ELEPHANT MAGIC AT TEMBE ELEPHANT PARK
- O&A Team
- July 22, 2025
- Features
- Big tuskers, Birding destination, Elephants, Tembe Elephant Park, Tembe Lodge, The Elephant Coast, Wildlife photography, Zululand
- 0 Comments
Out & About took time out to meet the next generation of big tuskers at the Tembe Elephant Park. Come along for the ride …
WORDS AND IMAGES: SHIRLEY LE GUERN
Once home to three of Southern Africa’s biggest tuskers – Isilo, Induna and Makobona – the Tembe Elephant Park is a little-known gem at the top of the legendary Elephant Coast which stretches from Lake St. Lucia in the south to Kosi Bay, near the Mozambique border. Also known as Maputaland, it is a region known for its wetlands, coastal forests and untouched beaches – and an array of birds that would have any avian tourist well and truly atwitch.
But, although we really enjoyed them, it wasn’t the feathered attractions that we were out to see. Our trip was a quest to see the so-called “grey ghosts” from which the park derives its name.
Our first day – or should I say initial afternoon drive – yielded none of these gigantic residents and I confess I was a little disappointed when we headed back to the lodge after sunset. But there were plenty of Nyala, duikers and impala.
BRINGING PEOPLE AND ELEPHANTS TOGETHER
This was my third visit to the Tembe Elephant Park. The first was a few years after it had been proclaimed a conservation area in 1983, the second a rainy weekend in 2016 with friend and wildlife photographer, Marc de Chalain, and the third just over a month ago.
As our guide for the weekend – the delightful Vusi Tembe – explained, Tembe Elephant Park was created to placate both humans and elephants. The conflict between the two was not doing either side any good and the reserve was created to protect the elephants and other wildlife that has since been introduced whilst allowing the local people to farm in peace and even find jobs in the hospitality industry.
In short, Tembe Elephant Park is one of those rare fairy tales where people and wildlife learn to live together. This is tribal land dedicated to conservation and managed by Ezemvelo KZN Wildlife.
But even here, where those managing the lodge are delightful and friendly and the peaceful sounds of the African bush bring peace as you sip your red wine around a crackling log fire, all is not perfect.
One must be realistic. Yes, the dense sand forest means game spotting is far from easy and sightings infrequent, but the general absence of even some of the most common species like giraffe and warthog can be frustrating. You ask yourself if poaching is as much a threat as it in the neighbouring Ndumo Park whose future remains uncertain.
Although many a website markets Tembe as a big five resort, it is not strictly that. Vusi admitted that the white rhino had been shot out. You soon realise that the legendary sand forest and Muzi swamp for which the park is well-known are riddled with invasive plants which are slowly altering the ecology, apparently seeing various animals relocate out of the way of visitors. The swamp that has long attracted the park’s elephants is now in danger of drying up – Ezemvelo KZN Wildlife’s management has to be questioned.
Yet still, all those gremlins cannot snuff out a wonderful experience. I simply wanted to point out the shortcomings in the hope that what is undoubtedly a provincial treasure should not be spoilt. If we as tourists do not hold the park’s caretakers accountable, who will?
Let’s get the practical things sorted. The accommodation is strictly glamping in well-equipped and well decorated tents that are spaced far from the neighbours and leave you feeling as if you are well and truly sleeping in luxury in the middle of nowhere. Even from the veranda of your tent you can enjoy butterflies, lizards and birds.
The outside shower took some getting used to, I won’t lie, but eventually I found myself looking forward to rinsing off the day’s dust under the stars.
Food is home cooked in every way. The lovely soups were followed by a main course that featured some sort of game meat in support of the farmers in nearby Pongola followed by pudding. There were all the usual beers and good South African wine to wash that down.
You quickly get to know your fellow guests and greet them as friends at breakfast (after the early morning game drive), lunch (just before the afternoon excursion) and dinner (when all the vehicles return after the sun has set). One of our British visitors, who was eagerly awaiting a sighting of a warthog, was told by a fellow bush wacker that she’d probably enjoyed the last one in the form of a tasty chop the evening before – but even she wasn’t falling for that!
Because of the soft deep sand, travel is strictly 4 x 4 – and apart from a few self-drivers is usually by way of guided game drives that are included in the package. Given the deep knowledge of the guides, the fact that many come from the local community and have an innate knowledge of the reserve, this is truly value for money.
An added plus is that early morning coffee and nibbles and sundowners are included so one can alight from the vehicle, enjoy a stretch and possibly even a comfort break.
