Kruger National Park: Ten Things You Should Know Before Visiting

If you plan to visit the Kruger National Park, you should know a few things about this world-famous park before you arrive.

The park is one of the largest and oldest in Africa and offers many opportunities to see animals, learn, have fun, and photograph nature.

Here is an overview of the Kruger National Park:

1. Uniqueness – The park is the flagship of South Africa’s national parks and is home to an impressive number of species: 336 trees, 49 fish, 34 amphibians, 114 reptiles, 507 birds and 147 mammals. The park is 350 kilometers from north to south, about 60 kilometers wide, and has five perennial rivers running through it.

2. Location and history – The park is located in the northeast of South Africa in two provinces, namely Mpumalanga and Limpopo provinces. The park borders Mozambique to the east and Zimbabwe to the north. Kruger Park was first proclaimed in 1898 as the Sabie Game Reserve and in 2002 the fences between Kruger and the Limpopo National Park of Mozambique and Gonarezhou of Zimbabwe were torn down to create the Greater Limpopo Transfrontier Park (GLTP).

3. Size – almost 20,000 square kilometers in South Africa alone. The Kruger parks receive around 1.5 million visitors a year, making it the second most popular tourist attraction in South Africa behind only the city of Cape Town.

Four. Known for – a combination of comfortable and affordable accommodation, good quality roads, unique rest camps, incredible diversity of wildlife, around 120 water wells along the tourist roads and very good photographic opportunities for the animals both inside and outside from the camps.

5. Roads – There are around 850 kilometers of paved roads in the Park, 1,444 kilometers of gravel roads and more than 4,200 kilometers of firebreaks in the park. You don’t need a 4×4 unless you’re going to Mozambique or hitting one of the park’s 4×4 trails. The southern Kruger Park is located 440 km from Johannesburg and the northern part about 530 km from Johannesburg. You can fly to Nelspruit, Phalaborwa or Skukuza and then rent a car or drive from Johannesburg. The roads leading to the park’s nine entry gates from South African cities are all paved and in good condition.

6. Climate – The Kruger has two main seasons; the rainy season and the dry season. The subtropical climate has hot and rainy summers that begin in October and end around March. The summer rains transform the park into a lush flower paradise, but the increase in plant life can make animal viewing and photography difficult. The winter months from April to September are pleasant with hot, dry days and cool to cold nights. Traditionally the best game-watching is in late winter as vegetation becomes sparse and water is restricted to rivers and wells, but we’ve had good game-watching in all seasons.

7. accommodation – The Kruger has the whole spectrum, from luxury cabins to camping. If you enjoy an inexpensive self-drive safari, this is the park for you! There are 25 rest camps with cabins, tents, guest houses, cabins and bungalows; most with fully equipped kitchens, air conditioners, en suite bathrooms and all units are cleaned daily

8. Activities and facilities – You can choose from 5 nature trails, 4×4 adventure trails, backpacking trails, mountain bike trails, night tours, self-drive safaris, bush walks and bush barbecues. There are nearly 3,000 kilometers of wildlife spotting trails, 11 bird caches (including two that are sleeping caches), 14 picnic sites, shops and restaurants at all the main campgrounds, and swimming pools at most of the main campgrounds. Skukuza, the largest camp, has an ATM, a bank, a library, a doctor, a church, two restaurants, a plant nursery, two swimming pools, a conference center, a golf course, you name it! has it!

9. Security advice – Stay in your vehicles when in the park and respect the speed limit. People have been attacked by animals as they got out of their cars, while others have died when speeding caused their vehicle to wind up in the Letaba River!

10. Things to look for in the Kruger:

1. The Big Five: Buffalo, Elephant, Leopard, Lion, and Rhino.
2. The five little ones of Africa: weaver buffalo, elephant shrew, leopard tortoise, lion ant and rhinoceros beetle.
3. The six large birds: ground hornbill, Kori bustard, appended vulture, martial eagle, Pel’s fishing owl, and picota stork.
4. Five large trees – the Baobab, Fever Tree, Lala Palm, Sausage Tree, and Umbrella Thorn – all make ideal photographic subjects due to their unique shapes and colors.
5. Africa’s Super Seven: The Big Five, plus the cheetah and wild dogs.
6. Africa’s Elusive Eleven – Nocturnal animals that are rare, so don’t put your camera away after the sun goes down!
7. Natural / Cultural Features: Letaba Elephant Museum, Jock of the Bushveld Route, Stevenson Hamilton Memorial Library and the archaeological sites of Thulamela, Masorini and Albasini.
8. The magnificent views from Olifants camp, Tshanga and Nkumbe viewpoints.
9. Pafuri and Mlondozi: the two best picnic spots in the park.
10. Sunset Dam and Lake Panic hide away for excellent animal watching.

Kruger National Park offers a safari experience that ranks among the best in Africa, and the park’s genuine African atmosphere has a fascination that draws visitors back again and again.