SANParks Blog

It’s quite surprising that there are only two other national parks in South Africa which have the Big 5 of lion, leopard, elephant, buffalo and rhino. Yip, it’s Marakele! The others are Kruger and Addo Elephant National Park. This relatively small national park of about 70 000 hectares is also the only one that features [...]

Mapungubwe offers so much more than just rich cultural history. Although the archaeological aspect certainly makes this national park famous, the scenery and wildlife is spectacular too. One of the very best views in all of South Africa is at the lookout decks on the high ridge above the confluence of the Limpopo and Shashe [...]

When I say that I’m going to Mapungubwe National Park, most people have no idea what I’m talking about! “Mupp…what?!?” they ask me quizzically. Well, to be fair, I also had very little idea about Mapungubwe when I first heard about it a few years ago. But it’s one of the most interesting and beautiful of [...]

Saying goodbye to loved ones is never easy. I feel the same way about leaving Kruger. Pafuri and its beautiful camp was the perfect climax to an unforgettable month. I will always remember exploring South Africa’s largest and most famous nature reserve. This past month has only deepened my appreciation and gratitude for Africa’s natural heritage. [...]

Over the next two days at Pafuri Camp, Brian took us back to where the leopard had killed the bushbuck, and one evening we were rewarded with a fantastic sighting of her. She was in the same acacia albida tree where we had first spotted her, but this time she was fat and replete from [...]

My guide at Pafuri Camp was Brian Kelly, an American who came to South Africa originally to work as an archaeologist at the Cradle of Humankind near Sterkfontein, but ended up falling in love with the bush (who can blame him!). He now works as the lead trails guide at Pafuri. “I prefer studying live [...]

My time in Kruger National Park is coming to an end. I have now spent a month here, exploring the 2 million hectare reserve, and I’ve really only seen a small part of what it offers. It’s such a huge, diverse wilderness that it deserves to be explored slowly, again and again. It’s impossible to [...]

Most people think “wild animals” when they travel to the Kruger National Park. But there are several fascinating archaeological sites which indicate that the park was at times inhabited by both Stone Age and Iron Age people. Like elsewhere in the country, there are bushman paintings, although none rival those of uKhahlamba-Drakensberg or the Cederberg [...]

The north of Kruger continues to cast its spell on me. I spent a day with trails rangers Christopher Mutathi and David Nemukula, who lead the Nyalaland Wilderness Trail in the northwestern wilderness area of Kruger. They wanted to show me this region, as they had a day off from their trails, and wanted to [...]

I’ve recently witnessed my first leopard kill. I am now at Punda Maria camp, the most northerly camp in Kruger. Two nights ago, Thomas Mathebula and Themba Mnisi took me out on a sunset drive. We didn’t see too much initially, but on our way back to camp, we came across a female leopard stalking [...]