Wild at heart

The Kruger National Park is one of South Africa’s greatest tourist treasures, home to a range of habitats where wildlife is plentiful. Our readers love going to the Kruger. In this article, we celebrate the park through their photos and stories.

- TOAST COETZER

ANNEMARIE WRITES: The Kruger, my Kruger, our Kruger! My travel partner, Zani Prinsloo, and I absolutely love the place. We live just three hours from Orpen gate, so we can sneak in for quick visits whenever the call of the bush becomes too loud to ignore. Our quickest trip was when, on a whim, we decided to drive through after Sunday lunch. We were out on Monday morning and back in time for work! Our longest trip ever was 21 days non-stop.

My Kruger story starts at the age of four. I remember borrowing my father’s camera to take photos of all the beautiful animals I saw from the back seat of the car.

Zani and I put our phones on silent the moment we arrive. We can’t wait for nightfall, because that’s when we light our campfire and braai a chop or three. With a glass of wine in hand, we wait for the stars to show, and enjoy the sounds of the bush. Sometimes a honey badger might make a surprise visit in camp, or even an African wildcat.

In the morning we’re up at the crack of dawn and waiting at the camp gate half an hour before it opens. With travel mugs filled with coffee, we thank our Creator for the wonderful wilderness we’re about to enter. The anticipation mounts – what will we see first? What happened last night? So often we’ll be minding our own business when suddenly something happens. Coffee mugs fly as we lunge for our cameras.

This particular morning, we were first out on the S100 from Satara. When we got to the T-junction with the S41, we turned left. At the first driffie, we came across 25 lions!