This Park is one of the premier ones in South Africa and is visited by thousands of people each year either as day trippers or staying in one of the 12 main camps some of which can sleep over 300 people. As it covers 8,000 square miles (the same size as Wales or Israel): 214 miles North to South and averaging 33 miles wide, it rarely seems crowded - except where lion or leopard have been found.
Its size means that there is a wide range of habitats that accommodate, I'm told, 147 species of mammal, 490 of bird, 94 of reptile, 33 amphibians and 200 different types of tree.
Days in Kruger fall into a regular pattern; out of the camp as soon as possible after they open the gates at 0600 (the early bird catches the predators in the cool before they sleep through out the day); driving the roads at a slow speed scanning the bush (speed limits = 50kph on tar and 40kph on the dirt back roads: beware there are speed traps); sitting at water holes waiting for animals to appear or watching them when they make an appearance; getting back to camp by 1800 (when the gates are locked and there are heavy fines for any late comers) and finally DIY diner or a visit to the camp restaurant.
As the days are all very much the same, the following are the highlights :
- Waiting for ages as a large herd of Cape Buffalo saunter across the road with the occasional one giving us a long hard stare. With their large horns, sharp hooves and bad temper, they are not the animal to meet on foot in the bush.
- Sitting on the decking at Mopane Camp with a cold beer after a long hot drive - watching the big red orb of a sun sink over the bush and talking to a SA couple about our relative experiences and preferences.
- Playing road side chess with other cars trying to get a good view of a leopard up in a tree in failing light and a fast approaching deadline to get back to camp.
- See a leopard cross the road in front of us with out a care in the world - and we didn't have to share her with anybody else.
- Having dinner on the wooden decking outside the restaurant at Lower Sabie with the sound of Hippos grazing in the dark just below us.
- Sitting any where, any time watching elephants - especially the social interactions within the breeding herds.
- Listening to something - bird, insect or frog: I've no idea - doing an impression of the BBC time pips but not knowing when to stop, just going on and on. It's a constant background noise when you are trying to get to sleep.
- Being woken in the pitch black by the deep descending coughing descending call of a lion just down the road.
- Watching two Fish Eagles soaring on a thermal gradually gaining height, occasionally uttering their evocative call - totally spoilt for me when compared in a bird guide to that of a Herring Gull. Then the pair grasping the other's claws and spiraling down together to within a few feet of the ground before releasing.
- Massive areas of blacken bush and ashen trees that had been burnt off either as a result of lightening strike or managed burning. Kruger publicity says that these deliberate fires (each area is burnt off once every three years) have three benefits: the burn off the 'fuel load' so natural fires are less intense and more controllable, research has shown that they kill off invading plant species and it increases new growth for animals. It also admits that it improves viewing for paying guests!
- Four White Rhino by the side of the road: one sprawled on the ground and the other three with their rears resting on the first facing out at 1200 intervals.
- Birds that can speak: A dove that says "work harder" and a Lourie that tells you to "Go away".
- If it's brass polish it. All that camp managements seem to have a thing about shiny brass fittings whether its the big fire hydrants, ordinary taps, window catches and even the fittings on the outside waste pipe from sinks.
- A leopard sitting unconcerned on the opposite bank of the river watching us watching him.
- Tamboti Camp Site: This is really a misnomer - they were tents but ones you could walk into through a full sized wooden door. They had large openings all round with mosquito netting to let the breeze through. They contained 4 full sized single beds, a wardrobe, a fridge freezer and fan. Best of all it was raised up on a platform which meant that we could sit on its veranda in the peace & quiet and look out over the river. Unfortunately, the river was dry but you could just imagine it later in the year flowing past with a procession of animals coming down to drink.
- Mary's cooking - especially her ability to make soya mince appetising!
- Large male Lions pacing along a pitch black dirt road highlighted in headlights.
- Dozing in bed waiting to fall asleep listening to Hippo honking their bass honks in the distance.
- Mamoba: Miles and miles of bloody Africa - The endless vistas over the bush.
Visit the Gallery page for this part of the journey.
