Kruger National Park

Out of this world. To be so close to these animals was amazing a definite must if you love to see the world.

Beat the crowds and go in winter or early spring and layer, layer, layer!

Kruger was never actually on my Wishlist. Over the last 15 years I've travelled to several different areas in Africa - Namibia, Botswana, Zambia, Malawi, Tanzania, Uganda and South Africa. 'Kruger' is the place that everyone asks about - 'have you been there'? I'm not a big fan of the tourist pathways and have gone along the volunteering route to experience a different side. A side that I love.

Having said that, I was actually volunteering at The Moholoholo Wildlife Rehabilitation Centre, which is in the general vicinity of Kruger National Park. We were given an opportunity to visit Kruger on a day trip. Seeing that I was so close, I decided to see it for myself.

We left before sunrise in an open safari vehicle. The sides were up so the breeze was quite chilly. Our driver stopped so we could get pictures of the beautiful sunrise. Entering at Orpen Gate, we stopped for breakfast. Shortly after we found a leopard at the side of the road, relaxing. Eventually he got up and left. Two rhinos were spotted in the distance but we couldn't see them well without binoculars. A leopard tortoise also reposed in the middle of the road. He was a big specimen!

Elephants, lions and lionesses, zebras, kudu, wildebeests, impalas, nyala, waterbuck, giraffes, the usual parade were on view. I was lucky enough to catch a glimpse of a lioness walking near to the road (our guide had missed her). We were the only vehicle around so had a good chance to follow and observe her without other cars. The best sighting was a group of spotted dogs, reclining in the shade. At the most there were 6-7 vehicles at a sighting at any one time.

Lunch at Satara Camp and time for souvenir shopping before the afternoon drive. By this time it was quite warm. Our group enjoyed the day and were happy to sit and watch the animals, rather than race around to see how many we could find. The safari guide was very compliant with our requests. Another stop at the Orpen Gate souvenir shop for anything we missed and a 'comfort stop' before heading back home.

If you want to see Kruger I'd recommend going in a low season to avoid crowds (unless that's your "thing"). More space for all to see and breathe!

Food for your Soul

October in the Kruger is a magical time as many of the antelope are foaling, so there is lots of new life abounding. The first of the seasonal rains have fallen so the park is turning green but the bush is not too dense yet, so making game viewing still easy. ( the thicker the bush the more difficult it is to spot the game.
The magic of Kruger is the natural beauty, there small dirt tracks that take you into the quieter areas, where you can just switch off your vehicle and sit and listen to the sounds of silence. Animals roam freely so you may encounter any species at any time. Early mornings and later afternoons are the best times to get out there to see the animals. So make sure you are up at the crack of dawn and out till last light. Relax in the Chalet during the heat of the day. Sanparks provides comfortable accommodation without damaging the feel and look of nature. The most important thing is to slow down and move with the beat of the bush.

Wildlife galore

We flew from London to Hoedspruit via Johannesburg and picked up a hire car (a 2*4 SUV) at Hoedspruit. We drove to Satara via the Orpen gate and stayed in Satara for 4 nights.

The standard chalet that we had was simple, but clean and had everything we needed. The fridge, kettle, toaster and microwave enabled us to have a good breakfast before driving out on safari each day.
We took a packed lunch with us each day, because the long drives meant that it was too far to return to Satara in the middle of the day. In the evening we ate in the restaurant which had good, filling food at a reasonable price.
The weather started quite cool and I began to wonder if it had been a mistake not to bring a coat, but luckily it warmed up as the days passed. There was one cloudy day, the rest were sunny with some lovely sunrises and sunsets.

On the way in we drove on the H7 to Satara and on the way out we took the Rabelais loop back to Orpen.

On our three full days, we drove the s100 - s41 - h6 loop twice and the s40 - s60 - s39 - s36 - s126 - h1-3 route once.

Driving ourselves meant that we could spend as long as we wanted when we saw something interesting and we stopped frequently. We didn't feel that the park was too crowded, even though Satara is quite a big camp. At most animal sightings there were only 1 or 2 other vehicles present, while at bird sightings we were normally the only vehicle present.

We enjoyed the Sweni bird hide because there was always something happening. We spent a couple of hours there, on each of our s100 days, watching the crocodiles, hippos and all the bird life.
At the Sweni waterhole on the s126 we saw large numbers of elephants (100+) coming to drink in the evening.

