If you’re planning on visiting the Kruger National Park you must know a couple of things about this world-well-known park earlier than you arrive.
The park is among the oldest and largest parks in Africa and it offers many opportunities for game viewing, learning, recreation, and nature photography.
Right here is an overview of the Kruger National Park:
1. Uniqueness — The park is the flagship of the South African national parks and is residence to an impressive number of species: 336 timber, 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 5 perennial rivers traversing it.
2. Location and history — The park is located in the North East of South Africa in provinces, namely Mpumalanga and Limpopo provinces. The park borders Mozambique to the east and Zimbabwe to the north. The Kruger Park was first proclaimed in 1898 as the Sabie Game Reserve and in 2002 the fences between Kruger and Mozambique’s Limpopo National Park and Zimbabwe’s Gonarezhou, had been taken down to create the Larger Limpopo Transfrontier Park (GLTP).
3. Measurement — practically 20 000 square kilometers just in South Africa. The Kruger parks gets about 1.5 million visitors per yr making it South Africa’s second most popular vacationer attraction behind only the city of Cape Town.
4. Known for — a mix of comfortable and affordable accommodation, good quality roads, distinctive relaxation camps, wonderful diversity of wildlife, about one hundred twenty waterholes along the tourist roads and superb photographic opportunities for animals each out and in the camps.
5. Roads — There are about 850 kilometers of tarred roads in the Park, 1444 kilometers gravel roads and more than 4200 kilometers of fire breaks in the park. You do not want a 4×4 unless you’re going into Mozambique or happening one of the 4×4 trails within the park. The southern Kruger park is situated 440 km from Johannesburg and the northern half about 530 kilometers from Johannesburg. You may fly to Nelspruit, Phalaborwa or Skukuza and then hire a car or drive from Johannesburg. The roads leading to the 9 park entrance gates from cities in South Africa are all tarmac and in good condition.
6. Climate — The Kruger has foremost seasons; the rainy season and the dry season. The subtropical local weather has hot wet summers starting in October and ending round March. The summer rains transform the park right into a lush flowering paradise, but the increased plant life can make game viewing and photography more difficult. The winter months from April to September are nice with warm dry days and cool to cold nights. Traditionally, the most effective game viewing is in late winter because the vegetation becomes sparse and water is restricted to rivers and water holes but we have now had good game viewing in all seasons.
7. Lodging — The Kruger has the total spectrum from luxurious lodges to camping. If you happen to enjoy a self-drive budget safari then this is the park for you! There are 25 rest camps with huts, tents, visitor houses, cottages, and bungalows; most with absolutely geared up kitchens, air conditioners, en-suite bathrooms and all the units are serviced each day
8. Activities and Facilities — you have a choice from 5 wilderness trails, 4×4 adventure trails, backpacking trails, mountain bike trails, night time drives, self-drive safaris, bush walks and bush barbeques. There are almost 3000 kilometers of game viewing roads, 11 fowl hides (including that are ‘sleep-over’ hides), 14 picnic sites, shops and eating places at all the main camps and swimming pools at most principal camps. Skukuza, the biggest camp, has an ATM machine, a bank, a library, a health care provider, a church, eating places, a plant nursery, two swimming swimming pools, conference centre, golf course — you name it Skukuza has it!
9. Safety Suggestions — Please stay in your vehicles when in the park and please stick to the velocity limit. People have been attacked by animals when getting out of their vehicles while others have died when dashing caused their vehicle to finish up in the Letaba river!