Self Drive Safari Tips
Tuesday, May 5th, 2009
Whilst I was researching for a new section on Hluhluwe-Imfolozi National Park in South Africa, I came across this great video (see below) posted by a couple who take the day out to visit Hluhluwe and it tells of their day as well as some advice on how to get the best out of self drive safaris.
As with pretty much every National Park in South Africa, Hluhluwe-Imfolozi has an excellent road network, making them ideal for self drive safaris and whilst I do believe that if you are a novice in the bush, you will get more out of it if you have a qualified guide with you, I can also understand that it is sometimes more enjoyable to do your own thing. So below are the self drive safari tips provided by the couple as well as a few that I have added myself.
Advice for Self Drive Safaris
In the video the tips they pass on are listed below:
1) Drive Slowly
I could not agree more, you really need to drive slowly, not only will your vehicle thank you if you are on dirt roads, but your chances of seeing game will dramatically improve.
2) Avoid the Mid Day Heat
Again this is excellent advice. If you ever stay at a safari lodge and go on game drive with a safari guide, the drives will almost certainly be either in the early morning or late afternoon as most Southern African animals are much more active at these times. So get to the wildlife reserve early go on a game drive till mid morning and then during the mid day, relax, have some lunch or laze around a swimming pool to keep cool and then go out again later in the afternoon to maximise your chances of viewing the wildlife.
A few More tips:
Stop on Bridges
I noticed in their video that they stopped on a bridge and looked up and Down the River, this is a great tip – most animals need to drink at some time or another and because of this sources of water always make great places to find many species of animals and birds. You never know what you might see. Even if the river is dry, many animals especially larger ones like Elephant will use dry riverbeds as highways, partly because they are easier to walk down than through the middle of the bush and because there is often an abundance of food sources growing on river banks – so it is kind of like an animals version of a street market.
Use a 4×4
This is not so much due to the roads, as mentioned earlier most National Parks in South Africa have an excellent road network, perfectly fine for a saloon car. It is more for the height advantage, the higher up you gan get the better, this is especially important during and after the rainy season when there will be plenty of tall grass about.
Use Hides
Many Reserves will have game viewing and bird watching hides located in the park. The are usually positioned in areas where wildlife is often seen (water holes are a favourite). So find out where they are on the reserve, try and get to one either early in the morning or later in the afternoon and hopefully you will get plenty of sightings.
