The Kruger National Park is not only one of the world's greatest game reserves, but one of its iconic tourist attractions. It stretches more than 500km along South Africa's north-eastern border with Mozambique and encompasses nearly two-million hectares of primal Africa.
This offers visitors an opportunity to glimpse history - opening a window to a time before this magnificent continent was systematically sacrificed on the altar of human progress. Few guests pass the park's gates today without experiencing a true emotional tie to Mother Earth as it once was.
Kruger is not a glorified tourist trap, but a classical conservation showcase - there has been no need to invent Disney-type cartoon-mouse attractions here. Within its fences, ecosystems function much as they always have, with a little human tinkering here and there.
The park is home to a plethora of plant and animal species interacting in a delicate web strung between two well-defined climatic zones and 14 distinct ecozones. There are few places in the world that can compete biologically; few parks offer anything close to the diversity of large mammals, which the average visitor to Kruger can tick off in a couple of days.
Possibly the greatest challenge the park has overcome in recent times has been the shift from an overly protectionist, non-economically viable management style to one where visitor needs and wants are accommodated - without compromising conservation initiatives.
Where once Kruger was totally reliant on government handouts for survival, it now stands on its own financially secure feet, offering an exciting range of activities and broad range of accommodation options - from humble campsites to award-winning luxury, private lodges. Through these initiatives, Kruger has realised its potential and indeed turns some handsome profits, which directly fund conservation initiatives within the park, as well as across the rest of SA.
Most importantly, Kruger has shrugged off its apartheid-era past of forced removals and colour-segregated amenities. Where once animals took precedence over people, there are now exciting conservation-community partnerships - such as the Makuleke concession in the north - critical for the ongoing success of conservation.
Kruger has truly matured into a multi-cultural African icon that all South Africans, no matter their background, can look to with pride.
Tips
- Kruger stretches across Limpopo and Mpumalanga.
- There are 4x4 trails, guided walks, sleepover hides and even golf courses, a cricket pitch and canoeing.
- Thulamela, a great centre of trade between the 15th and 17th centuries, is the most important archaeological site in the area.
- Book through Sanparks Central Reservations. Call 021-428-9111, [email protected], see www.sanparks.org.
- This article is used courtesy of Getaway magazine. For more information, get a copy of Getaway Guide to Kruger National Park by Cameron Ewart-Smith (Sunbird).