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 The cruise begins in the Northern area of the Lake where the Pongola River, which is the only water source feeding the Lake, enters. While the extreme Northern tip creeps into Swaziland and the rest of the Northern area and the entire Western and Southern banks are bordered by the Pongola Nature Reserve and the Pongola Game Reserve. The game reserves host many animal species which can be seen in herds from Shayamanzi's decks: White and Black Rhino, elephant, buffalo, hippo, crocodile, wildebeest, giraffe, zebra, kudu, nyala, bushbuck, mountain reedbuck, common reedbuck, red duiker, grey duiker, waterbuck, steenbuck, suni antelope, black backed jackal, hyena, cheetah, wild dog, cerval cat, warthog, bushpig, banded mongoose, legavaan, terrapin and the occasional siting of leopard which roam the slopes of the Lebombo mountains.The muddy plains and reed banks provide excellent breeding grounds for the waterbirds which can be seen in thousands - Whistling Duck, Yellowbilled Storks, Spurwing and Egyptian Geese, Commorants, various Herons, Kingfishers, and several Fish Eagles. Along the entire Western bank is the magnificent Lebombo Mountain range. One of the evening anchorages is a night in the Gorge. Here the Mountains rise either side of you, covered in indigenous cycads and ferns and where the glo-flies make a spectacular show along the shoreline. |