University.

Tourism KZN – Press Trip

It was with heavy hearts last week that we said goodbye to 8 of our guests who came to Umkhumbi Lodge to film the latest promotional video for Tourism KZN.

From Kayaking with crocs, spa treatments, and even jumping off of a football stadium roof – there was plenty to film!

Our film stars were:

Peter from South African Airways (SAA).

Peter doing his croc-dundee impression before kayaking in St Lucia

 

Samantha from Travel2.

Snuggling Fluffy at Umkhumbi Lodge

 

Yaksha from Thomas Cook.

First time snorkeller Yaksha was amazed by the all fish at Kosi Bay!

 

Lindsey from TUI (Thompsons).

Weeeeeee! Lindsey and Peter both went for a big swing in Durban!

Bruce from Travel Counsellors.

Queue the baywatch music as Bruce rocks up at the beach!

 

Claire from TTG (Travel Trade Gazette).

Claire takes a stroll in the shade of the palms at Kosi Bay

 

our Cameraman Blair “The Kiwi”

Marvelling at the muscles in the African elephants trunk

 

And of course Storm from Tourism KZN who was responsible for unleashing this motley crew on KwaZulu Natal.

Jumping for joy! (no she didn't fall off)

 

 

Roger and Pat De La Harpe Photography Course

Day 1

Lets talk cameras!

Everyone looked a little confused at the beginning of the course

A big thanks to African Imagery for hosting their recent photo workshop with us here at Umkhumbi Lodge in Hluhluwe.

Well, ok, not exactly dinosaurs, but pretty close! Today was spent at Zulu Croc – the crocodile centre a mere 5 minute drive from Umkhumbi Lodge.

Everyone was a bit shy at first and stayed as a group around a single enclosure – it wasn’t long however until everyone was lying on the ground trying to get some nice crocodile close-ups through the fences.

The crocs were very considerate and sat nice and close to the fences

More confident with their cameras and eager to get on!

Then it was time for the photography workshop to really begin. Here is where Roger De La Harpe and all attendees (gently) picked apart images. It’s great, not only did we learn from our mistakes but everyone elses as well.

Day 2 – Afternoon

Portrait photography!

Ntombi in her beads

Poor Ntombi she had the joyful job of posing for us. Ntombi works at the lodge, and as well as cleaning the rooms, feeding the iguanas and occasionally being one of our servers at the lappa, she now had to smile until her cheeks hurt (thankfully Ntombi is so usually always so cheerful this isn’t too much of a problem for her)!

Dressed in beaded clothes Ntombi was the perfect model for us.

roger de la harpe photo safari

Poor Ntombi surrounded by all our flashes. She looked stunning though!

And I have to say, I have a lot of respect for fashion magazine photographers, people are not as easy to shoot as they look!

Day 3 – Last day :’(

Touch up class and snakes!

The morning started with a brief critique of our shots of Ntombi and then Roger further helped us to enhance the beauty of our shots with some five minute touch ups using Adobe Lightroom.

To finish up, snakes.

From Antons collection in the garage: juvenile Puff Adder, juvenile Gaboon Adder and a Variable Bush Viper.

Pics to follow!

Time to go for a paddle

The last full day of their nature tour in South Africa sees Stephanie and Adrian taking to the water once more in St Lucia.

Again, these waters contain both Hippos and Crocodiles, but this time Stephanie and Adrian are on Kayaks.

Paddling in the waters with Hippos and crocs doesn’t seem like such a good idea as you carry your paddle to the waters edge…

And they're off! Stephanie and Adrian glide across the surface leaving Justin to catch up with them

…but after the first few strokes of the paddle you are soaring across the water and all thoughts of turning back are gone from your mind.

kayak south africa, estuary, st lucia, african safari

Stephanie and Adrian leave Justin in their dust!