ELEPHANT ENCOUNTERS
Day two of our Tembe experience was quite simply unforgettable. During our fairly quiet early morning drive, we did plenty of birding and met a few of the park’s grey giants long distance. We stopped off at the Mahlasela Hide which was unusually quiet – but the highlight of this outing was two beautiful mating lions right in the middle of one of the narrow sandy roads.
Shortly after lunch, Vusi volunteered to take our party to his special spot just ahead of the scheduled afternoon game drive. Imagine our delight as we watched two parties of big bull elephants enjoying a cool drink in the clear water and then heading off to a gloriously muddy spot for the elephant version of a spa.
During a previous trip, we were told that Tembe is unique in having a higher proportion of elephant bulls than other reserves. Also unlike these other reserves, these big guys are quite laid back and there was no indication of any rivalry – but plenty of touching, socialising and chatting.
What was particularly heart-warming was sharing the passion that Vusi clearly has for these magnificent creatures together with his extensive knowledge. This was something that would become even more apparent during our afternoon drive.
Tembe Elephant Park is often described as KwaZulu-Natal’s Addo Elephant Park. Having visited both parks, I had to agree with fellow guests that nothing could be further from the truth. Whether it is the dense sand forest or the sheer enormity of the elephants, there is something authentically African about this experience whilst Addo seemed a little tamer in comparison.
Although the three big tuskers that gave Tembe its reputation as home to some of Southern Africa’s biggest tuskers have passed on from natural causes and become the stuff of legend, one can’t help feeling that it will remain a particularly special elephant sanctuary, one that will allow future generations to meet the gentle giants like we did.
Up until then, we had mainly seen bulls meandering through the forest tearing and munching leaves from the trees. We finally found our first herd complete with matriarch and calves on the Muzi swamp. Instead of peeking through our binoculars and then racing off in a cloud of dust, Vusi encouraged us to be patient and quiet and to help him identify just where these beautiful animals were most likely to emerge as they made their way towards the road.
Long story short, our patience more than paid off as elephant after elephant miraculously emerged out of the bush. As the light softened and dusk settled in, we found ourselves surrounded, both hearing and feeling those legendary rumbles and grumbles as the family quite literally trundled up to the front of the vehicle, testing the air with raised trunks before eventually sauntering past well within touching distance.
It is actually hard to explain what if feels like to have a large elephant staring you straight in the eye right over the bonnet of an open vehicle. After many a trip to the Kruger Park, I am well acquainted with potentially aggressive elephants and keep my distance.
This time round, Vusi’s instructions were to sit very still and stay quiet. With elephants both in front of and behind us, there was nowhere to go and certainly nothing better to do but enjoy what turned out to be an almost spiritual experience.
Little did we know that, during our drive the following morning before we headed back to Durban, we were to have a similar encounter with a family of elephants. This time, possibly even closer and without a doubt leaving us feeling that we were as much the object of the elephants’ curiosity as they were of ours.
What is amazing is that that these massive animals almost tip toe through the bush. They move silently on their toes with soft connective tissue pads under their heels apparently acting as shock absorbers. Once again, this was a quiet and other worldly experience that left at least one guest – who had incidentally encountered massive herds of elephants in Zimbabwe during her travels – in tears. It’s hard to describe, but somehow this was a very personal encounter.
FIRESIDE TALES
With guests from as far afield as the Netherlands, Australia and America all gathered around the camp fire under a beautiful full moon, it was hard not to exchange bush stories both past and present. One that I’m sure will go with us to many another camp fireside was watching a massive and highly endangered rock python capture an impala beside the Muzi swamp. It certainly wasn’t for the faint hearted but was something that one will probably never see again.
At present, the Tembe Elephant Park remains fenced but a Memorandum of Understanding signed by the Tembe Traditional Authority in conjunction with the Tembe Community Trust, Ezemvelo KZN Wildlife and Peace Parks Foundation in August last year, could well lay the foundation for the creation of a large transfronteir park.
It’s a risky undertaking given the volatile political backdrop in the region as well as the still prevalent poaching of wildlife. However, this could transform what is essentially a small 300 km2 “boutique” park that is as yet unable to support large populations of game into something unforgettable and certainly allow the elephant residents to follow in the migratory footsteps of their ancestors.
The Maputo National Park, which has been co-managed by the Mozambique Conservation Agency (ANAC) and Peace Parks Foundation since 2018, has more diverse habitats with extensive grasslands, coastal forests, mangroves and freshwater lakes which are absent in Tembe. Tembe has its distinctive, extensive sand forests.
Together – and hoping that the same Tembe fairytale ending is possible – this could be magical.
I’ll hopefully be one of the first to explore what will undoubtedly be one of Africa’s greatest elephant wonderlands – until then, though, let’s try and remove those alien invaders, both human and plant and keep Tembe beautifully authentic.
