Our First Exclusive Private Safari into the Hluhluwe-Imfolozi Park was amazing, to say the least.

This was to be our second safari and our first in KwaZulu Natal South Africa. We had been fortunate enough to have explored the Kruger National Park a few years back and that I can honestly say was impressive.

I will be honest in saying that I was a bit hesitant in booking an exclusive safari. The price was of course higher compared to that of a normal safari and sightings were not guaranteed. This was however our anniversary and I decided to surprise my wife while we were traveling through KwaZulu Natal.

All communication via email and What's App was easy and thank goodness Bev in the office was extremely patient with all of my questions. I truly feel as though no empty promises were made, but rather made sure that I knew exactly what the safari comprised of.

The company (Heritage Tours & Safaris), I believe was established in 2003 and this was to be my first outing with them.

Early morning yes, 05:00 am we were met by Jabu, an incredibly funny and passionate ranger. He made sure that we were comfortable and also offered us some additional blankets for the journey to the park. The company offers a complimentary transfer to the park should you be in the area of St Lucia, I thought that this was a very nice gesture, alternatively, you can also meet them at the designated Park Gate.

It's a 45-minute transfer so settle in and enjoy the African sunrise. Once at the park (Nyalazi Gate - Imfolozi side) entrance Jabu, let us out of the vehicle so that we could stretch our legs for a bit while he made payment for us in the office. Once back aboard Jabu quickly rolled up the canvas sides and the Safari had officially started. One could feel the excitement mount.

Jabu wasted no time in asking what wildlife we were most interested in and off we set. Jabu is extremely knowledgeable and clearly passionate about the bush. I can truly say that he answered as many questions that we asked and when he was unclear about something he even made contact with us later to make sure that he had answered everything. Absolutely amazing, that is after all private and exclusive.

The sightings for the day spent out in the bush comprised of various antelope species, buffalo, giraffe, wildebeest, and a young lion male unfortunately the rest of the pride were just out of sight. That all before breakfast.

Breakfast in the bush with no noise but the sounds of wildlife in the distance was incredible. Once again Jabu entertained us by answering yet more questions, I never knew that the Hluhluwe Umfolozi Park was one of the oldest proclaimed game reserve in Africa, also numerous techniques invented for game capture and transfer occurred right here. The park has some incredible history and is well worth some more research.

After breakfast, we head further south with winding gravel rounds and the bush becoming a bit denser. One of our like-to-see animals had been Wild Dogs and right on cue Wild Dogs appeared. Jabu once again furnished us with some amazing facts and being on a private and exclusive safari meant that we could stay as long as wanted. I never knew that Wild Dogs had such an incredibly high success rate when hunting.

After this amazing sighting, we headed further south, numerous other sightings of antelope and a lone Dagga Boy (Buffalo) in the distance was enjoyed.

Lunchtime and Jabu set up a fantastic authentic Braai all with salads and various cuts of meat. Truly a wonderful way to spend a Wednesday afternoon.

Being so far south after lunch Jabu started a slow retrace back towards the entrance, this afforded us some additional sightings of Elephants, White Rhinos, and Hyennas.

My take on the private and exclusive safari was that it was professional and definitely well worth it in the end. Jabu made every attempt to ensure that we had a wonderful time and without a doubt, I would like to highly recommend this company should you be interested in a Big 5 Safari into the Hluhluwe-Imfolozi Park.