Lead by our trusty guide Justin, Stephanie and Adrian ventured out in search of the Hippos, Crocs and birdlife of the estuary.

kayak safaris, kayak south africa

Justin - our guide.

birds on the st lucia estaury, twitcher holiday, kayak south africa

A juvenile fish eagle swoops after the adult female with her eel catch.

estuary kayak south africa

"Goliath Heron...way over there!"

kayak africa, african safari, nature tour

Justin takes them closer to the Goliath Heron

twitcher heaven, st lucia estuary, kayak south africa

Now we know why it is called Goliath, it is massive!

kayak south africa, st lucia kayak safaris

Feeling the breeze from the Goliath herons wings.

Once more Adrian and Stephanie have decided that they’re not ready to leave South Africa yet.

kayak souh africa, african safari

Stephanie and Adrian try to paddle off into the sunset together.

But we caught them and brought them back!

st lucia kayak safaris, kayak south africa

Over so soon... can we go again please?!

 

Don’t worry you two, the estuary, the crocodiles, the hippos and the kayaks will still be here when you get back!

 

st lucia estuary, kayak with crocodiles

Missing a leg, Stephanie and Adrian finished their kayak unscathed...

Elephants and Kitties to play with!

Today was a busy day!

The morning was spent tickling and feeding elephants…

get close to the elephants, african safari

Steph was so determined not to leave South Africa, she climbed in!

elephant interaction in south africa, safari holiday

Unable to handle the extra wife, Adrian tries to convince Rambo (the elephant) to go to the pub for some male bonding

The afternoon was spent having a spot of lunch at Ilala Weavers (and shopping) and then a tour around a local township.

And then the last item on the days agenda is a bit of a hardship….

cuddling cheetah!!

stroke a cheetah, south african holiday

Not quite sure what Kitten and co, will make of Stephanie and Adrians new pet...

Big Cat and Fish

Leopard! On the night drive last night Stephanie and Adrian saw a Leopard! They saw lots of animals, but I can’t tell you what they were as all they kept saying was “Leopard!!”.

Breakfast this morning brought us a handful of guests to the table, namely the Warthog family.

baby warthogs at jozini south africa

The baby warthogs are cheeky as their mum tries to steal our food

warthog bushpig south africa nature tour

Mmmmmmm foooooood....

Pongola pig warthog south africa

Mummy warthog eyes our lunch hungrily

Out on the boat again today, but disaster stuck. No sooner had we pulled away from the dock than one of the valves snapped on the steering system causing a fountain of pink fluid.

We were covered in hydraulic fluid, but Adrian and Anton were in
heaven as they tried to fix the boat!

pongola boat

After borrowing some tools from a nearby work crew the boys battled with the boat.

Stephanie and I decided that it would be unfair if we let the boys do all the hard work, so we hooked the bait on the lines and opened a couple of beers to keep us hydrated as we fished.

We were going for big catches, namely Hippo and Crocodile (or at least that is what Stephanie and I told anyone that asked)!
After a while the boys decided that the boat could wait as they could see Tigerfish from the boat where it was moored.

adrians tigerfish

Adrian Catches a Tigerfish on his second Cast!

catfish at jozini lake

Steph plays with Antons little Catfish

Crocodile at Jozini Lake

No Hippos, but we did catch our Crocodile!

jozini lake fishing

Another s*#t day in Africa....

dragonfly south africa nature tour

Dragon fly radio :)

Kosi Bay

A beach day at Kosi bay!

Stephanie was more than a little happy at this prospect, although in truth we all were. It is hot, and the mere thought of swimming was making us all eager to get to the beach.

Even Tommy was eager to get to the water!

Kosi bay, nature tour, african safari

Tommy was all set for his day at the beach

The visit to the fishtraps is first. this sustainable fishing method is as much a part of conserving the area as preserving the traditional Tsonga culture.

Elmon explained how the fish trap worked to us and gave us spear fishing lessons to show us how hard it is, then it was time to walk/splash out to the fishtraps to take a look for ourselves.

kosi bay, south african safari and nature tour

Elmon shows us how it's done

african safari

Run away!

african safari at kosi bay

Elmon leads us into the trap

kosi bay african safari nature tour

Adrian shows that leaf who is boss!

