Visitors to Umlalazi are ideally based for a rich variety of day excursions. Some of the world’s best game parks, a World Heritage site, the Royal Zulu capitals of Mgungundlovu and Ondini, the country’s deepest and largest port Richards Bay,  are all within easy reach to make a memorable day’s outing.

RIM Cruise

RIM CRUISE offers boat rides and an outdoor place to do picnics, birthday parties, team buildings, year-end functions other activities at Phobane Dam, Eshowe (about 2-3KM from Shakaland).

 

Sip & Chill sessions on specific Sundays are organized by RIM CRUISE and hosted at Phobane Dam.

 

We also offer food (ie braai) and other refreshments.

 

Tourists and tour guides who do birding are more than welcome as there is a wide variety of unique birds roaming around the dam.

 

For bookings and enquiries, Call or Whatsapp 076 071 5000.

 

Follow our social media accounts called RIM CRUISE on Facebook, Instagram, TikTok & Twitter to be updated about everything we do.

Game viewing hides near watering holes and picnic sites are situated throughout the Park, providing the visitor with ample opportunity to leave their vehicles (at their own risk) and experience nature at close range.

Welcome to Hluhluwe-iMfolozi Game Park

Established, in 1895, this Park is Africa’s oldest game sanctuary and before that it was protected as the exclusive hunting preserve of the Zulu kings. The Park’s pride and joy is the success of Operation Rhino in the 1960’s which saw the rescue of the White Rhino from the brink of extinction. The Park offers the Big Five as well as an amazing diversity of smaller species such as kudu, nyala, impala, zebra, giraffe, warthog, baboons and wild dogs.
It also has a rich bird and plant life and some spectacular scenery.

Game viewing hides near watering holes and picnic sites are situated throughout the Park, providing the visitor with ample opportunity to leave their vehicles (at their own risk) and experience nature at close range.

One of the more popular picnic sites is at Maphumulo which overlooks a backwater created by the construction of Hluhluwe Dam, and has trestle tables in a shady, grassed area from which visitors often see crocodiles basking on the nearby banks.

Hilltop Camp in the northern section of the Park has a fine restaurant, bar and shop where visitors can escape the heat of day when most animals become elusive. The information centre at Hilltop keeps an updated map of the day’s latest game sightings ideal for use as a guide to plan one’s next route.Hluhluwe-iMfolozi Park is home to the world’s largest population of Rhino (over 2 000 black and white rhino) as well as the rest of The Big Five lion, elephant, buffalo and leopard.

Sontuli Loop in the south western corner of the Park between the White and the Black Imfolozi rivers is generally rated highly for game viewing because of its open terrain which is favoured by the grass- grazing White Rhino. The Black Rhino is a browser living off shrubs and bush and is usually found in wooded thickets. A large area abounding the White Imfolozi River in the south has been declared a wilderness area and is only open for three-day wilderness trails.

Welcome to iSimangaliso Wetland Park

iSimangaliso Wetland Park has an astonishing variety of habitats that include grasslands, forests, wetlands, mangroves, dune forest, massive stretches of beach and offshore coral reefs. There are about 1200 crocodiles in the lake as well as some 800 hippos. The best way to see them in their natural environment is one of the flat-bottom tour boats which operate from St Lucia estuary. The largest tour boat is the Santa Lucia which leaves from the Siyabonga Craft Market two or three times a day for a guided tour up the narrows.

At the St Lucia Crocodile Centre visitors are able to see a variety of crocodiles. Feedings every Saturday at 15h00…

Lake St Lucia the largest estuary in Africa is a 38 000 hectare expanse of tidal and semi-tidal water. Also found here is the largest single population of hippo (about 800) little wonder that it was declared South Africa’s first World Heritage Site in 1999. Birdlife is prolific and includes flamingoes, pelicans, herons, terns, ducks, geese and storks. Swimming in the lake is prohibited due to the high number of crocodiles present, however the beach at Cape Vidal is popular with divers exploring its coral reefs as well as with families who enjoy swimming and snorkeling in the protected bay and roaming miles of golden beaches.

Migrant humpback whales and dolphins are often sighted cavorting along the coast (June to November) and, during summer, endangered leatherback and loggerhead turtles regularly nest on the beaches at night.

Mission Rocks, 16kms north of the estuary, provides picnic sites and ablution facilities for day visitors. The rock pools provide hours of fascinating exploration during low tide and dunetop lookout point presents spectacular views of the lake, the Eastern Shores and the sea.

