Are you looking for a different experience? Do you love animals? And do you enjoy being active on your vacation? Then, this is it! Kruger National Park offers it all. Not only will you start adoring animals, rather you will be amazed to see how breath-taking the entire experience in a reserve can be!
Let’s get straight into it.
Kruger National Park covers an area of 19,485 sq km in the northeastern part of South Africa. There are various options for accommodation, either right in the reserve itself or at the border. However, both give somewhat the same experience as animals roam around freely.
To have a ‘successful’ experience of Kruger, you must see the so called Big Five: Lion, Rhinoceros, Elephant, Leopard and Buffalo. These are amongst the most dangerous and most difficult, yet popular species to hunt. The ranger and the guide put in a lot of effort to provide their guests with the best experience, meaning that the guests are very much dependent on both to see the best of wildlife.
Wildlife has its own charm. Have you ever seen a beautiful moment like this?
The lion and lioness are making love under a sky full of stars.
Here’s another thing, there is no artificial light in the park. The unpolluted, clear sky filled with thousands – maybe millions – of stars shining down on you makes everything even more magical!
Moreover, the lion is often called the king of the jungle.
However, reality might be slightly different and hilarious, too, as visible in the photo above. The lion is hiding from the elephant. So, who is the king here?
These fun facts together with animals having fun are very exciting to see.
Elephants playing, cleaning and cooling themselves in the water!
The best part, however, is that all the animal activities can be experienced from very close by. These is a sense of acceptance by these animals. If no weird movement is made, they carry on with whatever they are doing. Often, they come so close that it is easy to touch them, but of course it is prohibited and one must always remain calm.
There are some fun animals too, such as the monkey, which will come, grab your food and run away, as shown in the photo below.
Often, there will be sad moments too, for example, seeing a dead animal which is half-eaten. Or, one hanging dead high in the tree saved for a meal later. After all, it’s wildlife and with that also comes animals hunting and eating one another.
There are two safaris daily, one early in the morning at sunrise and the other late afternoon around 4 p.m. Both timings have their own perks, as the early morning safari is much cooler and gives beautiful sights of the sunrise. Morning animals can also differ from those that venture out in the evenings.
The afternoon safari is hotter, goes into the dark evenings and, of course, provides the pretty sky filled with stars.
In the morning you will see different activities of animals, such as bathing and resting, whereas in the evenings there is more action. To have full exposure, both must be experienced. And remember, the more one is in the jungle, the more chances there will be to see all of the Big Five!
Recommendations:
Take a lodge near a river, as the animals will come to drink water.
Wear natural colors – beige, light yellow, browns, etc. – so as not to attract unwanted attention.
Read reviews of the various lodges as the experience will be very dependent on the ranger and guide.
Enjoy the food, it is a huge plus – meat is very delicious!
Adore the beautiful animals and their home.
Breathe in the clean air!
If you are interested in my, Ankita Anand’s, full personal experience in Kruger National Park – please visit beautistaa.com > Blending it all together, Part 2
Ankita Anand
‘Travel. It leaves me speechless, then turns me into a storyteller’
Ankita is a New York-based, independent blogger. Born and raised in Amsterdam, the Netherlands, she is a business administration graduate, but soon discovered her attraction to blogging. In 2016, she started beautistaa.com to share her personal experiences and views on all matters relating to beauty, fashion and travel. With this platform, she wants to motivate and inspire young women to taste life’s utmost by trying to leave their comfort zone and letting the magic around them happen…
Ankita has extensively traveled the world and has lived in Amsterdam, Vienna, Delhi and, most recently, New York. In early 2017, she will move to Singapore, providing many more opportunities to explore Asia!