Kruger National Park Area

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The Kruger National Park Area

About 200km (125 miles) across the great highveld plateau east of the Johannesburg–Pretoria axis, the undulating grasslands give way to hills, and then to mountains that sweep up in an imposing ridge. This is the northern segment of the Great Escarpment that rises near Nelspruit and runs north-eastwards for some 300km (185 miles). The Escarpment’s eastern faces are especially precipitous, falling to the heat-hazed, game-rich Lowveld plain that rolls away across the Kruger National Park and neighbouring Mozambique to the Indian Ocean.

Kruger National Park

'Big 5' Birds

Almost 500 species of birds have been recorded in the Kruger National Park, including many raptors such as Wahlberg's eagle, bateleur and five species of vulture. In the rest camps many bird species are habituated. On your outings, watch out for the following endangered species, which are easily identifiable:

Saddlebilled stork
Lappetfaced vulture
Martial eagle
Kori bustard
Ground hornbill

South Africa’s premier game sanctuary covers 20,000 km2 (7720 sq miles) of the Lowveld from the Crocodile River in the south to the Limpopo in the north. It is also pivotal to the success of the ambitious Peace Park initiative that will connect it to others in Zimbabwe and Mozambique to form the Great Limpopo Transfrontier Park. The park can accommodate around 5000 visitors at any given time; comfort and easy access to the array of wildlife are the keynotes. Within leisurely driving distance of each camp are waterholes, view sites, and a wealth of wildlife and scenic interest. Fortunately, the Kruger’s sheer size ensures that it remains unspoilt. Everything introduced by man – the camps, the designated stopping areas, the routes and the ‘visual bands’ that run along either side of them – takes up less than three per cent of the area; the other 97 per cent belongs to nature.

The Wildlife
The Kruger National Park boasts the greatest species diversity in Africa, due to the fact that the area encompasses many different habitats. Among the more than 140 resident mammal species are the ‘big five’: lion (of which there are about 1500); elephant (around 7500); leopard (around 1000 although difficult to spot); buffalo (an impressive 25,000, and which have been seen in herds of up to 200); and rhino, of both the white and black species. Rhino are endangered, and especially vulnerable to poaching. Other large game populations include more than 30,000 zebra, 14,000 wildebeest and 5000 giraffe; hippo and crocodile can be seen in numbers in and around the rivers; antelope in their thousands roam the grasslands; and the Park remains one of the few places in South Africa where wild dog can be seen, in the northern reaches of the Park, in its natural environment. All these forms of life, together with the reptiles and amphibians, the trees (more than 300 species, including baobabs, fever trees, marulas and mopanes), shrubs and grasses and the uncountable insects and micro-organisms, combine to create a wonderfully coherent habitat, a system of gene pools in perfect (though fragile) balance, and in which the cycle of life is sustained by collective dependence.

PRIVATE GAME RESERVES
The Kruger National Park takes up a large portion of the Lowveld, but by no means all of it. Sprawled along its west–central boundary are, among others, the Timbavati, Manyeleti and Sabi Sand reserves, three of the world’s largest private game sanctuaries. Fences between the national park and the private reserves along its western boundary have been removed, and the animals are free to roam over the combined wilderness area. The reserves embrace a score or so luxury game lodges, each with its individual character and special appeal. These are truly luxurious and include the well–known Ulusaba and Royal Malewane lodges. The traditional evening ‘braai’ (barbecue) is memorable; held under the stars, in the firelit, reed enclosed boma, with the night-time sounds of Africa all around, the atmosphere is informal, and the company entertaining, with much talk of wildlife and the bush. Much of the day is spent in a Land Rover in the company of a ranger–tracker team. The search for spoor is exciting, and the first sighting of game exhilarating. There are also night drives and guided walks.
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The Kruger Surrounds

Spelunking (caving)

The Echo complex, north of Lydenburg, is an intriguing sequence of caverns that echo with disproportionate loudness when you tap their stalagmites and stalactites. The caves were once home to stone-age San, or Bushman peoples; you can see relics of their occupation – rock paintings and excavated sites – at the nearby Museum of Man. More impressive is the Sudwala system to the south, a network of caverns thought to burrow through the dolomite for 30km (19 miles) in a series of linked chambers. The nearby dinosaur park displays life-sized replicas of the creatures that roamed this part of the earth 240 million years ago.

THE ESCARPMENT
This is a land of marvellous diversity, a spectacular compound of forest-mantled massifs and high buttresses, sculpted peaks and deep ravines, crystal streams and delicate waterfalls, and of green valleys along which flow the Olifants and Crocodile rivers and their multiple tributaries.

