Kruger National Park
Garden Route Cape Town & Winelands Drakensberg Sun City
This will always be seen as the prototype of wildlife sanctuaries in Africa. The Kruger National Park is approximately the size of the whole of Wales which measures to 1,948 528 million hectares. It covers both the Mpumalanga and the Limpopo Provinces in the northern parts of South Africa and offers the visitor an exhilarating and up-close wildlife experience. Stretching for 352 kilometres from north to south along the Mozambique border, the park is the largest in South Africa and the diversity of wildlife (147 species), bird-life (507 species), fish (49 species) and vegetation (300 species of trees) is unmatched anywhere else in South Africa. Man's interaction with the park over many centuries-from bushmen paintings to majestic archeological sites like Masorini and Thulamela is very evident in the Park.
Proclaimed in 1926, the Kruger National Park was the first national park in South Africa and was named after Paul Kruger, the first president of South Africa. As early as 1884, Kruger developed programs to conserve the increasing threat of extinction of game due to poaching and hunting. If it wasn’t for him nobody knows what would have happened to South Africa’s game. Thanks Paul!
Most of the park is situated in the Lowveld, which has a subtropical climate. These parts are well known for its big 5, namely lion, leopard, elephant, rhino and buffalo. The park is also home to other game like giraffe, hippo, wildebeest, zebra and a wide variety of buck. The Kruger Park is well developed and a fast number of options are available to give any wallet an experience of a lifetime. Surrounding the Kruger Park are a number of Private Game Reserves – many of which now share unfenced borders with one another and with the Kruger Park. Here you can be spoilt like a celebrity and facials, massaging and health and beauty spas aren’t uncommon. Among these are the well-known Sabie Sabie Game Reserve, Ulusaba Private Game Lodge, Leopard Hills Private Game Reserve and Shumbalala Game Lodge. Self driving the park is easy and the accessibility of the roads make it possible for any vehicle to master. Alternatively you can go on guided walking safaris, mountain bike trails, hot-air ballooning and bird excursions with qualified guides at private lodges mentioned above.
While staying in the heart of the park is the ultimate experience, there are also a number of small towns surrounding the Kruger Park that are within easy driving distance for day trips and visits to the park. Some of these include Nelspruit, Hazyview, Sabie, White River, Graskop and Marloth Park which is a Nature conservation park all on its own. This lovely game park is 15mins away and wild animals eat from your doorstep every morning. The nearest airport to the park is the Kruger-Mpumalanga International Airport, just outside Nelspruit. The Panoramic route is also nearby which is the home of the only green canyon in the world, the Blyde River Canyon. It is considered one of the natural wonders of Southern Africa, dammed by a 72m high wall makes it the 3rd largest canyon in the world. Together with God's Window, a viewpoint of 1829m above sea level these destinations are said to be the most beautiful places you'll ever see in South Africa.
The southern, more popular, part of Kruger is about 4 1/2 hour's drive from Johannesburg and 4 hour’s from Pretoria. The drive to the more remote, far less utilised, northern part which is not on the same route takes a bit longer. You could do a great circular tour if you had ten days or so to spare. Fly in to KMIA and enter the park in the south, drive very slowly to the north, spending a day or two at different camps en route, and then drive back to Johannesburg or the other way round.