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Entry from: Kruger National Park, South Africa
Entry Title: “Kruger National Park, Home of the Big 5″
Entry:
“We’ve seen it on National Geographic, Discovery Channel, Animal Planet, and many other documentary, the place where animals roam freely in the park, disregard of the human staring at them… this is Kruger National Park. Kruger is about 500km from Johannesburg (Joburg) so we started our journey at about 6am. With the help of my GPS, we quickly find our way onto the highway. The road was unbelievably straight, you can see at least 10km of straight road in front of you. Everyone were driving at least 140km/h and along the way you’ll see a lot of people trying to hitchhike. There were a lot of tolls along the way, expect to pay about R100 one way on toll. We stopped by a petrol station for lunch.
After lunch we quickly rush towards Kruger. Along the way, my GPS led me into a small village whereby there were hardly any car driving by and everyone staring at us as if we’re aliens from mars. We were so afraid that they might stop us and rob us… curse the GPS and never over rely on it. After a few quick turn, we finally left the village and reached the Numbi gate at 2pm. We paid our daily R140 conservation fee (R70 per pax, you need to pay park fees, called conservation fees here, for each day that you stay in the park) to get into the park. I’ve been to Pilanesburg so I’m setting my expectation right. sarah was so excited… being able to see roaming wild animals… priceless. When you go to any of the national park, check out my Park Rules 101 and my Park Survival 101.
Park Rules 101:
1. NEVER EVER get out of the car unless the signboard says so as hungry animals like easy prey like you. Your flesh is not good for animal health.
2. Park speed limit is 50kmph on tar road and 40kmph on gravel road. Speeding will result in hefty fine, hole in your pocket and tears from your eyes.
3. If you’re not staying overnight in the park, observe park closing time and get out of the park before that, else even heavier fine awaits you.
4. Don’t ever feed the animal. Your food is not good for their health. Animals will get lazy and rely on human to feed them.
5. Don’t litter. There’s no one to go around the park to pick up your rubbish. No one wants your junk to end up in some animal’s stomach.
6. Hyena roam the camp perimeter at night, attempt to feed them will mostly end up with them chewing on your arm as well. Fyi, hyena rank 2nd in bite force after crocs so don’t mess with them.
7. Give way to animal when they are crossing the road, be a gentleman, they are the 1st class citizen in KNP.
KNP Survival 101:
1. Self-drive safari is the most affordable way of going about safari. Map (available at the entrance) and useful safari guide (teach you how to differentiate water buck, red buck and the rest of the buck family) is essential. Biggest advantage of self-drive safari is the flexibility, you decide when and where you wanna go, and it costs less than a guided safari.
2. You’re allowed to drive a rental car into the park. Most rental companies allow you to do that, but to be sure, reconfirm with the car rental company. Rent a car with aircon, even in winter! Else you’ll be driving an oven around the park.
3. Bring your own cooking utensils and dish washing liquid. There are restaurants at the camp but it won’t be cheap. Most economical way is to cook your own food. All camps have electric stove and hot water.
4. Bring your own sunblock else you’ll get toasted by the sun, even in winter and spring. It may be dead cold in Cape Town while KNP will be blazing hot.
5. Plan your trip, KNP is freaking big. Do not attempt to cover too great a distance cause KNP is a massive tract of land and you might end up spending too much time traveling. What I did was to calculate the distance from the map and …”
Read and see more at: http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/saraphilo/2/1251581626/tpod.html
Photos from this trip:
1. “Kruger National Park”
2. “Most common animals in KPN are impalas”
3. “Giraffe”
4. “Blue wildebeest”
5. “Animal crossing”
6. “Male lion in the bush”
7. “Beautiful African Lion King in sunset”
8. “Giraffe enjoying his dinner”
9. “Pretoriuskop rest camp ceiling view”
10. “Day 2 - Sunrise at KNP”
11. “Breakfast time”
12. “Cheetah”
13. “Female cheetah in action”
14. “Rubbing cheeks against the tree to mark territory”
15. “Here I come”
16. “The hut we stayed in Pretoriuskop rest camp”
17. “Pretoriuskop rest camp”
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