There are many activities that you can enjoy at Hluhluwe River Lodge from walking quietly through our forest garden and if you are lucky seeing our local duiker grazing, birding, mountain biking, forest walks, safaris to Umfolozi Park or visiting St Lucia or the beach.
Biking Trails
The area offers excellent mountain biking trails literally from the doorstep of your chalet. We recommend a ride to False Bay Park which is a 2300 hectare reserve hugging the western shoreline of Lake St Lucia, and forms part of the iSimangaliso Wetland Park. This is a 20-kilometer ride which is flat and easy to ride for novice riders and there are singletrack trails for advanced riders. These wonderfully scenic rides pass through beautiful lakeshore forests with fantastic scenery .
Safari
Hluhluwe iMfolozi Park is 97 000 hectares in extent and consists of two distinct areas namely northern Hluhluwe section and the southern iMfolozi section. To fully appreciate the whole area one would need a a full day to explore the Park. This can either be done as a self drive (in your own vehicle without a guide) or with a professional Safari operator in an open game viewing vehicle.
Professional Safaris can be arranged prior to arrival for half day and full day safari’s. Memorial Gate is the entrance to the Hluhluwe section and this gate is a 20 minute drive ( +- 30km’s ) from the lodge.
Birding
The Hluhluwe area with it’s variety of habitat, game reserve’s, forests and lake’s offers the birdwatcher an opportunity to see a variety of birds during a stay over. The best time for birding is the summer period from October to end March. The winter months from April through September are also an excellent time for birding, windless and warm days with no humidity are ideal for walking in the area.
Around the Lodge itself there are many birds to be seen and the ‘ Red Duiker Trail’ on the lodge conservancy offers excellent bird sightings. This is a 2 km walk through Sand Forest, grassland and palid sand veld, other than bird’s there is a very good chance of encountering some of the majestic Nyala bull’s and pretty female Nyala antelope that roam this peaceful forest environment.
Outings & Hikes
If the weather is good (which is most days) a trip to the beaches either at Sodwana Bay or Cape Vidal is highly reccomended. Sodwana is a scuba divers paradise, great for swimming, snorkeling and offshore game fishing whilst Cape Vidal is a swimming, snorkeling and beach walking paradise. The road to Cape Vidal passes through the Eastern Shores Coastal reserve and is home to some superb game viewing especially Kudu, Waterbuck, Reedbuck and Bushbuck. St Lucia Village has several restaurants for a lunch stop. More Info
Forest Walks
Anyone with an interest in indigenous trees will feel truly at home here at Hluhluwe River Lodge. We are literally surrounded by some of the countries most remarkable tree species and most rare to boot. The ‘sand forest’ at False Bay Park and at Hluhluwe River Lodge is an extremely rare forest type containing many trees that are specific to our area alone. Taking pride of place in the sand forest is the majestic ‘Lebombo Wattle’ ( Newtonia Hildebrandtii ). This massive and ancient giant of the forests stands up to 30 meters in height with a widely spreading crown and giant limbs that extend for 20 meters outwards.
