Hluhluwe Big Five Safari: Full-day Wildlife Tour

★★★★★★★★★★ 4.55 (11 reviews)

Free cancellationTravelers' pick

1/27

Duration6h–10h

GroupUp to 9

LanguagesEN

PickupAt your hotel

Six to ten hours in the oldest proclaimed game reserve in Africa, tracking the Big Five from an open safari vehicle

A full-day Big Five safari from Richards Bay Harbor to Hluhluwe-Imfolozi Park, Africa's oldest proclaimed game reserve, with a licensed English-speaking guide, open-air vehicle and bush barbecue lunch included. The park is home to the African Big Five, cheetah and wild dogs, and it was the reserve that saved the rhino from near extinction in the 1960s when fewer than 100 remained. Your guide has years of experience and will track wildlife throughout the day; the duration depends on your ship's arrival and departure times. All park conservation levies, transfers, refreshments and blankets are included.

6h–10h

Step-by-step itinerary

Full-day Hluhluwe-Imfolozi Big 5 Safari

Depart Richards Bay Harbor
Enjoy tea, coffee, and muffins
Receive park introduction from ranger
Explore Hluhluwe-Imfolozi Park wildlife
Experience Big 5 and other animals
Have Bush BBQ with traditional dessert
Enjoy refreshments during safari

The Experience

You depart Richards Bay Harbor in an air-conditioned vehicle and head straight to Hluhluwe-Imfolozi Park. Once you arrive, tea, coffee and muffins are waiting before you board the open safari vehicle with your ranger. The park spans 96,000 hectares and is home to the African Big Five—lion, leopard, rhino, elephant and buffalo—along with cheetah, wild dogs and much more. Your guide will introduce you to the landscape and the day's route, then you spend the hours ahead watching the bush come alive from an unobstructed vantage point in the open vehicle.

Lunch is a traditional South African braai (barbecue) with salads and a milk tart for dessert, served in the park. Refreshments and bottled water are available throughout the day in coolers on the vehicle. Blankets are provided for warmth during early morning or late afternoon drives when the air cools. The safari's length—anywhere from six to ten hours—is built around your ship's schedule, so the timing works with your port call rather than against it.

The park itself carries weight in African conservation history. It was the reserve that single-handedly brought the rhino back from the brink of extinction in the 1960s, when fewer than 100 remained on the continent. King Shaka also used the southern section (Imfolozi) as his personal hunting grounds centuries ago. Your guide draws on 22 years of collective safari expertise and will navigate you through the landscape with that history in mind.

What’s included

Full-day game drive in an open safari vehicle with a licensed English-speaking guide.
return transfers from Richards Bay Harbor in an air-conditioned vehicle with bottled water.
pre-safari tea, coffee and muffins.
traditional South African braai lunch with salads and milk tart dessert.
refreshments and bottled water throughout the day.
blankets for the game drive.
all park conservation levies.

Good to know

Easy physical levelNot for pregnant travelersNot for heart conditionsNot for back problems

Operated by Heritage Tours & Safaris

Is this one for you?The six to ten hour window is built around your ship's schedule, which means you can spend a full day in the park without rushing back to the harbor—but it also locks you into the port call timing, so this works only if your ship is docked long enough for the drive, the safari and the return transfer.