Kruger National Park

Kruger National Park has beautiful scenery with mountains, plains, and rivers. There is a very wide variety of wildlife to view. The staff at Kruger National Park seems to be vigilant regarding the safety of the animals within the park.

Professional wildlife safari with a good dose of adventure

My wife and I arrived mid-morning at Skakusa Airport unaware that our travel consultant had made an error in not having us fly to Hoedspruit given our destination was Arathusa Safari Lodge, part of the Sabi Sands Game Reserve annexed to Kruger National Park.

This error made little difference to our activities for the day. We were met at Skakusa by our pre-booked driver who alerted us to the apparent error but decided that he'd turn the situation to our advantage and take us for a drive through the southern end of Kruger National Park.

We quickly encountered elephant, giraffe, impala and zebra.

Our departure from the park was through Paul Kruger Gate where we were met by a small band of vervet monkeys who kept an eye on what we were doing but perhaps looking for an opportunity for a 'grab and run' easy feed, not that we were eating anything at the time.

Leaving Paul Kruger Gate, we crossed the fast flowing Sabi River observing a couple of jousting hippopotamus then stumbling upon a cunning 2.5 metre Nile crocodile waiting patiently below the bridge for unwitting (or perhaps already drowned) prey to be swept past.

We traveled west to Hazyview in Mpumalanga province then turned north towards Acornhoek where along the way we saw the impressive rise of the Drakensberg Range. We took in the sights of busy townships and even busier local markets. Leaving Acornhoek, we traveled east along a sealed road that we thought was in worse condition than some of the dirt roads we'd be travelling and then south to Gowrie Gate and onto Arathusa Safari Lodge.

We'd just made lunch and there was a commotion on the other side of the waterhole ... a pack of a dozen or so African wild dogs had pulled down an impala so it was quickly into the 4WDs armed with cameras to witness this hectic episode. The wild dogs didn't waste any time and ripped the impala apart within minutes. It all came and went very quickly with our guides telling us that hunts of this size happen a couple of times a day as there is simply not enough in an impala to sustain a pack of this size.

And so started 3 days of evening and morning safaris. We were allocated the same driver and spotter for our time at Arathusa so it was possible to build a rapport with these guys and have a bit of fun along the way. Be warned, the early morning starts and evening safaris are quite cold this time of year so take plenty of warm clothing. The 4WDs also have woollen blankets available.

This was our first trip to South Africa and it became clear early on that certain wildlife was easier to find than others. Considerable effort was put into locating leopards and after talking with other guests and continuing our travels through Botswana and Zimbabwe, our total of 5 at Arathusa was special. Even better, two of these allowed us to get some very special pictures early one morning - a female and her well-advanced cub. Our driver was also acutely aware of where to stop the vehicle so as to get the best possible photographs.

The accommodation, food and beverages were first class and the staff were polite and made our stay very comfortable. We wanted for nothing other than perhaps better light for taking photos.

On to Hoedspruit (not Skakusa) Airport to continue our journey.

An amazing experience, to be able to see wild animals in their own environment.

We stayed at the Imbali lodge in Kruger, very impressed with the accommodation & food.
The trip was several hours to get to the lodge which seems long , but i guess if you want to see the animals deep in the bush, you have to travel.
We were very fortunate as on our way to the lodge on the first evening, our guides manged to find a pride of lions in the darkness, very exciting!
Our guide was very good, she was informative, very enthusiastic & very patient which was needed when trying to find the elusive Rhino & get reasonably close to them.
Our weather was good.
We were very fortunate to see the big 5 plus a cheetah, Giraffe & many other animals... inc Wild dogs, Wart hogs, Buffalo.
It is certainly worth getting up early for the morning drive as its the best time of the day!
Would recommend a Safari & would certainly do another as I'm keen photographer & was able to capture some truly amazing animals in their natural habitat.

We personally liked sabi sands more. It feels wilder and less crowded with people. No concrete roads and nobody else driving around, only authorized safari drivers

when we went to Kruger it was a rainy day so we cant saw many animals

The Kruger Park is awesome for animal spotting because you will find all big 5 there. The downside is, there are a lot of cars, and you cannot go offroad

The lodge, guide, food and wildlife were all wonderful. Dont hesitate to book with Kruger Park Travel. Their response to any inquiries was pretty fast as well. Thanks again!

It was a fantastic experience visit the park and stay close to wildlife, an old dream realised.

My wife and I left South Africa planning our return to the Kruger. We used accommodations, food, transportation and guide from Baluleli Safari Lodge and it was very good. We deciced this time of the year to avoid high temperatures and It worked very well, next time we will try during spring for a different scenery and more birdwatching. The park is very well organized and prepared to recieve tourists and showed strong interest in wildlife preservation.

Having seen 4 out of all the Big 5, I could appreciate how challenging it was to find them. This is the appeal of wildlife safari. Being a national park, man-made features have been kept minimal, other than in rest camps. Speed limit has also been imposed for the safety of visitors and of animals.

Visiting Kruger National Park was a cool experience. It is so vast and it's incredible how quickly the scenery changes as you drive through the park. I think the one downside is that because it's so big, it's sometimes hard to pinpoint the location of animals. That said, we had a heard of 20+ elephants walk right in front of our jeep, which was one of the coolest things I've ever experienced. It is 100% worth a visit!