Things to Do in Big Bend

Situated near Tembe Elephant Park on the Mozambique border, Ndumo Game Reserve is celebrated for its magnificent bird life and is home to a staggering 430 bird species. Not only does Ndumo boast the highest bird count in South Africa, the reserve has a variety of habitats with many beautiful pans fringed by yellow fever trees, vast wetlands, acacia savannah and unique sand forest. The Pongola River flows through it to the confluence with the Usuthu River on the park’s northern boundary. Birders should keep a keen lookout for Pell's fishing owl, the broadbill, southern banded snake eagle and a variety of tropical East African birds at the southernmost limit of their range. The wetlands are home to an astonishing range of waterbirds including pelicans, black egrets and pygmy geese. Suni antelope, nyala, bushbuck, impala, red duiker, black and white rhino, hippo and crocodile are regularly spotted. Entomologists find Ndumo particularly exciting with a fascinating array of insects including 66 recorded species of mosquito! Guided day walks or morning and afternoon drive tours can be arranged at the reception office. Certain areas of the reserve can be explored by visitors in their own vehicles.

Situated in an area that was once the ancient ‘Ivory Route' linking Mozambique and Zululand, Tembe Elephant Park is renowned for having the largest elephants in Africa – and the planet! The park is remote, lying deep in the sand forests and wetlands in northern Tongaland, right on the border between KwaZulu-Natal and Mozambique. You will need a 4WD vehicle to negotiate the sand tacks and only ten vehicles are allowed into the park daily, but it’s definitely worth the effort. This is where you can meet over 220 of these elephants thriving in their ancestral birthplace. Along with seeing these gentle giants, you can also spot the rest of the Big Five – lion, leopard, black and white rhino and buffalo. There is also the tiniest antelope, the Suni, and a spectacular variety of animals and over 340 bird species. The park consists mainly of closed woodland but offers a great diversity of vegetation, lying within a transition area between tropical and sub-tropical forms.

Stretching from the Lebombo Mountains down across the Phongolopoort Dam, Phongolo Game Reserve has much to offer visitors. From a conservation perspective, the reserve contains a large number of special ecosystems and habitats with the unique Golela veld providing an important breeding habitat for rare Suni antelope. Other habitats are the species-rich Lobombo Mountain forests and the Themeda grassveld scattered with knobthorn and maroela trees. Phongolo Game Reserve is home to over 300 bird species and a range of plains game including white rhino, giraffe, blue wildebeest, kudu, impala, nyala, warthog, waterbuck, common and mountain reedbuck and zebra. The dam has large families of hippos, crocodiles as well as numerous fish species. One of these is the tiger fish, a highly desirable catch at fishing competitions taking place here throughout the year. Facilities offer two boat launch sites, a campsite with cold showers, flush toilets and an adjacent picnic site for day trippers. Phongolo Game Reserve lies within a malaria area and visitors are advised to take precautions. Swimming is prohibited in the dam because of crocodiles and hippos. +27 (0) 34 435 1012 Gate Entry Times: Summer 05:00 – 19:00 Winter 06:00 – 18:00.