It’s ironic that people rush to Game Parks ,spend huge amounts of money on going on safari whilst in the meantime countless numbers of animals and bird species are becoming extinct. To reach the park one takes to roads overloaded with trucks transporting coal to our ports for use by China and other countries whilst our Government allows our railways to go to rack and ruin. The world’s population continues to increase putting further pressure on our wild places.
Kruger National park is the largest park in South Africa and covers nearly 20000 km2. It became South Africa’s first national park in 1926 and while most private Game Reserves are for the rich and famous from overseas Kruger remains an affordable option for locals as well as catering for foreign guests. There is a variety of accommodation inside the park including the camping . For this visit I opted to stay in Komatipoort near the gate to Crocodile Gate and be a day visitor. I chose the week that SAN Parks deemed free to enter and drove my car in the Southern part of the park.
The first day it rained which affected game viewing but nevertheless I experienced one of my best sights, a leopard eating its kill wedged in the fork of a tree. Although it was some distance away I had a perfect view with binoculars.
Kruger has a number of camps containing shops and restaurants and I took advantage to have my breakfast, usually with a good view over the rivers.
There are many elephants in the park, far more than I can remember from previous, some of the viewings are spectacular. Being up close to these huge beasts is memorable and small babies are wonderful to watch with their funny antics. Viewing elephants has become matter of fact and many people just drive past.. Not me , I find them wonderful to watch.
Lions are plentiful but usually disappoint to watch with crowds of cars nosing in to watch their sleeping bodies tucked under a bush sleeping. I did see apar mating.
Another wonderful sighting was four wild dogs sleeping by the side of the road. I watched them alone for 20 minutes before the first car arrived. Like cheetahs they sleep and then jerk awake keeping their eyes and ears open for danger.
A huge herd of buffalo was another special sighting.
Birds are prolific but difficult to spot when driving.
I find that one can drive for a long time and see nothing and then turn around the corner and there is a wonderful sighting.
I didn’t see a rhino, an animal which has almost become extinct in the Kruger due to poaching.
The road back home is mostly set up for agriculture , pine forests, sugar cane ; and is a green desert with few birds and animals. Kruger is but an island in the middle of it all and our Game Parks are coming under increasing pressure. I fear for the future of our wild places.