Kruger National Park
“A mass of gold gently stirs.
It raises its head and
contemplates the vast wilderness…
A slow growl emerges from the
depth of its being.
The king throws back his
magnificent mane and lets out a mighty roar.
He is free.
He is home.”
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| The location of the Kruger National Park in South Africa (Skukuza marked with black as the main camp) |
The Kruger National
Park… That’s probably enough said regarding this world-famous iconic wildlife
destination. In this article I focus on the broad sense of the tons of things
to see and experience at the Kruger National Park and highlight a few things I
would personally recommend tourist (domestic and international) to participate
or experience while visiting the Kruger.
Spanning across northern
Southern Africa and stretching over the Mpumalanga- and Limpopo provinces lies
the Kruger National Park (KNP). The park rich in biodiversity had its origins
in 1926 when it was decided by the then government of South Africa to combine
adjacent gaming farms and create a no-fenced area where indigenous animals are
the centre of attention along with the possibilities of conservation and
protection of specific animals such as the African Elephant and the Black-and
White Rhinoceros. The park quickly grew as the place to visit in South Africa
among domestic and international tourists with a passion for wild animals, the outdoors
and adventure-seekers. The idea for this wildlife sanctuary, which later became
a national park, originated in 1884 with former President Paul Kruger (statue presented).
The park stretches for approximately
350km from north to south along the Mozambique border to where South Africa,
Zimbabwe and Mozambique meets at the infamous Crook’s Corner on the confluence
of the Luvuvhu- and Limpopo rivers to the north. Well known for its diversity
of habitat and wildlife, the Kruger offers visitors an excellent opportunity to
experience close encounters with the Big 5 (Lion, Leopard, Rhinoceros, African Elephant
and Buffalo), along with sightings of other indigenous species to the Kruger
that include the Wild dog (Cape hunting dog), Cheetah, Zebra and Giraffe. As
seen many times lions or leopards will sleep on car roves, elephants along with
buffalo’s and zebra’s will graze on the roads bringing travel literally to a
stop. The Park Rangers makes sure that the undisturbed and peaceful
surroundings of the animals stays at the centre of attention and cater to their
needs, that’s why SAN Parks in recent years have enabled a carrying capacity of
the park only allowing a certain amount of tourist in daily, to ultimately preserve
the natural environment, they also implemented rules not to disrupt or feed the
animals of the park, because ultimately tourist are visiting the animals ‘home’
and not vice versa. The park also has a thriving bird community with over 500
bird species, definitely a birdwatcher’s paradise (avi-tourism).
Camps within the KNP
include Berg-en-Dal situated on the bank of the Matjulu Spruit with spectacular
views to the hills in the east. The Malelane Satellite Camp stationed where the
Crocodile River separates the KNP from the neighbouring sugar cane farms, the
camp is situated in the Southern part of the Kruger and is a small camp leaving
the tourist with an intimate bush experience. Crocodile Bridge Camp is situated
on the south-eastern corner of the KNP. The camp has a unique game viewing area;
known as ‘Southern Circle’ and it is renowned for its concentration of
different prides of lions with different hunting techniques and behaviour. This
camp also has the larger rhino population to offer within the KNP. Skukuza
situated in the middle-part of the Kruger is the main camp of the KNP, being
the largest camp in the KNP Skukuza, is the gateway to all the smaller
satellite campuses. Others camps within the Park include Letaba-; Lower Sabie-;
Mopani-; Olifants-; Orpen-; Maroela-; Tamboti-; Pretoriuskop-; Punda Maria-;
Satara-; Balule- and the Shingwedzi satellite and rest camps.
For the nature-lover at
heart a number of bushveld camps are also available that provides accommodation
in smaller and more remote camps, some of these camps include Bateleur-;
Biyamiti-; Shimunwini-; Sirheni- and Talamatic Camps. The sole focus of these camps
are to attract smaller number of tourist and focus only on the handful of
tourist and given them the true African ‘bush-experience’. These smaller camps
promote camping facilities and not necessarily luxury bush lodges, these
smaller camps also have walking trails through the Park accompanied with a
trained and armed game ranger where animals can be encountered from a few
metres away. I would personally suggest these smaller camps to the more adventures
tourist who are keen to experience the wild-life first hand and simply be free
from the hustle-and-bustle of the more populated areas within the Park. The
areas are relatively untouched, with a limited built environment.
Other attractions are
life shows which include camp fire stories and dancing performed by the local
indigenous people of the area, the Venda- and Ndebele tribes- definitely a
performance worth watching. Also be sure
to undertake a Bush Safari accompanied by Park Rangers and tour guides through
the Kruger and be taught and showed all animals and plants of the specific area
and what their specific goal is within this biome. For the food-enthusiast (should
be very brave!) be sure to try out the Mopani-worm delicacy of the area, there
worms are cooked and then served either plain or spicy- a local delicacy. These
worms are also native to the area and live on the Mopani tree which can be seen
throughout the park.
The park is also home
to a number of archaeological sites such as Thulumela and Masorini, both of
which are situated to the north and can be accessed with 4x4 driven vehicles.
These sites, particularly Thulamela are ruins left by the Shona-people in the
16th century, as they were forced out of the area by the deadly
Tsetse fly and migrated north. These are presumable the people who established
great ancient cities like Mapungubwe and Great Zimbabwe a must see to please
your ‘inner-academic persona’. Be sure to take safety measures when visiting
the area, this specific zone is classified as a malaria ‘hotspot’, this illness
can be prohibited by drinking malaria pills/medication beforehand.
Come and experience
humans living in harmony with nature, here one has the ability to experience
the sharp contrast between the wilderness and the world out there, the Kruger
National Park is definitely an icon of South African Tourism. It’s one of the
few places where people can experience the true beauty that is South Africa,
but with an educational- and cultural side added to the wildlife experience.
Become an adventurer
and discover the heart of Southern Africa…