We were in luck, one of Elmons fishtraps had bream, grunter, mullet and even kingfish! So we got to test our wits against that of the fish and try our hand at spearing dinner.

traditional fishtraps at kosi bay mouth

Looking for fish at one of Elmons traps

kosi bay african safari nature tour

Fighting over who will be first to spear

Stephanie speared her fish on the first try… Sleep with one eye open Adrian…!

amangwane kosi bay spearfishing

Steph shows us all how it is done on the first throw of her spear

south african safari, nature tour

Adrian teaches the fish a lesson

We all emerged from the handmade cage triumphant. We would have a feast tonight!

But no time for smugly posing with our catches…

…oh, ok then just a little…

african safari

Mr and Mrs Crusoe won't be hungry tonight!

african safari, nature tour , kosi bay beach

Adrian plays the man card and pretends he caught them all

 

african safari, nature tour, kosi bay

What now? Snorkelling!

Day 8 – uMkhuze

The bird hunting continues!

A fantastic days sightings at uMkhuze, even whilst loading the car with our cameras, telescope, binoculars, bird books and most importantly breakfast we could hear the birds whistling around us.

No sooner had we pulled out of Umkhumbi Lodge gate than we see 2 Burchells Coucals sitting on a fence post, how could it possibly be a bad day after that!?

The bird list for today is:
- plover
- sandpipers
- swift
- moorhen
- lilac breasted roller
- nesting black-bellied starling pair
- white-faced whistling ducks
- 3 purple gallinule heron
- 2 heron
- bulbul
- barn swallow
- violet-back starling
- barbet
- collared dove
- 3 crested frankolin
- 2 rudds apalis
- mousebird
- crowned hornbill
- cardinal woodpecker
- tawny flanked prinia
- nobbeaked duck female
- jacan (adult and juvenile)
- glossy ibis
- sacred ibis
- emerald spotted dove
- cape dove
- gold-tailed woodpecker
- open billed stork
- red-breasted cuckoo
- broad billed roller !!
- eagle with nesting material
- dusky flycatcher
- golden breasted bunting
- nob-billed ducks
- egyptian goose
- broad billed roller
- black-bellied korhaan
- bustard
- european bee-eater
- bluecheeked bee-eater
- european bee-eater
- blue-cheeked bee eater
- red-backed shrike (again the most common bird of the day!)
- 2 blue waxbill/ cordon bleu
- broad-billed roller
- chinspot batis
- weaver
- black-shouldered kite
- purple-crested turaco/ lourie
- red-breasted swallow
- lesser striped swallow
- pie-tailed swallow
- swallow
- white-tailed swallow
- bulbul
- mystery bird
- cisticola
- red-cheeked mousebird
- stint
- canary
- unidentified bird of prey
- eagle
- cattle egret
- spurwing
- 4 red bishop
- 2 burchells coucal
- 3 trumpeter hornbill
- 5 yellow-billed hornbill
- stuffed buzzard
- woodland kingfisher
- 2 pied kingfisher
- 2 malachite kingfisher
- kingfisher
- masked weaver
- golden weaver
- pells weaver
- crested guinea fowl
- helmeted /crowned guinea fowl

- foamnest frog
- hippo
- dragonfly
- natal hinged tortoise
- forest cobra

Day 6 – Tembe Elephant Reserve

Time to say good bye to Kosi Bay as the boys set out at 6:30 am to head once more to their Hluhluwe accommodation at Umkhumbi Lodge.

But whilst we’re driving past Tembe Elephant Reserve, it would be wrong not to go in… wouldn’t it? :)

Don’t let the name fool you, Tembe Elephant reserve is about much more than just Elephants! There are countless bird species as well as many different game animals. Although saying that, it is also fantastic for elephants, after turning a corner in the park whilst tracking down a bird they came across about 14 elephants just loitering on and to the side of the road.

They certainly had fun as they stayed in the park from gate open to gate close and arrived back at Umkhumbi Lodge just in time for a fantastic 3 course dinner under the stars.