Introducing the Kruger National Park

I first visited South Africa's Kruger National Park (KNP) in 1958 at the age of 14. In the last 12 years Jan and I have visited several times.  Each trip has provided wildlife viewing above our expectations. We plan to return in July this year and so I thought I would introduce readers to this remarkable wildlife sanctuary now, because I will be posting frequent stories and photos while we are there.

Map of the KNP

Located in the northeast corner of South Africa, the KNP is one of the ten largest game reserves in the world. The tropic of Capricorn crosses the park. (see photo here) It was originally proclaimed as the Sabi Reserve in 1898 by the President of the Transvaal Republic, Paul Kruger.  Its original size was about 1,780 sq. miles.  An enlarged area was formally designated the Kruger National Park in 1926.  Now it covers an area of 7,600 square miles.  It is being merged with the Limpopo National Park in Mozambique and the Gona re Zhou Park in Zimbabwe to form the Greater Limpopo Transfrontier Park.  This remarkable initiative will result in a 13,500 sq. mile conservation area that will be one of the largest in the world.

Ultimately the goal is to create a fence-free park, allowing historic wildlife migration routes to be expanded, provide significant employment and income opportunities for rural people and greatly expand Eco-tourism potential in the region. 

The driving distance in the park, from Pafuri Gate in the north to Crocodile Bridge in the south is 250 miles.  

Animals in KNP have the right-of-way.

The uniqueness of  KNP is that one can self-drive and see an amazing variety of mammals, birds and reptiles. Although you can't drive off of the vast system of paved and graveled roads in the park the game-viewing is excellent.


Reasonably priced accommodations are offered, in the many fenced camps from camp-sites, RV parks, chalets, lodges etc.  There are several high end luxury lodges as well.  

Even the smallest species have right of way.

The South African National Parks excellent web pages http://www.sanparks.org/parks/kruger/ provide comprehensive information on trip  routes, accommodations, gas (petrol), restaurants, game viewing, weather and so on.

Marshall Eagle

The Park is unrivaled in the diversity of its life forms and a world leader in advanced environmental management techniques and policies. Truly the flagship of the South African national parks, Kruger is home to an impressive number of species: 336 trees, 49 fish, 34 amphibians, 114 reptiles, 507 birds and 147 mammals. 

Cape Buffalo near Punda Maria Camp in the north.

The KNP is easily accessible, of course, to most South Africans by a modern highway system and it is a favorite vacation destination during school holidays. When planning visits to South Africa it is always a good idea to Google 'SA School Calendar' and pick those periods when schools are not closed. 

I will write about some of the KNP rest camps we have visited and describe the private games reserve areas to the west of the park in upcoming blog posts.

If you have had experiences in the Kruger Park I welcome your comments and opinions.