South Africa. On Safari in Kruger National Park
While in high school I had a parttime job working at an African-themed, drive-through animal park in Southern California. The experience left me curious about what it would be like to experience a real game preserve where large animals can roam freely. I finally got my opportunity on a trip to South Africa. Extending 360 kilometers north to south and covering an area of more than 19,000 km2, South Africa’s Kruger National Park is slightly smaller than Israel. Located in the country’s northeastern section, Kruger is bordered to the north by Zimbabwe and to the east by Mozambique. In contrast to open grass-savanna parks in Kenya and Tanzania, Kruger’s grass-shrub vegetation can easily conceal animals. Wildlife in the park has been protected since 1898 when South African Republic President Paul Kruger created the Sabi Game Sanctuary. In 1926, the sanctuary became Kruger, the nation’s first national park. Today, Kruger is also part of the UNESCO-recognized Kruger to Canyons Biosphere. Among its distinctions, Kruger has more large mammal species (147) than any other African park or game reserve. Each of the so-called “Big 5” (leopard, rhino, elephant, lion, and buffalo) are found in the park. Visitors can also find sable antelope, waterbuck, giraffe, eland, and the Greater kudu. Along with large mammals, the park protects 500 bird species and 100 species of reptiles.
We reserved our park entrance permit and lodging well in advance of our trip. On arrival at O.R. Tambo International Airport we spent a night in Johannesburg before driving our rental car to Malelane Gate, one of nine park entrances. Near the gate, we stopped at a camp store to purchase drinks and biltong, a southern Africa type of beef jerky. The store’s choice of biltong included kudu, ostrich, springbok, and wildebeest. Admittingly, the thought of looking at a live kudu while chewing kudu meat didn’t mesh with my conservation principles. Another store purchase was a guidebook containing a checklist of park animals.
Among the first animals we encountered were several blue wildebeest. Wildebeest are a large type of antelope with a front-heavy appearance and horns shaped like parentheses. They are fast runners and capable of speeds up to 65 kilometers per hour. Our visit in May coincided with the beginning of the dry season that lasts until October. An advantage of visiting Kruger in the dry season is that leaves and grasses are sparse, making it easier to spot animals. Approaching a watering hole, we stopped to photograph a group of giraffes. Averaging 5.5 meters in height, giraffes are the tallest animal in the world. Their long necks make it possible to eat leaves on trees that other herbivores can’t reach. Three giraffes standing near the pond seemed indifferent to our idling car. We continued on to the Crocodile Bridge Rest Camp located near the park’s southernmost point. Our bungalow was a comfortable rondavel with two beds, an interior bathroom, and air conditioning.
After dinner we drove to the rendezvous location for our night safari. Parked nearby was our safari vehicle, a four-wheel drive pickup with bench seating that had been added to the rear of the cab. The seating area was topped with a fabric cover. Accompanying the driver was a park ranger who held a bright spotlight. Departing about 30 minutes after sunset, we left the pavement to search for animals. Among other sightings, we stopped to view several lionesses and their cubs. As the temperature dropped after sunset, I felt fortunate to have remembered a warm hat and gloves.
The next morning, we were scheduled to participate in a walking safari. Accompanying our group of six were two game wardens, one positioned at the front of our single file line and the other at the rear. Each carried a large caliber rifle. We followed a pathway through scrubby vegetation and scraggly trees, stopping frequently to look and listen for wildlife. Outside of a few birds, we saw no animals. However, we did discover a sun bleached rhino skull that our guides said was evidence of recent poaching. Although the park has a staff of 650 wardens/rangers, poachers routinely kill elephants and rhinos, some with the help of night vision goggles.
Returning to our car we spent the remainder of the day driving north. A common bird of Kruger is the dark blue Cape starling which eats invertebrates, seeds, and berries. We saw Cape starlings in the veldt and near visitor facilities and parking areas. Sometime in the late afternoon I noticed a warning in the guidebook I’d purchased reminding visitors to be off park roads after sunset. At that time my companion and I were more than 150 kilometers north of our lodging at Crocodile Bridge. We immediately turned the car around. As the sun dropped low in the sky, we began seeing a greater variety of animals including a group of cheetahs relaxing near the road. I started checking off wildlife listed in the guidebook. Civet cat, check. Zebra, check. Bushbuck, check. In thirty minutes after the sun dropped below the horizon, we had seen more animals than in an entire afternoon of driving. With my companion at the wheel, we drove at the park’s speed limit (50 kph – no sense in breaking TWO rules) until our route was cut off by a group of elephants. The largest was a bull that stood squarely in the center of the road. I cringed as my colleague crept forward while revving the car’s engine. As the bull took a step forward, I wondered how we would explain damage to our rental car. Slowly, the elephants moved into some nearby brush, and we were on our way again. A few kilometers down the road we passed a ranger vehicle which caught up to us with flashing lights. “What were we doing in the park after dark,” the ranger asked. Explaining that we lost track of time, we were dismissed with a stern warning. We received another admonishment from a security guard as we passed through the gate into the Crocodile Bridge Rest Camp.
