The world-renowned Kruger National Park offers a wildlife experience that ranks with the best in the world. Established in 1898 to protect the wildlife of the South African Lowveld, this national park of nearly 5 million acres is unrivalled in the diversity of its life forms and a world leader in advanced environmental management techniques and policies.

Truly the flagship of the South African national parks, Kruger is home to an impressive number of species: 336 trees, 49 fish, 34 amphibians, 114 reptiles, 507 birds and 147 mammals. Man's interaction with the Lowveld environment over many centuries - from bushman rock paintings to majestic archaeological sites like Masorini and Thulamela - is very evident in the Kruger National Park. These treasures represent the cultures, persons and events that played a role in the history of the Kruger National Park and are conserved along with the park's natural assets.

History

In 1898 President Paul Kruger proclaimed the area between the Crocodile and Sabie Rivers as the Sabie Reserve because hunters and soldiers who fought in the Anglo-Boer had wiped out the Lowveld's huge herds of game. Major James Stevenson-Hamilton was appointed the first warden. He was a short, quick-tempered Scotsman and was given the African name "skukuza" meaning "he who turns things upside down". He waged constant war against poachers and was responsible for expanding the Kruger Park, incurring the wrath of local farmers who felt that the Reserve was a breeding ground for lions. Both domestic stock and people were often attacked.

The Kruger National Park was established in 1926. The surface area of Kruger National Park is 7,580 square miles (19,633 km²), roughly the size of Israel or Wales. In 1927, three cars entered the Park. Two years later there were 850 cars. Over the next 50 years, 150 000 people visited the Park annually. Today, 700 000 people visit the Park every year.

 

Activities

• View game by driving through Kruger with personal vehicle
• Organized game drives led by professional Kruger Park guides
• Night drives Discovering the KNP on your own is a great adventure, but there are a few things that you can not do without a ranger. One of them is to have a night drive through the park to see nocturnal creatures such as lions, leopards and hyenas. Tours take a couple of hours and leave usually shortly before the main gates close in the night
• Wilderness trail Discovering plants and animals on foot is an unforgettable lifetime experience and only few places in Africa offer such tours. You join a group of up to 8 mates and 2 rangers on a hiking tour that lasts for 3 days and you learn a lot of things about South African wildlife and there is no way that you could see animals closer than on this tour. Imagine seeing lion, elephant or rhino only a few meters from you.
• Landrover Lebombo Eco-Trail 
• Golf

The Big Five and more

25,150 Cape Buffalo

350 Black Rhinoceros; 5000 White Rhinoceros

12 000 Elephants

2000 Lions

1000 Leopards

3000 Hippos, 3000 Crocodiles, 200 Cheetahs, 200 African Hunting Dogs, 2000 Spotted Hyenas, 550 Sable Antelopes, 32 000 Burchell's Zebras, 17 000 Blue WIldebeest, 170 000 Impalas, 9000 Giraffes, 5000 Greater Kudus, 300 Nyala, 300 Reedbuck, 3800 Warthogs, 500 Bushbuck, 60 Roan Antelope, 500 Waterbucks, 160 Mountain Reedbucks and several other species.
 

For more information contact:

Louis Steenkamp: louis@sofalasafaris.com  or  601 914 0330 

Lukas Steenkamp: lukas.steenkamp@webmail.co.za  or +27 11 811 1417