Neville's Pic of the Day

**Neville Bailey** · 04-Aug-14, 10:15 AM

Visit to Mkuze Game Reserve by Neville A Bailey, on Flickr

**Neville Bailey** · 04-Aug-14, 10:16 AM

Visit to Mkuze Game Reserve by Neville A Bailey, on Flickr

**Neville Bailey** · 04-Aug-14, 10:16 AM

Visit to Mkuze Game Reserve by Neville A Bailey, on Flickr

**Neville Bailey** · 04-Aug-14, 10:17 AM

Visit to Mkuze Game Reserve by Neville A Bailey, on Flickr

**Neville Bailey** · 04-Aug-14, 10:17 AM

Visit to Mkuze Game Reserve by Neville A Bailey, on Flickr

**Blurock** · 05-Aug-14, 08:11 AM

Wow, Neville, I'm so jealous. We haven't been to Mkhuze for quite a while as they have also had their problems lately. What's the facilities like now? This is one of my favourite reserves and we always opt for the safari tents rather than the chalets as you then get the real feeling of being in the bush.

**Neville Bailey** · 05-Aug-14, 08:25 AM

This was our first visit to Mkuze, as we usually visit Hluhluwe/Imfolozi, so it was a nice change.

We took the long dirt road to the reserve (instead of turning off the N2 near Mkuze town, we turned off quite a bit south), which was quite an experience in itself!

We camped with our 2-man tent at the campsite at the entrance gate, so we really roughed it! There was no power and the ablutions were rather run down, and we heard some scary animal noises around our little tent during the night!

The reserve itself is lovely, with all the various hides to choose from.

We got to one of the hides at 6.30am, and the walkway leading up to the hide was very dilapidated with many holes in the fence, so it was not very secure. We were the only two people at the time, and then we saw two young male lions appear (one of which I posted a photo), and they spotted us immediately from across the dam and then they proceeded to prowl around the hide, roaring as they went. We were terrified that they might find their way into the hide, as they prowled along the walkway towards our car.

When we were happy that they had moved on, we tentatively tippy-toed back to our car along the walkway, checking through the holes along the way, and then made a final mad dash to the car, laughing our heads off (in terror!).

It was both a scary and a special experience, as we had those lions to ourselves, without having to share them with dozens of other onlookers, all jockeying to get a good view.