Kruger National Park

Kruger is South Africa’s most visited safari destination. It’s easy to understand why: the 7523 mi² national park contains more species of wildlife than any other wildlife area in Africa – 130 mammals, 114 reptiles, 48 fish, 33 amphibians, and 468 birds. Large populations of elephant, buffalo, plains zebra, greater kudu, giraffe, impala, white rhino, black rhino, hippopotamus, lion, leopard, cheetah, African wild dog (painted wolf)and spotted hyena inhabit the park.

Wildlife is generally distributed throughout the park, though they prefer inhabiting one of three regions: Northern, Central/Southeastern, and Southwestern. The Northern Region’s landscape is primarily composed of mopane trees. This region is best for spotting elephant, sable and roan. The Central/Southeastern Region contains a mixture of grassy plains, scattered knobthorn, leadwood and marula trees. Lion, cheetah and wild dogs are prolific, for zebra and wildebeest are concentrated in this area. The Southwestern Region is more densely forested than the other two. Black and white rhino prefer this region.

The best game viewing in Kruger National Park is during the dry season months of May to October. During these months, the grass has been grazed down and the deciduous plants have lost their leaves. Because it's a national park, off-road driving, night drives nor guided walks are permitted. From Johannesburg, scheduled flights lasting about an hour fly either straight into Skukuza, Mpumalanga or Hoedspruit airports.