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Hi ~ I was chatting to my mom, reminiscing about the park and I asked what she would definitely do when she goes back. In no particular order:

- line up waiting for the gate to open, then drive to a picnic spot and have eggs and bacon on toast which was cooked on the skottle

- at the end of the evening have her rusks and coffee while listening to the sounds of the bush (she doesn't have rusks and coffee any other time)

She had many more, but it got me wondering what you guys definitely must do when visiting the park, be it a special spot, camp etc.

Just curious - might add them to our to dos when we visit!!!!!

Aussie,

Our "must do" is when entering the gates to "shed" the city hustle and bustle (this applies wherever we are - not just KNP) and to go back to bush time. IF that means spending 15 minutes watching a squirrel then so be it

Smell the thatch

Drive with the windows wide open, no radio!
(But close the windows in a hurry when necessary )

do not enter the park until omthing has been spotted from the paul kruger bridge.

smoke on the bridge with a zamalek in hand .

smell the thatch.

put on what we call our kp song

eat a pie and gravy

amarula creame

condensed milk coffee

buy an overpriced stuffed lion (started by so 5 trips ago)

drive / walk around bare feet

braai

read outside

eat dried fruit (only time in the year i go near fruit)

and tell us what will that be?

My must do:
Skottelbraai in the morning/lunch
Braaaaaaaaaaaiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii

And relax

Hi Aussie Angel

Personal likes and dislikes will definitely influence a list of must do's in Kruger. We -self and family- like to get up in the morning (not to early, the idea is to relax) have coffee and rusks, drive to a picnic spot, have a leisurely beer, breakfast (skottel, eggs etc.).Then drive back, with a different route if you like, get back to the camp and RELAX. Normally we would do the early morning thing only once during our stay.
If you are in one of the camps with a river view (Olifants or Letaba) the trick is to find a quiet spot, listen to the "silence" and take in as much of God's wonderful creation as your senses could handle.
If you are the more energetic type a hike in the Kruger is an unforgettable experience. There are even short day walks that you can do. A bush breakfast would also feature high on my "must do list" for Kruger.
I hope this helps.
______________

Kgalagadi next April, can't wait.

Oh man now you guys made me so LUS for a lekker KNP trip!!! 6 weeks to go though!!! Our do's for KNP is we NEVER go without a BIG bag of biltong and a BIG bag of droeëwors!! And also the coffee and rusks early in the morning before we go out for our first drive, and we never go without our Amarula Cream. Nothing as nice as cruched ice and Amarula in the afternoon when the sun is setting! And then every time we do a nice brunch at one of the picnit sites in the area we are in with out bacon and eggs, fried tomato's etc. And on our last trip when we stayed in Lower Sabie, we started a new ritual where my husband and I go the bar at the restaurant and order a nice cocktail every afternoon, and we sit there and enjoy the view over the Sabie river and drink our cocktails. And we also switch off the radio as soon as we enter the park, after we got all our camera equipment ready for ACTION at the gate! Oh this reminiscing thing is nice hey!!!!!!!!!

Stop at a quiet out of the way place and turn off all man made sounds and just listen to the sounds of the wild !

The do's for me are as follows

1) When entering the first gate I open something stronger than bottled water. You know those with all the different fruit flavours, which my friend call In Afrikaans "sletsappies"

2) See how many birds I can I identify in one day, every day for the whole duration of the trip. Mine is 91 on 11/11/2006.

3) Bacon and egg and all the trimmings at a picnic spot is a must.

4) Around the campfire I drink something which I do not drink at home, like changing from whisky and water to rum and raspberry. Had a bad experience tough. One evening I met a chap at the shop at Satara, started to chat and eventually I invited him over for a sundowner. A week before the trip I treated myself to a bottle of Johnny Walker Blue label. I decided to brag a bit and offered it to my new "friend". Without telling him about the quality of the whisky, I poured him a double on ice. When I turned around to get myself something, I saw him reaching for the nearest Coke and....He was not invited the next evening.

I hope that all of those people who cant wait to drink something stronger than water when they get into Kruger are not driving. Too much to hope for I suppose

10 Must do's (in no particular sequence)
1. Stay at Tamboti
2. Go to Matambeni hide
3. Enjoy the whole package, birds, trees, insects, instead of racing around just looking for cats.
4. Amarula at night, in my coffee.
5. Go on a night ride/sunset ride/morning walk etc
6. Elephant hall at Letaba
7. See 'Wolhuter's' lion skin in the library at Skuk
8. Stay at Biyamiti
9. View from Olifants
10. Eat slap chips on the veranda in Letaba

-stop frequently, just to listen.

-talk to strangers.

-take in the fragrances of the bush.

-write poetry in your head.

-eat at least one ice cream.

-share sightings.

Morning all
Our must do's....
- stay @ least 1 night @ Tamboti (if possible)
- stay in safari tents where available (for night sounds)
- forget the outside world (no TV / radio / newspapers / phones)
- look @ the little things
- have @ least 1 skottel brekkie (try not to forget the egg lifter - very tricky turning eggs with teaspoons)

Once I started walking in the KNP , driving gradually became less attractive .
On foot one experiences the odours & sounds which you often don't pick up in a car .

Stop just to take in the smell and the sounds!!!!!

Learn more about the park each time through reading.