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Hello All

I recently made my way up to the Kruger Park with my wonderful Significant Other and a couple of our friends who had never stayed in the park before. Both having spent a fair amount of time there, my SO and I tried to decribe to our safari-virgin friends the incomparable feeling of visiting this magnificient natural world. One of our newly-acquired traveling buddies scratched his head in confusion and said something along the lines of "Hold on, let me get this straight, we’re gonna travel for 9 hours to get there, then get up at some unspeakable hour in the morning to go ambling around in the malaria-ridden bushveld with the off chance of spotting some wild creature I could find in a second using Google Images”. By the end of the trip he was hooked and is currently wallowing in jealousy as we are heading to Kruger again at the end of the month

But the experience made me wonder just what it is that attracts us to game parks like flying ants to a street lamp. For me it seems to reflect some kind of nostalgic return to a natural past, a time of more simple pleasure that we all seems to long for. I would love to hear what other formites have to say. What makes game parks special places for you?

Well now Bean,
You'll probably receive a thousand answers to your question. Why? I personally find that the African bush gives you such an insight on nature that nothing can otherwise give you.
It is not just a question of where but "what". The colours, the noises, the smells and perfumes of nature are unique. I'd say that all the people I've taken into the African bush, SA and other African countries!, have been hooked and a lot have made the African bush their favourite place!!

It's the mystery of Gods creation ....

For me, it's everything that Rumuruti said (you just DO NOT get the same feeling in the Oz bush) coupled with the peace that slithers over me once I'm in the bush (not just in SANparks but anywhere in the African bush) and I know I'm away from the mad bustle of the city. Where I can sit for an hour watching a dung beetle at work, or just chill with the window open (in SANpark) or on a rock when hiking and listen to the silence.

nice thread Mr. Bean
For me...and some may say I'm doff... although I'd never been to Africa before, It was like coming home. The first night I spent under the African sky, more stars then I've ever seen in the northern hemisphere skys, with the sounds of the bush and the peace that covered my heart, It just felt like I'd been away for a long time and now I had returned.
The people I met were friendly, and ready to share their pride with me, and proud they should be of that magnificent gift from the creator, given not just for South Africans but for all the world's sons (and daughters). That what the national parks meant for me, and your heritage should never be taken for granted.

My daughter, Eagle Owl, and I have been pondering that question and the answers to it many a time. My personal conclusion would be exactly what Imberbe said:
It's the mystery of God's creation.
There is not one single facet of the African bush a person can leave out of the answer. All the senses are alert: See, hear, smell, touch, taste, and the sixth sense(s). And each of these has their own myriad of facets again. It's the weather, rain, sun, storm, it's the clouds, it's the vastness of the plains, it's the dust, the animals, the birds, the flowers, the forests and rivers. Plus a thousand things more to hear, see, smell, touch, taste.
And the psychology of such a place is the peace, rest, joy, exhiliration, excitement, the sense of freedom, and everything and anything good. The driving around, the snacks and drinks, the search for unexpected treasures.
And SANParks rounded it off perfectly with awesome picnic sites, camps, roads, viewpoints, shops...
There is no end to what makes each reserve so special!
Each is inexplicably addictive, totally and irrevocably a place to fall in love with forever.

Thanks for all the great responses. Keep them coming. I agree, Rumuruti, the question does warrant an endless stream of responses.
The general trend in all of the responses seems to a desire for the visceral experience of the bush - being in proximity to the smells, tastes and sounds. I agree wholeheartedly. I recall going to game parks when I was a young child and being drawn to the bush, astounded by the simplest smells or sounds. The African bushveld seems to hold some quintessential quality that exudes a kind of irresistible allure...

For me There is just something that cannot be explained.
Its the fact that when you are there, nothing else matters.
The beauty and quiet.....
You feel that when you are there, you a truly home...
The mystery of not knowing whats coming and the excitment of see natures biggest, smallest, rare....
when we back home, we wanna be in the bush.
when we at work, we wanna be in the bush.
Even when we on other holidays, theres just something missing.
But when we in the bush, we would rather be no where else in the world.
Well thats the way i see it anyway...

