Before embarking on our month in Kruger, Wok and I both had 2 things we wanted to tick off our bucket lists –
- Take selfies with the big 5
- Drive every single drivable road in Kruger National Park
We are very proud to say we were able to tick off both items. “Selfies with the big 5” we were able to tick off within the 1st week of Kruger with some really amazing sightings.
We spent a total of 32 days in Kruger, touring the whole of Kruger from the bottom to the top. Entering through the Malelane gate and exiting out the Pafuri gate. During our 32 days in Kruger we stayed in 6 of the main rest camps with power, starting at Berg-en-Dal, and ending at Panda Maria.
When we started we thought it would be fun to get the Kruger passport as this would keep us motivated and accountable to go to every picnic site and every camp to have it stamped, it really was a fun activity and something we can keep and look back on.
Getting back to our bucket list – item number 2 – drive every drivable road in Kruger, this includes the 4×4 tracks, every gravel road and tar road.
This was a tough one, a total of 5570kms, 7 1/2 tanks of diesel and roughly 198 hours spent driving over 32 days was not easy. Earlier mornings and just making it to the gate before closing time, a few stiff joints and sore bums.
Some breathtaking sunrises and even better sunsets.
We’ve met quite a few nice people during our stay in Kruger, ranging all ages and nationalities. We met some people that have been visiting Kruger for over 40 years, hopefully one day we’ll be able to say the same, met people that come to South Africa every year just to visit Kruger.
We were so lucky with our stays, we managed to get a perimeter view site at every camp (except at Skukuza, they don’t have perimeter view sites), this just added an extra touch to our stay. Picture this – sitting outside in the afternoons, enjoying a gin and tonic, the smell of braais coming from all different directions throughout the camp, watching the sunset, just taking it all in, thinking about the amazing sightings you’ve had that day and all of a sudden a hyena comes casually strolling by the fence, so close that you could touch it (I know this is a big no-no, it’s just for context) it stops right in front of you at the fence and has a minute long stare down before moving on. Hyenas are scavengers and they try their luck with people feeding them, but please remember feeding animals in national parks is NOT allowed as this could be very dangerous for many reasons and not just for people but for the animals as well.
With some once in a lifetime sightings and animals, neither one of us have seen in real life as well as very close encounters, Kruger has become one of our favorite places to visit.
