By Jacqui Thompson

A visit to this iconic game reserve is a must whether you live in Stuttgart, San Francisco or Sasolburg. It is our largest and one of the most accessible reserves and has so much more to offer than spotted, maned and horned mammals. As a regular visitor to the Kruger this is my advice on getting the best out of your visit…

Kruger elephants have right of way photo: Mary Alexander/MediaClubSouthAfrica.com

On arrival buy the Kruger Map book. Apart from the road network it has information on the type of terrain in different parts of the park. Know what you would like to see and select your route accordingly. You are unlikely to find giraffes in riverine thickets or steep rocky mountainsides. Looking for leopards? Your best bet would be roads alongside riverbeds.

Plan your distances carefully, allowing ample time to stop and spend time at an animal sighting or watering hole. You don’t want to have to rush back to camp.

The faster you drive the less likely you are to spot something. Stick to the speed limit (50kmph on tar and 40kmph on dirt) or even better travel around 25kmph – an ideal game viewing speed. I took an entire day to travel less than 100 kilometres because I stopped to look at the small things. This often rewards you with a sighting you might not have seen. (more…)

by Jacqui Thompson

Mention the words game lodge to most people and they often envisage zebra and wildebeest skins scattered across polished red cow dung floors, stuffed animal heads with glassy eyes staring blindly down on sunburnt tourists sipping G&Ts, beaded whatnots, heavy dark furniture, and thatched roofs.  Thank heavens that old quintessential décor item: the elephant foot ashtray has ceased to be desirable as we, the most violent species on the planet, agree it is no longer acceptable to hack off an elephant’s legs just so we can put our stompies out. (more…)

Jacqui Thompson

Leaving Loxton behind we zipped along the excellent tar road and soon leaned into the left hand bend that led into Victoria West.  On our right was the Victoria West Dam where various species of antelope grazed on grass so green it hurt my eyes. The Seekoei River fed the dam and also ran skirted the Northern Cape town.

Our back roads bike trip from Cape Town to Johannesburg was almost at an end. Not because of distance but rather time. The punctures on the dirt road between Sutherland and Fraserburg were partly to blame; they cost us a few days, but a contributing factor was also the laid back pace of life in the Karoo. We had no desire to be on the road for eight hours a day, clinging to motorbike handlebars, eyes squinting in the wind as all that pesky scenery rushed by.  Our starts got later as we enjoyed leisurely brunches with the locals and other travelers rather than early bird breakfasts and when we eventually set off we traveled leisurely with frequent stops to admire afore-mentioned scenery. The daily distances we rode also got shorter, so on this particular slow, sunny Karoo day we covered the magnificent distance of 81 kilometres. We couldn’t help it … Victoria West was such an inviting little town. (more…)

Aloes in the Kirstenbosch National Botanic Gardens.

Huge areas of semi-desert scrub and grassland might suggest a certain poverty of plant life to the untrained eye. In reality, a tract of pristine grassland can hold up to 60 grass species - so nothing could be further from the truth.

There are five major habitat types in South Africa: Fynbos, forest, Karoo, grassland, and savannah. The country can also be divided into seven biomes, or ecological life zones, with distinct environmental conditions and related sets of plant and animal life: Nama Karoo, succulent Karoo, fynbos, forest, thicket, savanna, and grassland.

Regardless of the classification used, some 10% of the world’s flowering species are found in South Africa, making it the only country in the world with an entire plant kingdom inside its borders. The Cape Floristic Kingdom contains 8 600 species, with 68% of them being endemic. The Cape Peninsula alone boasts more plant species than the whole of Great Britain. (more…)

Giraffe, Kruger National Park.

The reason so many visitors come from so many different countries is clear: There is nothing quite like the African bush. Visitors can experience its splendour in a variety of ways, too: Driving through one of the many provincial or national parks, or staying in a luxury private lodge where you will be treated like royalty

You could also join an overland excursion and concentrate on spotting the game and abundant bird life while someone else does the driving.

If you’re looking for a typical game experience, you should visit the lowveld of Limpopo Province, Mpumalanga, North West or KwaZulu-Natal, where elephants lumber gracefully through the bush, and lions rest during the heat of the day after a long night of hunting. (more…)

Cities have sprung up on land that once belonged to the animals. Huge tracts of land have been given over to farming, hunting has wiped out entire herds, and the times when a herd of springbok would take days to pass through a Karoo town are long gone.

However, thanks to the foresight of conservationists past and present, South Africa remains blessed with abundant wildlife. (more…)

Lilac-breasted roller.

South Africa ranks as one of the top birding destinations in the world, offering an unbeatable combination of variety of birds, well developed transport systems, and a user-friendly and supportive birding tourism industry.

Birders from around the world come to experience both the great variety of typically African birds, migrants, and endemics - those birds found only in South Africa. These birders enjoy excellent birding, whether they are with an organised commercial birding tour or are touring independently.

Of the 850 or so species that have been recorded in South Africa, about 725, or 85%, are resident or annual visitors, and about 50 of these are endemic or near-endemic to South Africa, and can only be seen in the country. (more…)

A juvenile southern right whale (Image from a painting by Elisabeth Poulsom, Cape Gallery)

The annual migration of southern right whales from their icy feeding grounds off Antarctica to warmer climates sees the majestic beasts reaching South Africa in June. Our coastal waters teem with the giant animals, mating, calving and rearing their young, while giving whale-watchers magnificent displays of massive power and elegant water acrobatics.

The whale gets its name from the fact it was once regarded as the “right” whale to hunt - being slow-moving, rich in oil and baleen, they float when killed and provide an enormous yield to hunters.

It was this “rightness” brought the animals to the brink of extinction in the early 20th century, as whalers killed an estimated 20 000 of the animals. However, protected in South African waters since 1935, their numbers have slowly crept back to a global population of around4 000, most of which visit South Africa’s coastline every year - much to the delight of locals and visitors from around the world. (more…)