Arnoud Quanjer Wildlife Photography

The Kruger National Park is the largest and National Park in South-Africa. It is also the flagship of nature conservation in South Africa. Established in 1898 to protect the wildlife of the South African Lowveld, this national park of nearly 2 million hectares, is unrivaled in the diversity wildlife. The park houses the big 5 and loads of other animals including the wild dog, cheetah and serval. 

Getting there

The park is situated on the eastern side of South Africa approx. 500km from Johannesburg. Driving to the Kruger National Park from Johannesburg will take you about five to six hours depending on what gate you use to enter the park. The road to the park is in excellent condition and is partially a toll road. Expect to pay about ZAR90 in toll fees for the trip. As of 2 April 2003 SANParks has revised it's pricing plan. Where you used to pay one entrance fees to the park regardless of the number of days you stayed there you now pay per person per day. For international tourists this means that the cost of staying in the park has risen exponensionaly. Expect to pay R160 per adult per day now. Because restcamps are often fully booked, it's probably good advice to book your overnight stays well in advance of your trip. You can book restcamps through the SANParks website. See http://www.sanparks.org for up-to-date information. 

Where to go in the park

The park can be roughly divided into three sections: North, middle and South. The South of the park is the region where most tourists go. You'll see loads of wildlife in that area, but unfortunately also many cars, busses and people. The middle of the park, especially around Satara restcamp, is know as 'big cat' country. This region houses leopards, lions and cheetah as well as herds of zebra, wildebeest etc. This region is not as touristic as the South of the park although it can still be pretty crowded. The North of the park is usually very quiet, not a lot of tourists go there. There are only three restcamps in the North, being Mopani, Shingwedzi and Punda Maria. There is less wildlife to be found in the North but the atmosphere makes up for that. South Africans have described it to me as being 'the atmosphere of Kruger in the old days (1950's)'. For birders the North is a must. There you'll find a mindboggling amount of different bird species, some of them very rare. I personally think the North of the park is the most beautiful region. 

My observations...

The SANParks has been investing heavilly in the Kruger. The roads are in excellent condition, all the nightdrive vehicles have been replaced with new ones, the service in shops and restaurants has improved and even the food in the restaurants has improved. I used to be very sceptical about the level of service that staff in the Kruger offered. Therfore it's only fair to say that I'm impressed by the efforts that have been made over the last couple of yhears to lift the level of service in the park.