is kruger national park worth it?

Kruger is one of the prime game-watching destinations in the world. It is home to the Big Five and many other of Africa's most famous wildlife species you ever dreamed of encountering on a game drive.

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There are two possibilities to get to the Kruger Park - you can drive there or take a tour. Driving gives you an advantage - it will be cheaper and you can drive your own car inside the park - you will be given a detailed map of the roads with the places marked where there are the best chances to see a certain type of animals.

The second option - you can take a tour. We did it this way as driving was not an option for us. From our experience, you must book a tour in advance as they do sell out quite quickly and, unfortunately they are not cheap. A  3-day round trip from Johannesburg usually start at 500-600 USD per person. The trip also usually includes a stop at the amazing Blyde River Canyon or some other attractions.

Although our itinerary was super tight and we did the whole safari in only 2 days, we also managed to stop at Blyde River Canyon. However, as it was the rainy season, we saw absolutely nothing - the canyon was completely covered by thick fog. What a disappointment! But we did have a chance to do something else - a sort of bungee jumping - it was a thrilling experience! I'll write about it in a separate post.

Note that not many companies agreed for us to do the whole trip in 2 days - one way from Johannesburg to the Kruger Park Reserve takes way over 6 hours. So we had only one evening and the next morning to spend in the park. Nevertheless, we finally managed to find one tour guide who agreed to do all this in 2 days. His name was Daniel - he was a local guide and knew a lot about all the animals and where to spot them. You can find his details here. You can send him a message and he will tailor the tour according to your needs.

The Big Five is the term that describes the five of the most dangerous and sometimes difficult to spot animals. They are: the elephant, rhinoceros, leopard, lion and buffalo. We had only one day and our guide had warned us that we might not see many animals - because of the weather and the short time we had. But we were extremely lucky and we did see the Big Five!

Right at the entrance of the park we spotted a rhino and a buffalo. Then we saw elephants crossing the road. Sometimes they seemed annoyed by the cars so you must take care when you pass them. In the evening, during the sunset ride which was included in the tour price, we saw a leopard walking side by side next to us - completely ignoring the trucks carrying tourists. The only flaw in the whole story is that we didn't see the male lions with a mane - but we did spot a group of lionesses - in the dark, almost when we had already given up the hope of seeing a lion. I consider it a very lucky day!

The tourist tent to focus only on the Big Five when they visit the park. However, there are many more animals that you can spot. We also saw giraffes, a warthog, zebras, beautiful birds, some snakes, monkeys, hyenas and many impalas - the antelope existence of which everyone seems to ignore - and there are a lot of them everywhere! There are so many impalas in Kruger Park that our guide told us that the park rangers must get rid of some of them to control the population.

The meat from the killed impalas does not go to waste - it can be bought and eaten in the restaurants of the park - it's organic and delicious - especially the slowly cooked stew.

Of course, the best advantage of the park is that it's so easy to reach it and how abundant in all sorts of wildlife it is. If you love to see animals in their natural surroundings - that's the place for you! Another good thing is the accommodation and the restaurants where you can try some game meat.

The park also has a few not so good sides. First one is the paved roads - they are perfectly well maintained so when you see the animals, sometimes it does seem that you are just in the zoo and not in their natural surroundings - especially during the rainy season when all the bushes are green and the reserve looks a bit like an ordinary city park. Kruger Park does not appear to be wild - you won't drive into the bushes or some wilder areas - you can only follow the roads. But this is actually a good thing - in order to protect the territory of wild animals.

The park is divided into three regions: the northern, the central and the southern region.

There are twelve main camps, of which four have satellite camps.

Berg-en-Dal (with satellite Malelane), Crocodile Bridge, Lower Sabie, Pretoriuskop and Skukuza.

Letaba, Mopani, Olifants, Orpen (with satellites Maroela and Tamboti), and Satara (with satellite Balule).

Shinghwedzi and Punda Maria

Bateleur, Biyamiti (super choice), Shimuwini (no electricity, cellphones can be charged at reception), Shireni (no electricity, cellphones can be charged at reception) and Tamalati (our favourite). Bush camps provide accommodation in smaller, more remote rest camps without facilities such as shops or restaurants.

Sable and Shipandani must be booked months (read almost a year, if possible) in advance!

There are three exclusive and private bush lodges: Boulders, Pafuri and Roodewal. These lodges offer complete privacy as only residents are allowed entrance into the camp. There are no reception offices at the camp gates, and check-in is completed at the nearest main rest camp. Bush lodges are reserved in their entirety.