• Discover Yourself in South Africa
• A Thousand Memories
• iExplore South Africa

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Safari

Close encounters with wild, free and beautiful animals and birds in their natural habitat create the experience of a lifetime. There are a variety of different game-viewing venues and styles in South Africa — on foot, in open-air vehicles and even on elephant-back — but no matter which option you choose, you’ll have vivid memories that will stay with you the rest of your life.

Have a truly wild time

The best-known safari area in South Africa is Kruger National Park, located in the northeast corner of the country along the border with Mozambique in an area spanning the provinces of Mpumalanga and Limpopo. This remarkable conservation area covers more than 7,500 square miles and contains 16 distinct natural areas. The southern end of the park, which has the most developed tourism facilities, is the most visited. This is a great location for “Big Five” viewing; lion, leopard, elephant, buffalo and rhinoceros can all be found here. In addition, you can spot giraffes, zebras, antelopes, wildebeests, and almost as many types of birds as there are stars in the Southern Hemisphere’s skies. Elephant-back safaris are offered at the Kruger National Park, a well as the more traditional walking and driving safaris. Kruger’s accommodations range from basic campsites to luxury safari lodges, with prices to suit every budget. Northern Kruger Park is becoming the place to go for safari lovers in the know. Here, in the shrubby mopaneveld, sand forest, and dense tropical forests, you’ll find great herds of elephants and buffalo, and rare antelope species such as tsessebe, sable, roan, and eland. Because there are far fewer lodges, and safari vehicles are relatively new to the area, the animals here are a bit more reclusive than in the southern part of the park. However, the more intense search for animals often provides a greater payoff’ when you’re finally rewarded with a rare close-up view o the “Big Five” and other fascinating wildlife.

The Big Five

• Lions: The most social of the cat family, lions live in prides consisting of one or two males, up to seven females and dozen or more cubs. Standing 48 inches high at the shoulder, males average just over 400 pounds, females under 300 pounds.
• Leopards: The strongest climbers of the big cats can kill prey much larger than themselves. Males can grow to over six feet long and 150-plus pounds; females are about two thirds the size of males.
• Elephants: The African elephant is the world’s largest land mammal, often towering 11 feet or more and weighing up to six-plus tons. Its trunk is used to eat, smell, carry, dig, trumpet and spray itself with water.
• Buffalo: These large, ox-like beasts stand over five feet at the shoulder, and grow up to 1,700-plus pounds (females weigh slightly less). Herds can contain as many as 1,000 or more buffalo.
• Rhinoceros: Rhinos stand about five feet at the shoulder; adult black (or hooked-lipped)rhinos weigh one to 1.5 tons and white rhinos weigh over two tons. (The white rhino derives its name from the Dutch “weit,” meaning wide, relating to its wide, square muzzle.)

Unique parks, distinctive settings

In addition to Kruger, South Africa offers a variety of other distinctive parks, including the following:

• Great Limpopo Transfrontier Park was created by dropping the fences between Northern Kruger and neighboring Mozambique and, when it is eventually connected to the bush areas of Zimbabwe, it will be among the largest wilderness areas in the world, stretching over 13,500 square miles.
  www.greatlimpopopark.com

• Kgalagadi Transfrontier Park, located in Northern Cape’s shimmering, otherworldly Kalahari Desert, is the largest in Africa, operated in conjunction with Botswana. The border is unfenced, and wildlife — including black-maned Kalahari lions, graceful gemsbok, playful meerkats and mighty elephants — search for water along the same riverbeds as their ancestors have for centuries.
  www.sanparks.org

• Pilanesberg National Park, uniquely set in an ancient volcanic crater in North West province, just a two-hour drive from Johannesburg, offers a dramatic landscape of rocky outcrops and thick bush that supports a wide variety of plants, animals, and birds including the Big Five. Pilanesberg borders the Sun City Resort, making it the only place in the world where you can track lions on elephant-back in the morning and then spend the afternoon on a man-made beach.
  www.pilanesberggamereserve.com

• Hluhluwe-Umfolozi Game Reserve in KwaZulu-Natal province is one of the most popular spots in all of Africa for walking safaris, where wilderness trails were originally pioneered (traditional safaris are also available). Though only one-fifth the size of Kruger, it has a remarkable population of wildlife, including the Big Five. Hluhluwe- Umfolozi is also known worldwide for its conservation efforts; its staff is almost single-handedly responsible for saving the white rhino from extinction.
  www.southafrica.net
• iSimangaliso Wetland Park (formerly St Lucia Wetland Park) in the northern reaches of KwaZulu-Natal is the only place where you can see the largest land mammal in the world, the elephant, and the largest ocean mammal, the whale, in the same outing. iSimangaliso is also home to the greatest congregation of hippos and crocodiles in South Africa and is the last significant breeding ground for giant leatherback and loggerhead turtles.

For a full list of South African National parks, visit www.sanparks.org.

Private reserves

If you’re prepared to spend a little (or a lot) more, South Africa also offers many private game reserves and upscale lodges where you will enjoy a greater level of luxury. These private reserves are also dedicated to providing unparalleled guided bush experiences while remaining committed to conservation and community. Sabi Sand Game Reserve, for one, provides luxury accommodations along Kruger National Park’s southwest border. Though it’s a private reserve, there are few fences between it and Kruger, meaning that animals traverse the border freely. Other private game reserves include Molori (in Madikwe), Balule, Timbavati, Thornybush, Kapama, Shamwari, Lion Sandsi, MalaMala and Makweti, to name but a few.

The little five

While on safari in South Africa, keep an eye out for these much smaller, though no less fascinating, namesakes of the Big Five:

• Antlion: Not a member of the feline family but a large insect resembling a dragonfly.
• Leopard tortoise: Their attractively marked shells can reach up to two feet in diameter.
• Buffalo weaver: A fairly large (about nine inches), stout, sparrow-like bird.
• Elephant shrew: A small insect-eating rodent with a long nose
• Rhinoceros beetle: Among the largest of their kind, they can carry up to 850 times their own weight.

A Typical Day on Safari

Your wake-up call comes hours before the sun rises, so you can experience tracking nocturnal hunters such as leopards and lions when they’re on the prowl, before the heat of the day kicks in. After a quick cup of coffee, you embark on a three- to four-hour game walk or drive with a super-knowledgeable ranger and tracker. During this time you’ll be able to take your greatest dream of spotting an animal in the wild and multiply it by a hundred. You see not just one elephant, but a dozen, from a playful baby to a two-story bull knocking over bushes with a shake of its head. Spot a regal gemsbok, with its slender, scimitar-like horns, and understand how they may have inspired tales of the fabled unicorn. The roar of a male lion, a few yards from the safari vehicle, leaves you nearly breathless.

Return to camp for a freshly cooked breakfast followed by a nature walk with a ranger. After lunch, take a nap at the height of the midday heat or go for a swim. Then, following afternoon tea, you’re off on an evening safari drive that includes a stop for a sundowner (a cocktail enjoyed as the sun sets). Back at your lodge or campsite, enjoy dinner under the southern constellations — a completely different array of stars from what you see at home. Then it’s off to bed and dreams of the wildlife that you’ll encounter tomorrow.