BLYDE RIVER CANYON
Below the confluence of the Treur (sorrow) and Blyde (joy) rivers is one of Africa’s natural wonders: a massive and majestic red-sandstone gorge, whose cliff faces plunge almost sheer to the waters below. The 20km-long (12 miles) gorge has been dammed to create a lovely lake; at the top of the canyon there are viewing points easily reached from the main road, from which you can gaze across the Lowveld plain and, closer, at the awesome massifs of the Mariepskop and the Three Rondavels. Much of the countryside around the gorge is occupied by the Blyderivierspoort Reserve, known for its diverse plant and bird life (which includes the imposing black (Verreaux’s) eagle, and the rare bald ibis which nests on the granite cliffs) – and a fine place for ramblers and horseback riders. Within and just outside the reserve are two pleasant resorts, a reptile park and Bourke’s Luck Potholes, an intriguing fantasia of water-fashioned rocks. Perhaps the most breathtaking view site in the entire Escarpment is God’s Window, a gap in the high mountain rampart near the southern extremity of the reserve.

PILGRIM’S REST
When gold was discovered on the Escarpment in 1873, diggers flocked in, setting up camps at Spitzkop and MacMac and later – after an even richer strike – at Pilgrim’s Rest so-named because, after so many false trails and faded dreams, the gold-hunting fraternity finally found a permanent home here. The tents and shacks were eventually replaced with iron-roofed cottages, traders set up shop, a church and a newspaper appeared, the Royal Hotel opened its doors, and for some years the little frontier settlement flourished. Eventually, though, the alluvial gold ran out and syndicates and companies were formed to dig deeper. The last of the mines closed in the 1970s, although long before then (in the 1940s) the owners had spread their investments, diversifying into timber. Some of the world’s largest man-made forests (pine and wattle) now mantle the slopes of the Escarpment. Pilgrim’s Rest still supports a few hundred residents, and its charming early character (1880–1915) has been preserved as a ‘living museum’.

THE PANORAMA ROUTE
Wherever you go on the Escarpment, you’ll find scenic riches and splendid view sites. The circular Panorama Route is especially inviting. Beginning and ending in Sabie, it takes in the MacMac and Lisbon falls, God’s Window, the Berlin Falls, a fern-festooned picnic site in the nature reserve, Bourke’s Luck Potholes, Blyde River Canyon, the valley of Pilgrim’s Creek and Pilgrim’s Rest.

Long Tom Pass
Another spectacular escarpment drive winds through Robber’s Pass and the Long Tom Pass. The latter, named after the giant Boer siege-gun that plagued the British during the 1899–1902 war, has especially steep and tortuous gradients. It is notable for its grand vistas, for The Knuckles (four peaks in a row) and for The Staircase, which defeated many a wagon in the early days. A drive southwards from Robber’s Pass will lead you down a rather steep and rugged track to one of Mpumalanga’s finest private nature reserves, Mount Sheba. The indigenous forest here is part of an extraordinarily stable floral community that, together with the area’s wildlife, forms a coherent ecosystem – and more than 1000 different plant species have been identified here. Paths have been laid out, some leading to old mine workings. Mountain-biking and trout-fishing facilities are also available.

Magoebaskloof
To the northwest, across the Olifants River and on for a further 150km (90 miles), is the attractively tropical farming town of Tzaneen, and just beyond, the densely wooded, misty, magical heights of the Magoebaskloof. The pass is accessible via a good but very steep road, affording grand views over the surrounding uplands, and the plantations and patches of indigenous forest they sustain. The loveliest of these is perhaps the Woodbush, which visiting novelist John Buchan described as ‘the extreme of richness and beauty’. Woodbush is home to giant yellowwood, ironwood, stinkwood and many other splendid tree species. For cultural and natural history enthusiasts, both the town of Tzaneen and the nearby Modjadji cycad forest are well worth exploring.

THE LOWVELD
The low-lying plain below the Escarpment is occupied in large part by the Kruger National Park and bordering private reserves; however an important agricultural industry flourishes around the towns of Nelspruit and White River, in the fertile Crocodile River Valley, where farmlands yield an abundance of subtropical fruits, vegetables and tobacco.

Towns of the Lowveld
Largest of the region’s centres, Nelspruit is a prosperous town of wide streets, clean-lined buildings and tree garlanded suburbs. It’s the last major stop on the main west–east highway from Johannesburg and Pretoria. Among the town’s attractions are good hotels and restaurants, sophisticated shops and specialty outlets. Make an effort to visit the Lowveld Botanical Gardens on the banks of the Crocodile River, which is known for its fascinating array of local, mainly subtropical plants. Of particular interest – to the layman as well as the botanist – is the herbarium. To the north of Nelspruit is White River, a little country town attractively placed among some of South Africa’s richest farming lands: more than 3000 smallholders grow flowers, pecan and macadamia nuts, and subtropical fruits, among other things. On the other side of Nelspruit, in the steamy De Kaap Valley, lies Barberton, yet another South African town founded on gold. The first deposits were discovered in 1883 and, while the reef still yielded its treasure, it was a large and lively settlement – a typical Wild West-type boom town of shanties, music halls, hotels, two stock exchanges and scores of drinking dens. The ‘Barberton Bubble’ burst soon enough, and the town is much quieter now, but a few hints of the romantic past linger, best seen perhaps in the elegant Belhaven House Museum.