This post was originally from February 12, 2024

South Africa’s most well known National Park is called Kruger National Park. It’s one of those places that draws travelers in from around the world because its not only home to the ‘Big Five’ (elephant, buffalo, lion, leopard and rhino), but also because of it’s incredible size that is home to a wide range of landscapes and biodiversity. An interesting fact is that Kruger National Park is the size of Belgium and stretches for 352 kilometers from north to south along the Mozambique border.

It is in the Greater Kruger Area that we spent two nights at the most beautiful lodge called Umbhaba Eco Lodge and one full day on safari in Kruger. The best time to see animals (especially the big cats) is at dawn and dusk, when the temperature is a bit cooler and animals are on the move. Our 5am start gave us a stunning sunrise and within minutes we were gifted with a pack of African Wild Dogs running right next to our vehicle. This is one of Liza’s favorite animals but also a super rare site to see. In all her time on the road she’s only seen them once from afar. Looking over and seeing the tears in her eyes was absolutely priceless! A couple of fun fact about wild dogs: they always let their young feed first, unlike other predators like lions or hyenas where the adults always eat first and whatever is leftover the babies have to fight for. As well, the alpha male and the alpha female will be the only ones to reproduce, the rest of the pack look after the babies.

The rest of the day did not disappoint as we were lucky enough to see elephants, a couple of male lions, giraffes, hippos, kudus and so so much more. We also got to see so much of Kruger’s bird-life, including the rare and vulnerable Southern Ground Hornbill.

Our breakfast stop gave me so many laughs as the vervet monkeys would appear out of nowhere and steal people’s food. They are the cutest things and the males have the most beautiful turquoise blue balls, but they are naughty and have learned to steal and thieve like nobody’s business. As we sat and ate, so much screaming could be heard as the monkeys would spring onto the tables and grab food in a blink of an eye. Nothing was stolen from us but watching others play victim was nothing but hilarious!

On Sunday, we drove about two hours through beautiful lush green landscapes to Karongwe Private Game Reserve. Here we were met with first class service as they gave us hand towels and fresh mango juice. We were given instructions that we can freely walk to our tent during the day but once the sun goes down we would need to be escorted as we are right in the middle of the reserve where animals can roam freely. 

Our tent is not just any tent, but a raised canvas structure with all the amenities including a fully functioning washroom and shower. Now this is the life!

Our time spent at Karongwe will be filled with many safaris. Yesterday evening we set out on our first, but before that we had a cheetah conservationist give us a lesson about this incredible species as well as their amazing projects. Did you know that cheetahs are attracted to Calvin Klein’s Obsession for men? It’s a true fact-when they need to capture a cheetah for whatever reason, they spray the tree with Obsession and pretty soon the cheetah will appear! 

The park itself is pretty massive at 9000 hectares, so there’s lots of ground to cover and a lot of animals to discover! Not long into our safari drive on our first evening our guide stopped the vehicle and asked us all to get out. He took us into the bush and I thought we were going to get a lesson on flora and fauna. I was most definitely wrong and I almost did not bring my camera with me – here I was following along blindly when all of a sudden we come across 4 cheetahs!!! We had no clue that we were going to be on the ground with them; so close that I could see their patterns clearly and even hear the noises that they make. Did you know that cheetahs purr!!

Another highlight of the evening was being able to see lions and their two cubs. Even though they were a bit hidden in the greenery you could still see how freaking adorable they were, just laying on their backs and stretching like house kitties. I just wanted to jump out and scoop them up in my arms! 

Eventually when the sun was setting we were able to get out of the vehicle and have drinks and snacks whilst surrounded by the sounds of the jungle! 

Not a bad day huh?