30 Days in the Kruger National Park: Details & Maps of all the Drives in The Kruger Park

Beautiful Stripes | Kruger National ParkThe Kruger National Park is situated in the north eastern part of South Africa. Its eastern border is the geographical border between South Africa and Mozambique. Its northern edge adjoins Zimbabwe. The red lines in the map below represent tarred roads, the green lines are sand or gravel roads. A couple of years ago the fences in the upper eastern parts of The Kruger were removed to allow a more natural migration of animals to take place and to allow the newly created Transfrontier Park to become populated with animals that had been decimated during the civil war in Mozambique.

About This Kruger National Park Site

The Kruger Park MapIn 2006 and 2007 I drove more than 3,000 kms covering every publicly accessible road over a period of some 30 days. I took along a GPS and was able to create useful maps for each drive. I was also able to record much of the wildlife, flora and fauna of The Kruger National. There are many highlights from the drives and lots of lingering memories for me and I hope that in reading these many articles you find them useful in preparing your own "safari".

The Kruger is far more than a safe haven for wild animals in a true wilderness environment. It is more than a game reserve. It is blessed with an amazing variety of landscapes which are responsible for the significant biodiversity within its borders. It is impossible to become bored with The Kruger.

In summary I hope you enjoy this unique Kruger website and that it might even inspire you to visit this wonderful place which is far more than the Big 5 for which it is truly famous. The Kruger National ark is a BIG place.

The Backbone of this Kruger Park Site

Using each of The Kruger's main camps as a base all the roads within these regions were explored. You can use the links to the left and follow along with each of the drives I completed. The camps in the list are from north to south. This was the order in which I made the 6 visits to the Kruger.

What's in the Kruger Park?

Species: 507 birds, 147 mammals, 336 trees, 114 reptiles, 49 fish and 34 amphibians. List of mammals

The Kruger National park is world famous for the high density of the Big 5.

The map opposite is an example of a distribution I map created from data supplied by the KNP... each black spot on this graph represents the sighting of one of the Big 5 (in this case the distribution of elephants).

Click the links below to view similar distribution maps for all the Big 5 animals found in the Kruger National Park.

Big 5 Distribution Maps

The larger coloured dots on the maps identify the various rest camps or Kruger Park Lodges and trails available inside the Kruger Park itself. As can be seen the density of elephants is at its highest in the north eastern quartile of the Kruger National Park. There are relatively few elephants in the western half of the Kruger. The reason is much to do with the underlying geological differences between the eastern and western portions of the KNP.

The Kruger National Park. Home of the Big 5

Lion ... This is a map showing park-wide distribution of the king of beasts, the majestic African lion. Seen on 4 separate occasions during June 2006.
Leopard ... The leopard is probably the most beautiful wild cat to be seen anywhere. It is also the most widely spread big cat but still not easily seen because of its nocturnal and stealth habits. Saw result of Impala kill in June 2006.
Elephant ... the big and generally gentle giant. The elephant once seen in the wild cannot ever be forgotten. I was charged twice in May 2006.
Buffalo ... So often described as the most dangerous of animals and I have a friend, Robin Morris, who can personally attest to this. He was literally saved from certain death by a ranger's gunshot that resulted in a charging wounded buffalo dropping dead at his feet. The incident happened in the 1980's in Botswana during a walking trail.
White Rhino ... The white rhino is massive, and a site everybody should see at some stage in their life. Under careful supervision by armed rangers these animals can often be approached to within a few metres. The map will show Pretoriuskop as a perfect venue to see these large animals.