South Africa is blessed with so much; beautiful beaches, mountains, and people. But one of the most valuable assets in my opinion, is the wildlife. No matter where you go in the country, you will have animals on your doorstep whether it be penguins, dolphins, whales, seals, porcupines and the list goes on and on. But the penultimate experience would be seeing the big 5 in a game reserve. And there are so many to choose from.
The BIG FIVE was a term coined by hunters in early history, referring to the 5 mammals in Africa which were considered the most dangerous and the hardest to hunt. This is obviously not what we want for these animals and the idea of the Big Five now is the seeing these most iconic animals in the wild. And what an accomplishment it is when you drive away from these game farms having ticked off the infamous Big Five which includes; lion, leopard, rhinoceros, elephant and the buffalo. But of course, this is only a very small fraction of the incredible wildlife on offer.
There are many options of how you would like to do this kind of a holiday. For the very adventurous you could do a full camping experience where you are truly in amoungst the wildlife, with the sounds of wild dogs a few feet from your tent, or not being able to head to the toilet due to a heard of elephants nearby. now I am all for adventure, but this was not the choice we took. You could also choose to drive from one hut to another to tour as much of the 2 000 000 hectare park. There are also incredibly boujee options you could choose where you stay in a lodge and all your comforts are catered to as well as fantastic game drives with park rangers. We opted for a self catering house in an smaller park called Mjejane Game Reserve. It is right next to the Kruger and easily accessible. But remember animals roam free so they can move across reserves at their leisure. We stayed in a beautiful house overlooking the river, which is ideal as this is where all the animals come to drink and rest at times. Check out the instagram page of Crocodile Bend to see the incredible views and house, included is also morning and evening game drives. While swimming in the pool overlooking the grasslands, you may have an elephant a few metres away at the fence or the resident warthogs who love to find shade under the pool. It absolutely magical and a pinch me moment. The options of accomodation are endless and just depends on your budget and needs. Kgalagadi is a Trans Frontier Park in the Northern Cape with outstanding facilities to explore. Check out the SandParks website to look at all of your options as well as Malaria areas.
This is a trip you could definitely do with the whole family. But of course if you are opting for open game drives, children will need to be able to be quiet when nearing animals. But you will also have the option of doing a self-drive, which is great for younger families too.
The excitement of waking up in the morning before the sunrises to get ready, pack your food and a flask of coffee to set out on your adventure is like a fairytale. You have no idea what you will be seeing that day, perhaps a leopard in a tree with a kill, or cubs crossing the road, perhaps you will hear the loud calls of a lion looking for a mate. Around every corner there is something exciting to see and experience. Or perhaps you choose the evening to do your drive, where the animals are heading to the watering hole to lap up some water after a long hot day out grazing or hunting, matriarch elephants helping the tiniest of the herd cross the rivers, looking out for danger and ready to step in and lead at any moment. Isn’t it incredible how the oldest female in an elephant heard is the leader and its so evident who she is by watching the rest of the herd.
There is so much discover in a Game Reserve and no matter what words I put down here, they will never do it justice. It is most definitely a destination that should be on your travel list, especially with the minions who have so much to learn on this trip. And don’t forget the little south African traditions of moer coffee (coffee with condense-milk), rusks, Amarula coffee at night, braais, biltong and of course the Bokdrol Spoeg – basically seeing who can spit a bokdrol (buck poo) the furthest. It’s just grass and water right??