Northern Kwazulu Natal - Suggestions for a week holiday??

[adriaan]

thanks for all the advice. zululand is an absolute awesome place. its been my first visit to the area, but will definitely not be the last. at the end, the itinerary was the following:
1st night at Mkuze reserve. Arrived very late. the road (if you can call it such) was horrible N17 turning into N2. potholes, roadworks, stop/go. it took us the best part of 9 hours. Mkuze was very ok, we stayed in a safari tent. As we arrived quite late, we really only spend the next morning doing a game drive which was well worth it, spotted 2 rhino next to the road. Otherwise the grass was very high and the bush thick - we kinda expected it, but still was awesome. O ja, there is a swimming pool which is very nice for chilling a bit in the afternoon.
The next 2 nights were at Sodwana (Coral Divers camp). Stayed in there budget pitched tents, simple/basic but more than adequate. did a dive, and walked /swim on the beach - very nice place, but can imagine that it could get quite crowded in high season. had a nice time there, did not do any fishing.
4th night we stayed in Mpila camp in Hluluwe-Umfolozi, also in a safari tent. was great. spend much time on game drives (self) and saw plenty of everything (except lion and leopard). this is really a special place.
Then last 2 nights camping at Cape Vidal. Cant complain about anything - even the monkeys were amusing (if youre food is secure, otherwise they will get it. we were not really geared for a camping mission, so had to rough it a bit, but it is a very beautifull place. I could see myself spending a week or 2 there.
So for the fishing - this trip was not about fishing primarily (always good to have an excuse..). Went out the first morning the tide was full and made a few casts and caught two small wave garrick. really small, not much bigger than my hand, but at least it was a new species for me. I also met another ffman called Piet, who showed me some pics of more decent size he had caught. did not spend much more time fishing. the next day early tried again and got something a bit bigger as per the photo. really did not put the required effort in with regards to the tides etc. would love to be on the rocks at the turn from low to high. anyway - i will be back.
the absolute high point of the whole week was on the second last night when we returned form st lucia a bit late and was driving in the dark. about 3kays before vidal, we saw the hind quarters of a leopard disapear into the bush. as we got to the camp, we decided to turn around again, with the hope of spotting him again. i thought the chances were very low, so it was awesome when we came acros him walking lazily in the middle of the road. he was not at all fazed with our presence. we followed him for almost 5 minutes, him scratching trees and snigging branches, then finally disapearing into the thicket.

cheers

[angi84]

the absolute high point of the whole week was on the second last night when we returned form st lucia a bit late and was driving in the dark. about 3kays before vidal, we saw the hind quarters of a leopard disapear into the bush. as we got to the camp, we decided to turn around again, with the hope of spotting him again. i thought the chances were very low, so it was awesome when we came acros him walking lazily in the middle of the road. he was not at all fazed with our presence. we followed him for almost 5 minutes, him scratching trees and snigging branches, then finally disapearing into the thicket.

glad you had a good time man!!! it is a very beautiful area!!
one of my TOP experiences in zululand was on a school trip (long time ago!!) where a few of us took a walk down to the beach (at night - full moon) through the forest...about 2mins after arriving on the beach we spotted two leopards walking along the shore....was an incredible thing to see!! the most romantic thing EVER!!! will never ever forget that!