South Africa – Kruger: King of the Parks?

July 14

Hello everyone!

South Africa’s safari pride and joy is Kruger National Park. It is one of the most visited safari parks in the world and contains almost every animal your imagination would picture when thinking about safaris. It’s also a good chance of seeing the ‘Big Five’ in one day.

A female kudu leaping through the bush

Zazu from the Lion King!

Kruger, named after Paul Kruger who was President of the South African Republic from 1883 to 1900, is massive, covering about 19,500 km². It’s the size of Wales. Huge.

Some of the park is in Mozambique

Sunrise in Kruger

It is huge in terms of popularity as well as size. This is one of the go-to places for South Africans, who are encouraged further with steep discounts. The park gates opened at 6am – at 5:45 the line at the entrance, which we were somehow able to skip, stretched for hundreds of metres. Within the park itself, it was rare to be driving for a significant amount of time without seeing or passing another vehicle, even with the sheer size of the park.

Being stuck in traffic was a new safari experience for me,
and one that didn't add any pleasure

This was the first safari I’ve been on that had ‘traffic’. There are other factors that make Kruger different to the other national parks I’ve seen in southern Africa. The obvious one is the roads. There are roads. Most of the tracks are paved with bitumen: hardly natural for the animals.

A sedan drives comfortably down a hill in Kruger

I can't imagine that the giraffe enjoys walking on tarmac

Entering so early allows people on a game drive to see some of the more elusive animals, those which find shelter from the sun during the day. We struck gold within five minutes of entering Kruger, having to stop to allow some lions across the road. The pride consisted of five or six lions.

A lioness observing the rest of her pride

Within half an hour of passing through the gates, we’d seen our second member of the ‘Big Five’ group: the elephant.

Big Momma feeding with her baby

This young elephant was between three and five years old

After driving for less than an hour in Kruger’s boundaries, we then found our third member of this group, so-called because of the difficulty and danger encountered when people used to hunt them. The buffalo were well hidden in the long bush.

Later we saw a large herd crossing the grassland

As expected, the number of predator sightings thinned out as the Sun rose and started to beat down on the grassland. Plenty of other animals use this chance to move around the park.

Antelopes can move around with greater freedom in daylight

A male kudu, complete with twisted horns showing his age

One new animal for me was the hyena. Looking like ugly dogs, we drove past a pack hiding from the strong rays of sunshine.

Hyenas are normally seen at night

They don't look quite like they did in the Lion King...

Some national parks have specific opening times, usually based around sunrise and sunset. In contrast, Kruger is open all day but with a limited scope for night drives. The only other drive I’ve been on with these opening hours is Etosha in Namibia. The difference there was the flatness of the land, which makes it difficult for predators to hide in Etosha. In Kruger, the bush is dense, giving plenty of shelter and hiding places.

The buffalo herd, heading towards the dense greenery

Hippos drinking at a water hole

Kruger seemed a bit more commercial as a safari destination compared to the other places I’ve visited. The cafes could have been found in any park in the UK. I thought it lacked the charm of other, smaller parks I’ve visited, and didn’t feel as adventurous as a place such as South Luangwa. I’m not saying it wasn’t good; it’s worth a visit as you’re pretty much guaranteed to see some of Africa’s most popular animals. I do believe that a more inclusive and truer experience can be found in the national parks about South Africa.

Love you all

Matt