The recent brouhaha around the decline of facilities in the Pilanesberg begs the question: what is it like in other parks? Well, if a recent visit is anything to go by, I can assure you there is no such problem in Kruger National Park.
Our trip started with a visit to friends who have recently taken over managing the Pafuri Rivercamp, a rustic camp just outside the Pafuri gate to the park. This camp is great for those who want a real bush experience and is also handy if you’ve travelled the six-odd hours from Gauteng and won’t make it to Punda Maria, SANParks’ northern rest camp in the Kruger, before nightfall. The tented units along the river are private while groups can book one of the clusters closer to the main lapa facilities, which include a kitchen, bar and pool.
There is no electricity, water is pumped from the river, and showers work off a “donkey” water heater (staff make the fires on request). But it is peaceful; the facilities are neat and clean and, if you don’t feel like cooking yourself, the chef will prepare a hearty meal for you and your party.
We skipped breakfast for an early start in the park and travelled at leisure to our first stop, the Pafuri picnic site, a lovely shady spot along the Luvuvhu River recognised as one of the top birding spots in the entire park. Chilled water and soft drinks are on sale and the toilets are immaculate at this and other picnic sites. You can rent a skottel and cook breakfast or make a fire to braai for lunch but, be warned, the monkeys are lightning fast – they snatched our loaf of bread off the table right in front of our eyes.
In this part of the park are regular signs showing the flood levels reached in February 2000; an astonishing thought considering the lazy flow of the rivers and even dry river beds we crossed on our way to our first overnight stop, Punda Maria. As with some other standard self-catering accommodation in the camps, the units are perfect for this type of holiday but crockery and cutlery are not supplied so you will need to take your own if you plan to do your own cooking.
The bigger rest camps all have shops and restaurants and Mopani and Olifants, the two we experienced, have fantastic viewing decks and offer light à la carte fare. Many have special meals in the evenings but doing your own braai after a day’s drive is very much part of the Kruger Park experience.
Another thing to remember is that the park is big. While, on paper, 140km may not seem so far, in the park, where one is (hopefully) stopping for game viewing, it is an ambitious day’s drive. It is probably not the best idea to do as we did and travel that distance from Shingwedzi all the way to Olifants in one day although, that said, Olifants is well worth the visit.
Mention you’ve been to Kruger and you’re sure to hear stories of other people’s best sightings and favourite camps. In our circle alone, our trip led to stories of one couple seeing “everything” during a week touring in the southern part of the park, as well as another who raved about the Shimuwini Bushveld Camp, which they did not want to leave.
Go to the SANParks website for information about the park as well as recent picture postings by visitors but remember, what you see depends on where you are, how well you look… and loads of luck.
In our few days in the northern region, we saw plenty of elephant and buffalo as well as lion and had many other great sightings, including the little Sharpe’s grysbok.
I was delighted to see two rhino with calf on the way out from Olifants towards Phalaborwa gate. The Kruger Park has been hit by rhino poaching, with another report this month of a rhino and calf found slaughtered at Albasini Road, so it’s heartening to see rhino.
A useful guide book is on sale at the gates for R30 with maps and detail of the highlights of the park, but be sure to take bird and mammal identification books if you can, especially if travelling with children. It makes viewing more fun and does help resolve debate. For us the references helped us learn more about birds of prey in flight, and made positive identification of the different antelope possible.
While I’ve always loved the Pilanesberg, and we’ve had some excellent game viewing there, Kruger is certainly somewhere special. Here’s hoping North West Parks takes a leaf from SANParks, which manages this park so proficiently, and attends to issues visitors have raised.
And, if you haven’t been to Kruger recently, now’s the time to plan that trip. The bungalow accommodation we stayed in was around R700 a night (for two), but cheaper and more luxurious accommodation is available. For more information about SANParks’ facilities and online bookings in the park, go to www.sanparks.org or call central reservations on 012 428 9111. For Pafuri, go to www.pafuri.co.za. - Saturday Star