One evening we joined a guided tour run from Satara. It turned into a long drive along the S100 to a reported leopard sighting, but was worth it as we had superb views of a leopard resting in a tree as the sun went down.

We saw all the animals that we hoped to see, plus lots more, with the exception of rhinoceros. The commonest sightings were impala, elephant, giraffe, zebra, kudu and wildebeest, plus lots of birds.

The highlights were the leopard sighting mentioned previously, the elephant and giraffe that walked right past us while we were sat in our car having lunch, the kingfisher slapping a fish on a branch to kill it, the lilac breasted rollers, the martial eagle and many others.

We thoroughly enjoyed our four days self driving in the Kruger, but it was a pleasant change to be driven on guided safaris for the remaining 6 days of our trip in the Sabie Sands and Klasserie reserves.

We could not more kinds of animals than Thornybush, but could see beautiful wild life in the park.

Great place to see the big 5 and experience the wildlife overall. We had an amazing 3 days here and really wish we could have stayed much longer. Choose the right lodge and enjoy yourself!

We saw almost all the wildlife we had hoped to see.

Days out of the world

My title is to explain that this experience has been farer than everything else I've lived in my entire life. Seeing a lion sleeping 1 meter from you in his habitat is one of that things that change you're life. The wildlife is simply amazing, I've been quite lucky spotting all the big five more than one time (except the leopard). Elephant and giraffes seem to love people because there are more of them on the road than in the bush. Roads are all kept in a perfect way, and also offroads for tourists cars are in a good situation. The scenery isn't so beautiful, it's mostly plane and with these bushes. In winter (season of when I was there) it's all naked and without a leaf. It's not a pleasure for the eyes, but it's perfect for spotting animals. I'm not a birder, but I can confirm to have seen loads of different type of birds, one more colorful or big than the other. Accommodations are a bit old fashioned, but comfy at the end (I've slept at Oliphant and Satara). I did gamedrives on both the sites, honestly I enjoyed more the ones at Satara, but in general the whole experience of Satara is more pleasant, mostly due to the people working in it: kindest and funniest persons ever. At Satara I've met what probably is the best spotter in the world: he spotted a chameleon, a spider and a tiny owl on trees in the sunset light while he was driving. Astonishing. We were really lucky with the weather. not a single day of rain, but a bit of fresh wind to cool down under the african sun. I'm trying to delete the memories of the food in those two camps: both restaurants were really bad, at Satara there is a pizza seller which is a bit better, but my advice is to try find something to eat in the stores. By the way all food it's not the most important part of a trip like this. The most important part are the animals and trust me when I say that i think Kruger park is the best for that, plenty of them and probably due to the high number of tourist they aren't scared by humans and seem to enjoy photos. You can check some images of my trip at this link https://www.flickr.com/photos/lucam96/

The wildlife experience is unique and memorable.

An amazing experience

Whilst staying on a local private game reserve we went into the Kruger on 2 days. I don't know whether we were just lucky or if its always like this, but we saw so many amazing sights on both occasions. We were helped hugely by having an excellent guide and driver on both occasions. I really think this is key to having a great experience. They know the animal behaviour and can spot so many animals we would have missed if we were on our own. Their knowledge of the park will have also helped massively. On both occasions we found the park to be quiet with not too many other vehicles to contend with. This was a concern of mine before going. We did find a few crowds where there were 5-10 other vehicles, but these were on the main paved roads where there were leopards, cheetah or elephants in water holes. The rest of the time we just explored and mostly were the only vehicle watching the animals. On both days we were there we saw the big 5 and so much more. A brief list of animals we saw whilst there includes: Lions, Cheetah, Leopard (3 in trees, one hunting), Jackal, Wild Dogs, Hyena, Elephants, Zebras, Giraffes, Buffalo, Ostriches, Vultures, Birds of Prey, Kudu, Impala, Steenbok, Nyala, Wildebeest, Warthogs, Waterbuck, Crocodiles, Hippos, countless birds, a couple of species of mongoose, baboons, monkeys, white rhino. We were also fortunate enough to see a black rhino. One thing to note is that it is well worth arriving as the gates open and leaving just before they close. The animals are out and moving around best when its a bit cooler and tend to stay out of the heat of the day a bit. It can be quite chilly at this time so warm clothes are advised and it can get stiflingly hot in the middle of the day. The area we visited was entering through the Orpen gate and heading North and South from Santara. It was September and incredibly dry which made viewing animals easier. All in all we found it a wonderful place and are thinking of saving for another trip, perhaps in a different season.