Umfolozi Game Reserve – by Nina

One day we got up at 3:30 in the morning and went to the guide we had hired yesterday to go to the Umfolozi Game Reserve.  Our guides name was Anne.

Before we even got in to the park we saw our first bit of wildlife; a hyena.  We were really excited. We had a book with pictures and names of some birds and mammals.  We decided to tick the animals off as we saw them.

Along the road there were loads of Yellow-billed Kites.  They were magnificent. As well as kites there were Helmeted Guinea Fowl.

 a Helmeted Guinea Fowl

Just a little bit from the park entrance we saw two enormous elephants.  We had to wait for them to get past.  A little bit further on we saw a Black Rhino.  This was amazing as Black Rhinos are far more endangered than the White Rhinos and we hadn’t even seen a White Rhino yet.

Then we saw a Hoopoe.  This was a very weird bird.

the very weird Hoopoe bird

We saw some buffalo and Anne told us that they were the most dangerous animals in Africa not even the leopards are more dangerous.

There were loads of zebra and impala everywhere. We saw some wildebeest and impala together and Anne told us that wildebeest, zebra and impala often stay together.

Next we saw giraffe.  They are extremely beautiful and graceful.

giraffes are graceful

We turned down a trail to a river to maybe see some crocodiles, and on the way a Black Rhino charged at us.  It was really creepy.  On the track we saw some Leopard Tortoise.  At the river we saw nothing except a vulture in the distance.

The dung beetles are really cool.  The male dung beetle stands on his front legs and rolls the dung ball with his back legs.  Meanwhile the female sits on the ball and lays her eggs.

male dung beetles do the rolling

We were going down the road and suddenly I saw a Spring Hare.  The Spring Hare is funny because it has a long bushy tail instead of a bobbin tail.

When we were leaving we saw a vulture in a nest with its babies.

Here is a list of what we saw:

Birds
Lappet-faced Vulture
White-backed Vulture
Tawny Eagle
Secretary Bird
Egyptian goose
Helmeted Guinea Fowl
Natal Francolin
Hoopoe
Cape Turtle Dove
Red-billed Hornbill
Crowned Hornbill
Long-tailed Shrike
Red-billed Oxpecker
Paradise Flycatcher
Pin-tailed Whydah
Cape Glossy Starling
Plum-coloured Starling
Spotted-backed Weaver
masked Weaver
Red Bishop

Mammals
African Elephant
Giraffe
White Rhinoceros
Black Rhinoceros
Warthog
Baboon
Hyenas
Buffalo
Black Wildebeest
Nyala
Zebra
Impala
Spring Hare
Slender Mongoose

Reptiles
Leopard Turtle
Terrapin
Iguana

Insects and Others
Flies
Butterflies
Millipedes
Centipedes