Greater Kruger Park, South Africa

• Excellent game-viewing in the Kruger National Park
• Choice of private game reserves and Kruger concessions
• Option to sleep out in a treehouse in the bush
• Walking safaris in the Kruger National Park
• Explore the Blyde River area after your Kruger Park safari
• Hot Air Ballooning over the bush

Reasons to visit Greater Kruger Park

Kruger Park Family Safaris

A lot has been written about malaria free family safaris – including a fair amount by ourselves. However malaria in the Kruger Park area is a seasonal issue and so you shouldn’t necessarily shy away from a family safari in the Kruger if you are travelling during the dry season (May to September). There are some stunning family friendly game lodges in the Kruger Area. Some offer a full on kid’s safari programme taking the concept of rangers in training. Prime examples of this would be the exclusive Londolozi Varty Camp or Lukimbi Safari Lodge. Others are a little more relaxed and offer a child-friendly environment where the emphasis is on families spending time together. Honeyguide Khoka Moya or Ulusaba Safari Lodge would be good examples there… We have visited or stayed at nearly all of the child-friendly game lodges in the Kruger Park area and so can speak from first hand experience.

• Londolozi Varty Camp
• Lukimbi Safari Lodge

The Safari Experience at a private game reserve

So what is the pattern of a safari when staying at a private game reserve? This varies slightly from lodge to lodge but each aims to build their safari experience around the behaviour of the wildlife. You head out early in the moning on a open 4x4 game vehicle as this is the time when the animals are most active and often on the hunt. Your ranger is a font of knowledge about animal behaviour and so can help you interpret what you are seeing. You return in time for a late, and keenly awaited breakfast. Sometimes this takes the form of a brunch. The pattern of morning and evening game drives allows time in the middle of the day for relaxation in the comfort and luxury of the lodge. The 'chase' begins again in the late afternoon, with another game drive, which continues after dark. This just gives you time to swap safari tales over an excellent dinner, before you get an early night - in preparation for more pre-dawn excitement! At least one, if not all of your evening meals are likely to be taken in an open 'boma', under the stars around an open fire. Particularly informative are the guided bush walks with a tracker, which enable you to get closer to some of the smaller creatures and flora of the bush.

Elephant Back Safaris

Elephant Back Safaris are available in various locations, adjacent to the Kruger National Park, along the Garden Route of South Africa and also at Victoria Falls on the banks of the Zambezi river. The exact format differs slightly but usually you begin with a safety briefing and a general orientation. You interact with the elephants whilst the guide gives an informative talk on the African elephant and its relationship with man. Afterwards you meet the elephants and their handlers and begin the elephant back safari. What is so magical is that you understand so much more about elephant behaviour from this experience, seeing the constant forage for food, hardly hearing the elephant’s footsteps and appreciating just how nimbly such huge animals can move. You will view game in a completely different way as the wildlife views you as part of the natural environment and not an interloper. The elephant back safaris close to the Kruger traverse the open grassland plains, whereas at Victoria Falls, the elephant back safari winds through riverine bush and shallow parts of the Zambezi River onto the islands of the Zambezi river.

Malaria - a seasonal issue

The Greater Kruger is a designated malaria-risk area, especially in the summer between October and April, so you need to take anti-malaria tablets and reduce the chance of being bitten with insect sprays and long clothing. In the dry season from May to September, there is very little mosquito activity as the nights are too cold for mosquitos. Happily, this is also the best time for game viewing as the animals congregate around the waterholes and come to the rivers to drink.

Walking Safaris

For us, the walking safari is the ultimate wildlife experience. You will never forget the moment when, crouched low in the aromatic golden grass beside your armed game scout and guide, you watch elephants cross the river towards you! A walking safari is gentle ambling so it is suitable for any adventurous adult. KwaZulu Natal and the Greater Kruger Park area have a number of walking safaris on offer. Most famous are the wilderness trails of the Kruger, Hluhluwe and Mkuze Game Reserves; five-day game trails guided by park rangers, where you eat out under the stars and sleep in simple trail camps. Alternatively you can choose the length of your walking safari when you stay in some of the private game reserves. Phinda Game Reserve (in KwaZulu Natal) and Ngala Game Reserve (in the Greater Kruger) both offer walking safaris staying comfortable, but rustic, bush camps. Rhino Post Walking Safaris offers two to three night stays at Plains Camp, a private concession in the Kruger National Park, with the opportunity to enjoy a sleep-out in their elevated treehouses.

• Rhino Post Plains Camp

The Hoedspruit Research and Breeding Centre

The Hoedspruit Research Centre was initially established as a breeding programme for the endangered cheetah of South Africa, but following the enormous success of this programme, it has evolved into a breeding programme for other endangered animal species such as the rare African wild dog, the Blue crane, Aardwolf and other cat species such as the African wild cat, serval and black-footed cat.

Pilgrim's Rest

Pilgrim's Rest began in 1873 when rich deposits of gold were found in a nearby creek. The village has been restored so as to be a 'living monument' to give you a feel for what it must have looked like at the height of the gold rush. Pilgrim's Rest owes its name to some men digging for gold at nearby MacMac. They called themselves 'the Pilgrims'. The group included a crusty old loner named 'Wheelbarrow' Patterson from his habit of carrying his meagre worldly goods in a wheelbarrow. In 1873 Patterson, finding MacMac too crowded, loaded up his wheelbarrow and followed a game-trail over the mountains, until he looked down into a valley with a clear stream. Even before pitching camp, he panned some of the river gravel. The golden tail in the pan showed richness beyond his wildest expectations. Shortly afterwards Patterson was joined by another digger, Trafford. Stunned by the wealth in his pan, Trafford is said to have called out in delight: 'The Pilgrim is at rest' and so the first thoroughly profitable goldfield in South Africa received its name.

• Lodge nearby - Tanamera Lodge