Gate Opening & Closing Times

 

Summer (Oct-March): 05h0019h00
Winter (April-Sept): 06h0018h00
Friday and start of long w/e: 06h0021h00

Distance from gate to:

 

Cape Vidal 35kms
Mtubatuba 27kms
N2 30kms

Contact numbers:

 

St Lucia Tourism: 035 590 1247
Santa Lucia cruise: 035 590 1340
Crocodile Centre: 035 590 1386

Much more to do on the Route 66

The R66, begins at Dokodweni Toll Plaza close to the pristine Siaya Coastal Park, and ends less than 250kms further north at the busy town of Phongolo but in that short distance, visitors have travelled through a world from another time. Route 66 passes through territory that has given rise to events which have captured the world’s imagination. The rise of Shaka and the battles of the AngloZulu War have inspired novels, television epics and movies and today the scale and uniqueness of the annual Royal Reed Dance draws considerable international attention.

Route 66 between Gingindlovu and Phongolo follows one of the oldest trade routes through Zululand. Settlers resident at Port Natal (Durban) in the early 19th Century would set off in ox wagons on well-worn tracks and cross into Zululand at a drift very close to the present N2 bridge over the Thukela River. The tracks followed the coast for a while before turning inland towards the heart of the Zulu Kingdom as settlers required the permission of the Zulu King before they could hunt and trade in his territory.

Meet the legends . . .make new discoveries . . . and understand the history…

A journey along Route 66 is filled with unexpected discoveries. Stop at a tavern for refreshment and get knocked out by boxing legend Tap Tap Makhatini, walk in the forest and find fascinating creatures great and small and take time to hear the extraordinary history of the region: the Zulu kings who lived here, the Norwegian missionaries who brought Christianity to Zululand and how the British tried to change the old order of Zululand.

Welcome to Mthonjaneni Zulu Historical Museum

Mthonjaneni Place of the little fountain

On a high ridge outside Melmoth is a spring where maidens gathered every day to collect fresh water supplies and then transported it in clay pots balanced on their heads for 8kms down into the valley known as Emakhosini where King Dingane built his capital Mgungundlovu.

Water resources closer to the palace would be polluted quickly by the large number of soldiers and cattle residing around the royal capital and the clean water of the Mthonjaneni spring was used exclusively by King Dingane to quench his thirst and for his ablutions. Nearby is the site of Fort Victoria where the British army built a garrison following the defeat of King Cethswayo at Ulundi.

In the grounds of the Mtonjaneni Lodge adjacent to site of the fort is Mtonjaneni Zulu Historical Museum which houses an excellent private collection of memorabilia and artefacts relating to the AngloZulu War of 1879. The displays are done according to what has been collected on each battlefield and includes weapons, carbine bullets, snuff containers, dagga pipes and uniforms.

Enquiries: <a href=”tel:0354500904″>035 450 0904.</a>

Welcome to KwaZulu Cultural Museum

The KwaZulu Cultural Museum focuses on the Nguni-speaking peoples of southeastern Africa and houses one of the most representative collections of Zulu material culture in the country.

Of note is a superb collection of beadwork. Glass beads were one of the earliest items of trade with the early Arab and European hunters and traders and was initially used exclusively by families of the chiefs. Very soon beadwork was incorporated into all levels of Zulu society and played an important role in many of the rituals, customs and ceremonies of Zulu culture

Contact Details:
Tel: 035 870 2052
Email: amafahq@mweb.co.za
Open daily 09h00-16h00
Closed Christmas/Good Friday

Welcome Mgungungdglovu Museum

A state-of-the-art multimedia centre has recently opened at Mgungundlovu and highlights four centuries of illustrious Zulu history.

It includes a ‘hall of the ancestors’, an amphitheatre, viewing tower, lively interactive displays, a restaurant and craft stalls. A guide is on hand to take visitors on a site tour of the restored capital of King Dingane.

Places To Visit

Isandlwana - is an isolated hill in the KwaZulu-Natal province of South Africa. It is located 169 kilometres north by northwest of Durban.

Ondini - Ulundi's Ondini Historical Reserve is one of the most interesting visits on this part of the coast.

Rorke's Drift - situated 46 km southeast of Dundee on the Battlefields Route, is the site of one of the most famous battles of the Anglo-Zulu War.

Fugitives’ Drift - is set in a 5000 acre game reserve with 22km of river frontage, is a place where the Anglo-Zulu War of 1879 is brought back to life.

Cowards bush - while he resided at his capital Kwa Bulawayo no 2, King Shaka is said to have had army cowards executed at this site. It is also known as Isihlala Samagwala, or the resting place of cowards.

Ntunjambili - is a massive red sandstone cliff that rises above the Thukela Valley. Known as Kranskop in Afrikaans, it has given its name to the nearby little town.

Nkandla - covers the ridge between the Thukela and Mhlatuze rivers, lying between 1100 to 1300 metres above sea level where a constant moisture and continuous mists mean that a world of trees, lush understorey tree ferns and cycads exist, just waiting for a visit.

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