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GREATER KRUGER

The Greater Kruger region stretches from the Kruger National Park, in the east, up to the mountains of the Great Escarpment in the west. This area is dotted with game reserves and off course the crown jewel; Kruger National Park. Travelers coming from Johannesburg will notice a big change in landscape and vegetation, while traveling towards this region. The lush mountains of the Panorama Route and the elevation of the Highveld quickly changes to a Bushveld landscape with rich vegetation ideal for grazing.

For many tourists, the Kruger National Park is THE safari destination. With almost 2 million hectares, it is the size of a small country and boasts the highest flora and fauna diversity of any park or reserve in South Africa. The park can be divided into 4 different regions, where every region has its own unique selling points. Far North Kruger is popular for its pristine and untouched wilderness and birdlife. Northern Kruger is home to the ‘Big Fellows’. Almost 60% of all the Hippos in Kruger live in the Letaba and Olifants River and about 9.000 Elephants are located in this region. Central Kruger is known as the Big Cat Capitol of Kruger. Nearly half of the Lion population of Kruger lives in this region as well as large numbers of Leopard, Hyena and Cheetah. Southern Kruger gets the most annual rainfall of the park, the vegetation is lush and green and there is a large wildlife diversity here.

Located on the western border of the Kruger National Park are the APNR (Associated Private Nature Reserves). This association consists of the Balule Nature Reserve, Kapama Game Reserve, Klaserie Game Reserve, Timbavati Game Reserve, Thornybush Game Reserve and Umbabat Game Reserve. There are no fences between these reserves and the Kruger National Park (except for Kapama), which allows the wildlife to roam freely between this park and reserves.

Throughout the entire region, wildlife and going on safari are the main attractions. And this region delivers. Some 150 mammal species, 500 bird species, 115 reptile species and 2000 plant species live and grow here. Greater Kruger is not only rich in flora and fauna, but also offers a spectacular scenery of mountains, valleys, rivers and dams.

Balule Game Reserve, Kapama Private Game Reserve, Kruger National Park, Sabi Sands Game Reserve, Selati Game Reserve, Thornybush Private Game Reserve, Timbavati Private Game Reserve, Greater Kruger map

The Greater Kruger region is a region of large numbers. Around 500 bird species, 150 mammal species, 115 reptile species, 50 fish species, 35 amphibian species and 2000 plant species, of which 330 tree species. This is where you go to see all the classic safari animals like the Big 5, giraffe, hippo, zebra, hyena, Greater Kudu, Waterbuck, Wildebeest, Common Warthog, etc. Keep an eye out for the lesser known, but equally beautiful animals like Tsessebe, Sable Antelope, Nyala, Roan Antelope and the endangered Temminck’s Ground Pangolin.

With some 500 different bird species, Greater Kruger is also the birders paradise in South Africa. Here you can find many hornbills, starlings, kingfishers, bee-eaters, shrikes, storks, bustards and many more species. There is even a Big 6 of most desired group of birds many visitors want to see. These are the Kori Bustard, Martial Eagle, Lappetfaced Vulture, Pel’s Fishing Owl, Saddle-billed Stork and Southern Ground Hornbill. With all these high numbers, there is many prey and therefor a lot of birds of prey. Some 60 different species of eagles, hawks, vultures, falcons and owls hunt these lands.

If you are a fan of reptiles, you are in for a treat. Greater Kruger has some giants. The Nile Crocodile, the only crocodile species in South Africa, can grow up to a length of 5m. This is by far the largest of the reptiles, but the Nile (2.2m) and Rock Monitor (1.5m) are also quite impressive.

Among the insects are also giants. One of these is the Long Horn Giant Stick Insect, which can grow up to 30cm in length. Fortunately there are far more, and often beautiful colored, butterflies, beetles, dragonflies and moths to behold.

Browse through some of the species you can find in this region:

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