I’m born and bred South African. I love my country (junk and all). Though I’m not naïve to the beauty the rest of the world has to offer, I believe my country has some of the best of the best. Sit back and take a trip with me though the Kruger National Park.
A little insight
Contrary to popular belief, we don’t have wild animals roaming the streets. Well… there was an incident last week when a tiger escaped it’s enclosure at Farm Inn in Pretoria and roamed just a few blocks from where I stay, but that’s a very isolated occurrence. We have cities, towns, roads, electricity, running water and our animals are mostly kept in their natural habitat in parks and game farms.
The biggest part of the Lowveld consists of the Kruger National Park. I’m not going to bore you with the detail – Google it. It’s HUGE! Bigger than some countries/states. Man alive it’s beautiful! Home to not only the BIG FIVE (African lion, African elephant, Cape buffalo, African leopard, and Rhinoceros), but 147 species of mammals. More than any other African game reserve. It’s also home to more than 500 species of birds.
One can easily spend a week in the Kruger and not see half of it. Should you wish to stay a week or two, there are plenty of camps, lodges and tent camps in and around the park. Wait… I’m beginning to sound like a brochure!
On my many visits to the Kruger throughout my life so far, I’ve stayed in a permanent tent camp near Orpen gate (there are 9 entrance gates), Pretoriuskop (the oldest rest camp in the Kruger), Boulders bush lodge, a self-catering house right outside Phalaborwa gate, Skukuza, Satara - you get the picture.
Lots to see
Tamboti tent camp near Orpen gate
African Elephant
Zebra – their stripe patterns are as unique as fingerprints
Giraffe – the tallest mammal on earth
Ranting a bit
In recent years it’s become quite the rage for wealthy ‘intellectuals’ from other countries to visit South Africa to hunt our big game like elephants, giraffe and lions. I come from a family of hunters. I have no problem with hunting for food, but hunting for sport just upsets me to no end. What really gets to me, are these guys posing with their guns next to the poor animal they killed. We have plenty of antelope to shoot if you’re hungry. They breed fast enough so we always have plenty – maybe not at the moment – we’re currently suffering a drought. The big game have gestation periods of 13-15 months for giraffes and 22 months for elephants! You do the math. Why anybody kills them is beyond me. DON'T HUNT IT IF YOU CAN"T EAT IT
Anyway…
No visit to the Kruger is complete without a visit to the Baobab tree
This Baobab is the southernmost naturally occurring tree in Africa. These trees grow to 30m tall and can be up to 11m wide
I have an affinity to tortoises. Ever since I started taking photos of them, I’ll never call them slow again.
White African Rhino
If you read my post about Rhinos you’ll know that they are my passion. With Rhinos being slaughtered for their horns to NOT CURE any known ailments it’s a rarity to still see them or for that matter, still see them with horns.
White Rhinos – My extraordinary experience
I hope you enjoyed the trip through the Kruger Park. I’m a real ‘bush-baby’. I have a deep affection for animals and nature. I love that I live in a county where, even though I live in a city, I’m still able to see them often.
If you like my post, please follow me @naomi-louise
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Very nice jacor. Reminds me of a Baobab tree cartoon i watched when i was a kid :)
Very good, good envy you
:)
Glad to hear you don't like hunting for sport. I saw a video on Facebook a few days ago whereby there were 2 hunters taking a video posing beside a dead lion. They were caught off guard when another lion came in from behind. Hate to say it... but, I guess it serves them right. No need to take what you don't need.
I fully agree @ infotoday. I call that fair game. If someone came into my house and shot my brother I’d also try to defend him by any means possible. One up for the lion!
@naomi-louise - while I'm not a hunter, some of the men in my extended family do hunt - and we eat well because of it! I don't understand the mentality of hunting for sport alone.
It's kind of funny that you have to put a little disclaimer about running water and wild animals running loose. When I tell people that I'm originally from New York, they automatically assume it's New York City. NO! Where I lived there are more cows than cabs. LOL But man! You have running water? That means you probably have eelektrisity too. Sounds almost civilized (joking). :oP
LOL! Yes @merej99, I've seen and heard it so many times that the disclaimer is warranted. People still think South Africa is just bush and animals. We are actually quite civilised. Electricity and all :-)
I actually looked up New York not too long ago. Definitely on my bucket list of places I still want to visit. Not just the city - the state.
this is an adventure :) awesome!
Glad to share @allmonitors.
Great article. Beautiful animals.
Thank you @team101. I can never get enough of seeing them in the wild.
Great post
Thank you @feruz.
I LOVE our country. I once had two tortoises (I have a big yard) and I know exactly how fast they are. They can also climb surprisingly well. Both tortoises escaped into the farmland behind my home. I know they are happy, but probably missing the tomatoes I used to give them as a treat!
Me too @onetree! I'm sure they are missing the treat. Who knows? They might just 'escape' back in - one can hope.
Great post! Thank you to share with us Jacor! I love the turtle pic :)
Thank you @webdeals. I have a better photo of the same tortoise, but it’s printed A3 and too big for our scanner. I’ll make a plan to share. That tortoise made me fall in love with photography.
Love this. We went to Kruger in 2005, it was amazing...loved every minute. We say the Big 5 before lunch :-) We then went on to Cape Town, Hermanus etc...love South Africa.
Only a pleasure @kreativ. That's so lucky to see them all in one day - let alone before lunch! I'm jealous. Did you see the whale run in Hermanus while you were there?
I see you're from Hungary. My friend stays in Wiener Neustadt. We took the train to Sopron on one of my visits to her. Loved it! Bought the best handbag I ever owed there for 4500 forint and excellent red wine!
Hi Naomi I also live in South Africa and I also enjoy going to the Kruger National Park. I am glad that you corrected some of our fellow steemers wrong thinking about our country. I really wish that all of them could come to the park and experience its beauty for themselves.
Hey @stardust. That is definitely one of my wishes too. How nice would it be to get on a bus with all our steemit friends and show them the Kruger and have a braai under the stars!
I love how South Africans identify with the natural world.
I had a wonderful trip to Kruger National Park back in 1981. I remember staying in rondavels at Satara and Skukuza and somewhere north of there too. In addition to the animal spotting, I just loved the feel of the place.
I'm with you on that @ribuck. Thank you for you comment and I'm so glad you enjoyed your trip. The Kruger is not just a place - it's an experience!
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Whom do you feature ? Do you have a set of rules ?
@jacor is happy to feature new authors as long as the content is original (no plagiarism), not a repeat post from your own blog and not offensive.
We have two Baobab trees here in Barbados! They think the largest one is over 1000 years old.
WOW! Thank you for sharing @jamtaylor. I've read somewhere that people actually use the hollow Baobabs as a a shop or a bar.
amazing travelling @jacor
Very nice article😀👍 brings back fond memories