Do You Love The Kruger? Do You Long for the Bush? ...

Take a drive on the wildside! Explore all the drives of the Kruger National park.

The Kruger National Park is situated in the north eastern part of South Africa. Its eastern border is the geographical border between South Africa and Mozambique. Its northern edge adjoins Zimbabwe. The red lines in the map opposite represent tarred roads, the green lines are sand or gravel roads. A couple of years ago the fences in the upper eastern parts of The Kruger were removed to allow a more natural migration of animals to take place and to allow the newly created Transfromntier Park to become populated with animals that had been decimated during the civil war in Mozambique. In 2006 and 2007 I drove more than 3,000 kms covering every publicly accessible road over a period of some 30 days. I took along a GPS and was able to create useful maps for each drive. I was also able to record much of the wildlife, flora and fauna of The Kruger National. There are many highlights from the drives and lots of lingering memories. The Kruger is however far more than a safe haven for wild animals in a true wilderness environment. It is blessed with an amazing variety of landscapes which are responsible for the significant biodiversity within its borders.  If you would like to add any comments please email me at pondprof(at)gmail.com Here's What You Might See in the Kruger ... And Lots More 507 birds ... information on each of these http://www.thekruger.com/directorybirds.htm">Kruger birds has now been published. I'm still working on the images of the birds. Based upon actual reported sightings collated by the Avian Demographic Unit (ADU)  based at University of Cape Town I have compiled detailed Kruger distribution maps for each species. I would like to thank the ADU for allowing me to use their raw data to be able to compile the final maps. Read my recent article about a Ground Hornbill slaying a dragon close to Skukuza camp 147 mammals. List of mammals in English and also mammal names in Afrikaans. 336 trees 114 reptiles (crocodile kill at Lake Panic) 49 fish and 34 amphibians ... I have two snake stories to te to tell based upon my trip in May. One includes a python and the other an unknown but large and active snake.

Where are the best places to spot the Big Five?

Use these Maps.> You can view a series of maps (like the one shown here) depicting the African Elephant distribution around the Kruger Park. The maps show in detail the prime locations for the Big 5 animals of the Kruger ... Lion, Leopard, African Buffalo, Africa Elephant and the White Rhino. Click the appropriate link below. The larger coloured dots on the maps identify the various rest camps or Kruger Park Lodges and trails available inside the Kruger Park itself.

The Kruger maps on this site are based upon actual game ranger sightings for the Big 5 that were plotted using a GPS (Global Positioning System) specially developed for use in the park using a Personal Digital Assistant (PDA).  The observations were collected and reported during the period March 2005 to February 2006. The data was extracted from the SA National parks website and analysed in detail to produce the graphs linked to below.

Distribution Maps of the Big 5 Wild Animals in the Kruger Park

These maps show many individual points and in many cases are very close together. Each point on the map represents a single observation.

The larger coloured dots are the locations of the rest camps and game trails.

Use these maps to plan your visit ... you can also see maps of http://www.thekruger.com/weather.htm">Kruger Park rainfall and temperatures here.

If you click the following link you will go to a table analysing the details of all the Big 5 sightings on a month by month basis. This information was collated for the period March 2005 to February 2006. However the information is also a good estimate for any similar annual period.

To explore other interesting sections see the links list at the bottom of the page.

All The Kruger Drives
Using each of The Kruger's main camps as a base the roads surrounding the area were explored. You can use the links below to follow along with each of the drives I completed. The camps in the list below are from north to south. Punda Maria Shingwedzi Mopani Letaba Olifants Satara Skukuza Lower Sabie Crocodile Bridge Pretoriuskop

The Kruger National Park ... Home of the Big 5
	Lion ... This is a map showing park-wide distribution of the king of beasts, the majestic African lion. Seen on 4 separate occasions during June 2006.
	Leopard ... The leopard is probably the most beautiful wild cat to be seen anywhere. It is also the most widely spread big cat but still not easily seen because of its nocturnal and stealth habits. Saw result of Impala kill in June 2006.
	Elephant ... the big and generally gently giant. The elephant once seen in the wild cannot ever be forgotten. Charged twice in May 2006.
	Buffalo ... So often described as the most dangerous of animals and I have a friend, Robin Morris, who can personally attest to this. He was literally saved from certain death by a ranger's gunshot that resulted in a charging wounded buffalo dropping dead at his feet. The incident happened in the 1980's in Botswana during a walking trail.
	White Rhino ... The white rhino is massive, and a site everybody should see at some stage in their life. Under careful supervision by armed rangers these animals can often be approached to within a few metres. The map will show Pretoriuskop as a perfect venue to see these large animals.