This weekend was free, no plans, just time. I planned to sleep
late, and relax and go wherever the wind blew me. Well blow me down it did, I
got a Saturday morning wake up from Bronwyn Parker telling me to prepare for a
picnic at Amatikulu Nature Reserve, I was so eager! The first time I visited
the park was 3 years ago, which is shocking, as I have lived within 30 minutes
of this park for most of my life. That very first trip left me with such
fantastic memories, standing within 50 meters of a giraffe is just incredible.
No words.
Giraffes are one of my very favorite animals, they are truly
majestic, they walk with such grace and flutter their eyelashes so well that
The Duchess of Cambridge can only envy. I can sit and admire these creatures
for hours, and that is exactly what you get to do at Amatikulu.
As you drive through the Amatikulu Nature Reserve gate (there is a
nominal fee of R20 per person), the road splits, we went right, heading towards
the open lands, seeking animals and birds, the reserve has smaller game, such
as Zebra, Giraffe, Kudu, Impala and Waterbuck. Zebra were quick to spot nearby
the entrance, I am a spoiled child, having Zebra roaming the roads back home,
so having to look through binoculars to see them does not appeal much to us, we
drove past with desire of seeing giraffes.At first the road is great with the
most amazing views of bush and sea, but then very steep, and very bumpy, you
get to an area that is soft sand only and I would not encourage this section
with a small car or 4x4, the bush is thick, the birding in this area is good,
Bronwyn and Stuart (Capturing Africa Journeys) were very excited to see who could spot and recognize
the LBJ's (Little Brown Job's) fastest. Beyond the bush is the open land where
giraffe and their babies roam freely we spotted many of them and even managed a
good-ish selfie with one in the background.
There is a picnic spot near to a waterhole, which was the perfect
feasting ground. We had a table cloth packed and began to lay on the spread of
sandwiches, banana bread, cheeses, olives, strawberries, chocolate, sweets and
biscuits. Refreshments were a plenty too of course. The zebra grazed in the
foreground as we tucked in.
Stuffed like little ticks, we set off to explore further, again
satisfied with all that we came across. We ventured North towards the Amatikulu
River where we met a couple paddling in with their fishing rods and kit, they
were unfortunate to have caught nothing but marveled in how clean the water was
and the beauty of their surrounds. The picnic site on the river is near the
camp sites and the perfect spot to laze at while watching the sun dipping in
the later afternoon, which we thoroughly enjoyed before heading back towards
Mtunzini.
The day was relaxed, the company was fantastic and we certainly
out did ourselves with the picnic spread. I would hop at any opportunity to
visit Amatikulu again, perhaps even overnight there. We did not reach the
beach, therefor there is still more exploring for me to do at this wonderful
little spot on the KZN North Coast.
The first Giraffe of the day
Just a portion of the picnic spread
Baguettes made by yours truly
This is a walking park, so these photos were taken from standing a few meters away. There were 2 very sweet little babies.
The view for most of the drive
The setting sun
Very nice, I would like to go to this park on our next visit.
ReplyDeleteYes! Gladly! It is so relaxed, very peaceful. I think we saw 3 other groups of people in total.
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