One doesn’t merely take a trip to “quickly see the Kruger”. At almost 20,000 km², it’s bigger than Kuwait, Qatar, Lebanon and our neighbour Swaziland. It’s the kind of place you carve out time for to slowly uncover and explore.
For some people, it’s a yearly pilgrimage to reconnect with nature, go on daily game drives and sit in the silence that bubbles out from its crevices at night.
Much has changed since 1927 — when the Kruger National Park opened — and only three cars entered the reserve. In 2002/03 the park recorded 1-million visitors for the first time in a one-year period and South Africans made up 80% of them.
Uncovering the wonders of the north
Setting out to explore the park on a recent trip, I started in the northernmost part of the park at Pafuri.
Our base for three nights was the Pafuri Tented Camp. An eco-friendly lodge built on the banks of the Luvuvhu River, it’s situated in the 26,500ha Makuleke Contractual Park which stretches to the Limpopo River.
When the park was being expanded, the Makuleke people were removed from this land in 1969. Post-1994, the Makuleke land claim was the first successfully settled claim in a conservation area in SA.
The Makuleke decided to maintain the conservation status of the land and today the concession is home to two walking safari camps between April and October; the exclusive-use Baobab Hill House; and Pafuri Tented Camp with its 19 luxury tents with en suite bathrooms, indoor and outdoor showers and viewing decks with spectacular views of the river.
Makuleke Contractual Park is a region of the park not as well known for its wildlife sightings, but you’ll nonetheless need plenty of time to explore the diverse landscapes and spectacular nooks available only to guests of the concession.
Here, you’ll find pans and floodplains snaking out from the Limpopo and Luvuvhu rivers which nourish a large number of tree species, most notably an abundance of fever trees and baobabs. You can also explore Lanner Gorge and large stretches of savannah, home to more than 350 different bird species. On one particular outing we spot a trio of ground hornbills. It’s good to see them slowly recovering from endangerment.
It is also an area as rich in scenic beauty as it is in history. Depending on what game drive route you take, you may discover stone tools dating back one-and-a-half million years or spot the remnants of the wall to the royal citadel of Thulamela which formed part of Great Zimbabwe and served as an international trading post up until the 17th century.
Setting out on a sunset drive one late January afternoon, our guide Andile Mabunda takes us to the furthest reaches of the park. After an earlier shower of rain, water drops slip from leaves and a rainbow dips into the distant bush. Mabunda mimics the brown-headed parrots calling from the tops of the trees with branches from which I imagine draped leopards napping.
We make our way to the largest fever tree forest in the southern hemisphere, where their lean, yellow-green trunks stretch out wide and disappear into the distance, shrouded in an almost ethereal light.
Early European settlers thought the powdery bark of these trees — not the low-lying swamp with its resident mosquitos — caused malaria, birthing the name “fever trees”.
As we slowly marvel our way through the forest, the fever trees are gradually replaced by towering, majestic baobabs that dot the landscape until palm trees appear, swaying in the approaching sunset as we near the water.
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The Makuleke Contractual Park cuts into a section of Crook’s Corner where Zimbabwe, Mozambique and SA meet. The recent rains have caused a stir among the hippos in the mighty Limpopo River, their adorable ears jutting out of the water not far from the shore, but I cannot fathom a reason good enough to risk crossing to the opposite riverbank. As the story goes, this was a haven for outlaws looking to flee authorities between countries in the 20th century.
Back at camp, the magic in this corner of the Kruger National Park continues to fizzle in the air. Fireflies float beyond our dinner table as a night-time chorus of insects settles into a low hum that we enjoy as the backtrack to delicious three-course meals before nodding off beneath mosquito nets billowing in the breeze that wafts in through the mesh of your tent at night.
And during the day there’s lounging on sunbeds under the shade of a 500-year-old jackalberry tree and soothing dips in the pool with views of the resident buffaloes in the river below.
Exploring the wildlife of the south
Whereas Pafuri is a popular birding destination with breathtaking landscapes, in the south of the park between Satara, Skukuza and lower Sabie, you’ll discover a game-rich area and some of the most popular camps for wildlife viewing.
Here the mix of thorn thicket and open grassland is home to large populations of different animals which attract the park’s predators. It is prime territory for lion and leopard and, as such, it can get very busy during the peak season.
One can drive the length of the park when travelling from north to south but to make up some time and circumnavigate the 50km/h speed limit, we exit at Punda Maria gate in the north and enter again at Orpen gate.
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As we approach the S100 — perhaps best described as the holy grail of roads on which you’re very likely to see lion — we spot our first lioness stalking an unsuspecting victim in the distance and take the necessary time to appreciate the unusual sighting of a giraffe stooping down for a drink of water. We come across a Bateleur eagle mere metres from our car as we wind our way through the park to Kruger Shalati, the Train on the Bridge.
With 24 converted railway carriage rooms perched over the crocodile-and-hippo-inhabited Sabie River and seven land-based rooms, Kruger Shalati is the epitome of luxury in the bush right next to Skukuza camp.
Twice daily game drives, high tea in the afternoon, sumptuous meals served in the Bridge House Restaurant and cocktails enjoyed from the Instagram-worthy overhanging pool and viewing deck in the centre of the bridge are the order of the day.
A light drizzle wakes me one morning and I succumb to the pull of my bed, slumber winning the tug of war with the view of the river flowing past the full-length carriage windows.
Later that day, with the ensuing orange spills of dusk comes the song of a thousand critters rising from the riverbed below. Rain season is in full swing and lightning bolts dance on the horizon, occasionally sending a crash of silver shooting through the electric purple sky.
Our lion spotting continues on our daily game drives when we come across two males and six youngsters snoozing in the sun. The females are most likely out hunting, we’re told, leaving the women on the vehicle feeling slightly disgruntled.
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In a road running parallel to the train, we briefly spot a leopard before he slips across the river. It’s enough to make my heart flutter and I just need one more glimpse. A good one this time.
To my delight, I discover this will be my reward for getting up for the 4.45am game drive on my last morning in the park.
Before the sun can powder the sky with a soft glow, we spot movement in the distance just after setting out from camp. As we draw close, the glistening eyes of a young leopard appraise us. We’ve interrupted him while catching fish but he rewards us with a minute of furtively looking at us — as if willing us to leave — before slinking past our vehicle and dashing off into the approaching morning light.
Book your stay
Pafuri Tented Camp is a seven-hour drive from Johannesburg. Alternatively, fly into Hoedspruit (which is four-and-a-half hours from Pafuri Tented Camp) or a take a direct charter flight from Johannesburg to Pafuri Airstrip. For more information, and SA resident special offers, visit returnafrica.com.
Kruger Shalati is a six-hour drive from Johannesburg. Alternatively, fly into Skukuza Airport (which is a five-minute drive from Kruger Shalati) or Kruger Mpumalanga (a two-hour drive). Southern African Development Community rates in the train carriage rooms from R5,750 per person per night, including accommodation, all meals, select beverages, two daily game drives and transfers between the Skukuza Airport and the lodge. Visit krugershalati.com.
• Oberholzer was a guest of Return Africa and Kruger Shalati.
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