April 6 - March 29, Richards Bay

March 29 – Richards Bay

Richards Bay in the KwaZulu-Natal province is where South Africa becomes “Africa” with big game safaris, colonial battlefields and stunning scenery ranging from coastal forests to wetlands and grasslands.  Traditional Zulu customs live on in the villages where King Shaka, founder of the Zulu empire, is still revered.  KwaZulu means “place of the Zulu people”, and Natal is Portuguese for Christmas which is when in 1497 sailors reached this area.

Kwazulu-Natal is considered South Africa’s premier wildlife destination, home to some of the finest game reserves and wildlife parks in the country.  One of them, Hluhluwe-Umfolozi Game Reserve is credited for bringing the white rhino back from near extinction in the 1950s and 60s.

Richards Bay has its own stories to tell of a massive 22 foot crocodile shot in the lagoon by hunter John Dunn in 1891 and the world’s most famous hippopotamus, Huberta.  In 1928, Huberta wandered off from her pod and began a 1,000-mile journey along Africa’s southeastern coast.  Scared of few things, Huberta crossed roads, highways and railway tracks.  She entered cities and parks without a care in the world, trampling gardens and golf courses on her way to who knows where.  International media soon began to follow her every step and the world fell in love with her.  Unfortunately, despite having been declared “royal game” and thus protected, she was shot by hunters! Luckily, the hunters were caught, arrested and fined.  Huberta’s body was sent to a taxidermist in London, and in 1932 she was returned to South Africa and placed in the Kaffrarian Museum in King William’s Town.  How far Huberta might have gone is anyone’s guess had she not encountered the trophy hunters.

Our excursion took us to the St. Lucia Lake, a 90 minutes drive from Richards Bay, and home to one of the largest hippo concentrations. Upon our arrival, we were first greeted by a group of precocious monkeys who stuck around for Kodak moments while we waited for our river boat to dock.  Once boarded, it didn’t take long to encounter Hippos of every size.  Unfortunately, they were all in the water because of the heat that day, but it was quite a sight.  We also saw one Nile Crocodile, which was enough for me!

Our next adventure will be our safari.  We will leave from Durban airport.

Enjoy the pictures.  Cheers!

Part of the greeting committee at St. Lucia Lake

The River Boat we will be taking for Hippo Sightings

Hippo # 1.  It was a hot and steamy afternoon, so the hippos were staying cool until evening.

Hippos can't swim.  They actually walk on the bottom of the lake to get from one place to another.

This guy can hold his breath underwater for several minutes before needing to resurface.

We came across this family of hippos in this grassy area

The proud parents were showing off their baby

Time for a snack

I hope you can make out his teeth in this picture...they are huge!

Another pod of hippos

The picture above this one was part of this bigger group shot

This is a hippo tooth!  A couple of our new friends, Bonnie & Barry are in the background

I wished we could have seen some on land to get a better idea of their size

A King Fisher in the tree

An African Fish Eagle

A young Nile Crocodile