What to Do Whilst in the Kruger Park

GAME DRIVES
Game drives are what the Kruger National Park is all about. If you’re on a kruger park safari then the highlight to any day is venturing out on the back of an off-road vehicle, binoculars clutched in one hand whilst the other hangs on for all you’re worth to the constantly rolling vehicle as it makes its way through the bush in hot pursuit of the latest pride of lions, sighted feeding on a kill just over the rise.

For those booked on a safari or into a private game lodge, regular game drives with an experienced ranger are part and parcel of your trip, and for those on self-drives through the Kruger National Park, Olifants, Mopani and Letaba restcamps provide night drives, whilst most of the restcamps offer early morning, mid-morning and sunset game drives. For the most part game drives last around 3 hours, and private lodges and game farms usually include a coffee break, breakfast or sundowners in the bush as part of the game drive experience.

BUSH WALKS
Nothing can possibly beat the heart stopping excitement of tracking rhino, elephant and lion on foot through the heat of the bush. But it’s also one of the most incredible ways to learn about the fragility of the ecosystems of the Kruger Park and to see the smaller, but in no way less exciting, animals and insects of the park like termites, spiders, snakes and plants that tend to be ignored when on the more fast paced game drives.

Bush walks can last up to four hours and stops are made to allow replenishment and a chance to take in the beauty of an area. In the Kruger Park it’s advisable to take your own snacks and sunscreen and most of the camps do morning and afternoon walks.

WILDERNESS TRAILS
There are a few incredible wilderness trails in the Kruger National Park, some in areas virtually untouched by humans, with names like Metsi-Metsi, Napi, Massingir and the Sweni Wilderness. Most of these trails are about 2 days with 3 overnights in rustic huts with basic ablution in reed-walled showers and flush toilets, but on the whole, they’re in such demand that they’re booked out way in advance. These are aimed at smaller groups than bush walks and one needs to have a reasonable level of fitness as one averages 20 kilometres a day, although this is at a leisurely pace.

THE LEBOMBO OVERLAND TRAIL
This incredible five-day ‘wilderness experience on wheels’ takes you from Crocodile Bridge to Pafuri, and deserves a mention here. It’s an eco trail that takes you along the eastern boundary of the Kruger National Park along the Lebombo hills (hence the name) from the extreme south to the farthest northern edge. A maximum of five vehicles, with four people in each – so as not to affect the environment adversely, undertakes the trail that covers 500 kilometres. It’s a self-drive eco trail – you man your own vehicle and cater for yourself – that crosses magnificent rivers and encompasses some of the most beautiful scenery in the park – wide, open spaces, bushveld and magnificent trees at their best. The trail overnights at Lower Sabie, Olifants and Shingwedzi restcamps. Experienced and professional guides will lead the trail and interpret the different eco zones and explain the terrain on this trail, rated as the best in southern Africa purely because of the rich diversity of fauna and flora en route.

Information by http://www.sa-venues.com