Why you must visit the Kruger National Park

When you think of an African safari, Kruger National Park is probably what you envision. In the Kruger you will see animals every safari drive. Whether it be Impalas, Birds, Zebras, Wildebeests, or one/all of the big five! I will tell you why you should visit the Kruger and what made our experience so special.

Up close and personal

One of the best parts of safariing in the Kruger National Park, is the fact they allow some lodges to take their vehicles off road. The guides have areas they are aware of not being able to take the vehicles off road to protect the vegetation. In accessible areas, when you see animals, the guide can/will drive up as close as they can to a sighting without disturbing the animals. This was amazing as we got very close to animals. The below photo was taken on my IPhone, so you know he was really close!

Sightings

On our first Safari we were able to find a leopard, which is one of the more rare animals to see. We didn’t know this at the time, but having that knowledge now makes us very happy to have experienced it. As you can see below, Leopards blend in so well in the tall grass, which makes it tricky to spot them. Hence why they are more rare to see. We were within 5 feet of this leopard as he walked right in front of our vehicle and even lost sight of him a couple times!

Besides seeing the leopard on our first safari out, we saw so many other kinds of animals just on our first day! We saw Baboons giving their alarm call and elephants greeting each other with their trunks. We had an elephant within feet of us trying to scare us off and staring us down. Plenty of Impalas leaping out of the road as we drove by. It was beautiful and exciting everywhere we looked! Our first night in the bush, all the animals decided to welcome us with their calls. Two male lions were roaring for their mates most of the night and the hyenas were whooping with delight.

The next morning was one we won’t quickly forget. We were lucky to find the lions we heard roaring most of the night and got to witness them roaring in the early morning hour. After spending some time photographing and videoing them, we got the call that cheetahs were spotted. My husband, Zach, really was hoping to see cheetahs on our trip. We Ferrari safaried to the location they were spotted and we were lucky to make it! Three cheetahs in the area and two climbed up onto the termite mound for that infamous photo. Every safari was a different adventure and felt incredibly lucky for the amazing sightings we experienced.

Lions!

Lions, lions, and lions oh my! On our five safari drives in the Kruger, we saw lions in all but one safari drive. The park is home to over 1,000 lions. I couldn’t believe our luck with how many lions we saw. On our second afternoon safari drive, we found ourselves surrounded by a pride of lions as the sun was setting. The lions are very active at night. It was incredible to witness. I felt like I was in lion king watching the moms giving their babies a bath. This was one of the most intense moments on our trip. Not only did we stay past the sun going down and only using spot lights to see, we had one pissed off lioness in our midst.

She looks really angry, but this was only her mid yawn. The lions will start to yawn more before they get up and become active and walking around. We were just happy to get out of there before she decided to charge our vehicle.

Facts about the Kruger

The Kruger National Park is HUGE – 2 million hectares to be exact. It is one of the largest game reserves in the world. Think of all the animals that must call the Kruger home! If you want to go on a safari, I would add the Kruger as one of your destinations.

If you don’t want to leave the comfort of your AC/Heater, you can opt to see animals from your vehicle with the Kruger Self Drive! The Kruger self drive has set paths visitors can take. Expect a mixture of paved and dirt roads. We did not do the Kruger self drive on our trip, but I can definitely see the draw. You can safari all day if you want to! You go at your own pace. For more information about the Kruger self drive, you can visit their site here.

There are some popular view points in South Africa within a couple hours drive from the Kruger. We were lucky on our landing into Hoedspruit to fly through the Blyde River Canyon. This view was incredible! They offer helicopter tours through the canyon but we were lucky we saw it from our airplane! In the Blyde River Canyon there is a look out point known as God’s Window. This is a well known spot people will add as a stop on their trip to South Africa.

We made so many amazing memories within the short amount of time we had in the Kruger. We cannot wait to come back again one day. I hope one day you will get to enjoy the Kruger too! If interested, you can see our whole South Africa itinerary here.

Wander On,

Christina