Why can't some people ask easy questions?

And why am I so doff, that I try to answer the difficults ones?

There is no one "magical thing" about game reserves unless I say it's the "overall experience".

There is something about the smell of Kruger. Once past Bushbuck ridge and on that final run in to the Numbe gate, I open my window wide and stick my head out so I can smell the park before I get there. (Of course the sucess of this is abolutely dependant on the wind direction.)

I love the smell of the gate office because the smell of thatching overpowers just about all else in that office. When I get a wiff of that, I know I am "home".

There is something to be said for entering the gate and looking into the bush and seeing the world as it should be. Miles and miles of bush, grass, trees, animals, bugs and birds. (provided of course, you don't have a view of some other tourists car. )

I revel in the first sighting regardless of what it is. Now, I see the Kruger, and I smell it.

The taste of my food when I am in paradise is different. I can hardly wait to have my first camp brekkie. Bacon, eggs, toast and suasage, and that all important first cup of Kruger coffee. Everything tastes different in Kruger.

The sound of nature is truly remarkable. There is seldom silence and yet the symphony is unbeatable. There is the sound of the bugs, and the birds. I revel in switching off my engine at all sightings so thet I can hear the bush orchestra. For the first few hours though, I have a droning sound in my head which is obviously the big city hangover. But I know that by tonight, it will be gone. To be replaced by the bugs squeaking, the gentle murmur of conversation from those in camp and the sounds of the night orchestra as they play a wonderous tune for me. The occasional crackle from a fire.

Now where else can I get all this? Only in nature. Is it any wonder we get so hooked on Kruger?

I think the ultimate exerience though, has to be away from anything man made, to be on foot somewhere in the bush, and not see or hear anything man made. This is how I envisage we were supposed to be the caretakers of our world. I think we were supposed to keep it in it's orginal form and not destroy it as we have.

All too soon, the time is over and we return to reality, to the concrete jungles and hear all the man made cacophony and I am deeply saddened to be away from nature.

These are just a few things that keep me hooked on Kruger. So many others, I would have to go back there to find out just what makes it all so special to me. And I can keep going back to find that one elusive special thing, because I haven't found it yet.

Wow, Jonathan D and BunnyHugger!

Your descriptions nearly say it all, it's just that one "elusive" element..!

SA's National Parks are not just about KNP and KTP but should include all of the other Parks. Coming from the Cape, I love Table Mountain NP, West Coast NP and our fave camping spot, Bontebok NP.

I agree Munchkin, but like I only have experience of KNP. I have been to a couple of the minor Parks, but KNP is the only one with the big 5. (That is as far as SANPARKS goes and the mods would instantly wield their brooms if I mentioned some of the other places I have been.

One day, I will be able to visit KTP. Who knows, it may become my new favourite place.

Just like each of the camps in KNP have their own particular personality and identity, so too, I'm sure each of the SANPARKS have their own identity and personaltiy.

But, I still can't quite put my finger on that one thing that keeps me coming back for more. Is it that feeling of living in hope that on oneof my visits, I will get to witness an adrenaline pumping view of a kill, or the not knowing what is around that next bend, or behind a clump of bushes?

That depends on how you define it.... Addo indeed doesn't have the Big 5, but has the Big 7 instead. (Big Seven, (elephant, rhino, lion, buffalo, leopard, southern right whale and great white shark.)

Let me rephrase DQ. KNP is the only SANPARKS park I have been to with the big 5.

I have been to a few "other" parks with the big 5, but like I said, it would turn you mods into jibbering wrecks and have you all wielding brooms and other weapons of mass destruction.

For me, I switch off when I’m in the bush (or under the water as I do diving too). There is nothing better to sit back and enjoy what nature has to offer in the parks, the quietness, the sounds of nature. To get up before the sun has peeked over the horizon and to listen to the animals with a hot cup of coffee. And even if they are not there, there is the silence that you just cannot get in the suburbs...And then there are the magnificent beasts big and small, just something to see in its living form is so much better than to see it on TV or as a picture.