An Antelope I didnt know existed

It was the Christmas of 2016, and having been in South Africa for more than a couple of months, I was a bit frustrated, not having rendezvoused with the African Wildlife yet. At last a trip was planned and accompanied by a few good friends I was about to begin my tryst with the South African Wilderness. Interestingly for me, my first interaction of an African forest was a very “un” African one as we visited the iSimangaliso Wetland Park, a huge protected area along the coast of South Africa’s KwaZulu-Natal Province. In my head, an African wilderness was a typical south Kruger Bushveld, with open grasslands every now and then. But here I was in this beautiful landscape surrounding the vast Lake St.Lucia that was home to a large number of Hippos, Crocodiles and a number of species associated to the swamps in Southern Africa. Just about 15 mins into the drive and we bumped into what turned out to be a special encounter with a Nyala, that too a Male. A Nyala is a spiral horned antelope found in South Africa which,  exhibits great sexual dimorphism(both sexes differ a lot in appearance) . Only the males have horns and their coats tend to be darker than females. It was amazing to start my bond, which now feels like a life long one, with the African Wildlife via this fascinating antelope.

The variety of Bovids in Africa is staggering...the Nyala being one of those amazing species!