Hluhluwe

Hluhluwe is a small village in Zululand, KwaZulu-Natal situated between Lake St Lucia in the iSimangaliso Wetland Park and the Hluhluwe-iMfolozi Game Reserve. Life in the town therefore tends to centre around these two major attractions.

This area was home to two of the greatest Zulu kings, Shaka and Dingiswayo, who were far-sighted enough to support conservation of this wild paradise. As a consequence, the oldest game reserves in South Africa were established here in 1895 – the Umfolozi and the Hluhluwe, relatively recently combined to create the Hluhluwe-iMfolozi Game Reserve, 96000ha in extent.

The Greater St Lucia wetland Park, renamed iSimangaliso Wetland Park is one of the largest protected areas in South Africa and covers an amazing diversity of eco-systems. The village of Hluhluwe’s significance is defined by its location at the heart of the largest protected area in KwaZulu-Natal and probably in the country if you had to combine all of the game reserves and nature reserves surrounding it.