Places to Visit
Kruger National Park
The Kruger National Park is South Africa’s flagship Big 5 game reserve, covering 2 million hectares of the Lowveld region in Limpopo and Mpumalanga. The world famous park is a popular choice for romantic getaways, weddings, and family holidays. It offers an unrivalled wildlife experience with excellent game viewing opportunities, from guided open vehicle drives to mountain biking, hiking, and walking trails. Book your Kruger accommodation for the ultimate African safari!
Visitors can enjoy self-drive and guided game viewing, as well as a number of guided nature experiences. If you enjoy roughing it, the 4-day Wilderness Trails and Backpacking Trails offer a unique hiking adventure through Big 5 territory. Professional and armed guides act as trail leaders, interpreting and teaching you about the natural surroundings. The Kruger National Park also has mountain biking trails, 4x4 adventure trails, and eco trails with exclusive access to remote areas.
For something a little more sedate, the Mopani Sunset Drive is a beautiful trail along the banks of Pioneer Dam. The park has a number of bush braai facilities available, whether for an evening fireside dinner or long lazy lunch. And if you’ve ever wanted to share a golf course with wild animals, make sure you book a round at Skukuza Golf Club.
Summer is the most popular time of year to visit the Kruger as many people take leave over the December holidays. If you prefer to avoid the crowds, the dry winter season is an excellent time for game viewing as the vegetation thins out. There are also fewer watering holes, which means that animals are more concentrated in fewer spots. And while summer temperatures reach an average high of 32°C, the winter highs average a warm 26°C.
Winter is also advisable for families travelling with young children as the Kruger National Park falls within the high risk malaria area. Malaria is distinctly seasonal in South Africa, with the highest risk being during the wet summer months (September to May). The park makes use of mosquito nets and periodically fumigates the accommodation units, but visitors are advised to take precautions against mosquito bites.
A limited number of day visitors are permitted to enter the Kruger National Park each day. If the daily limit is reached, only visitors with pre-booked overnight accommodation will be permitted access. Day visitors are advised to make use of the Advanced Booking system over long weekends and public holidays.
Mozambique
Mozambique, a scenic country in southeastern Africa. Mozambique is rich in natural resources, is biologically and culturally diverse, and has a tropical climate. Its extensive coastline, fronting the Mozambique Channel, which separates mainland Africa from the island of Madagascar, offers some of Africa’s best natural harbours. These have allowed Mozambique an important role in the maritime economy of the Indian Ocean, while the country’s white sand beaches are an important attraction for the growing tourism industry. Fertile soils in the northern and central areas of Mozambique have yielded a varied and abundant agriculture, and the great Zambezi River has provided ample water for irrigation and the basis for a regionally important hydroelectric power industry.
The capital is Maputo. Known until independence as Lourenço Marques, the city boasts fine colonial-era architecture and an attractive natural setting alongside the deepwater harbour of Maputo Bay. Maputo is the commercial and cultural centre of the country, and its sidewalk cafés, bars, and discotheques offer some of the liveliest nightlife in southern Africa. Other major cities and towns, most of which lie on or near the Indian Ocean coast, include Beira, Quelimane, Chimoio, Tete, Nampula, and Nacala.
The country’s diverse wildlife populations include water buffalo, elephants, warthogs, leopards, baboons, giraffes, zebras, antelopes, lions, and numerous other species of ungulates and cats. Crocodiles and hippopotamuses are found in slow-moving waterways. Snakes—including pythons and venomous puff adders, cobras, and vipers—live throughout the country. Flamingos, cranes, storks, herons, pelicans, ibis, and other tropical waterbirds exist throughout Mozambique but are more numerous in the moister areas of the northeast. Scavengers include crows, vultures, and buzzards, and game birds include guinea fowl, partridge, quail, and a range of geese and ducks. Game reservations and national hunting areas are located largely in the central and southern areas, with the exception of the important Niassa reserve on the Tanzanian border and the Gilé reserve southwest of Nampula. The largest game areas are just south of the Zambezi bordering the Chimoio highlands. The country’s other game reservations are the Marromeu, Pomene, and Maputo reserves.
Swaziland
Komatipoort
Komatipoort is situated in the area where the Crocodile River and Komati River come together. The name Komati originated from the original native Swazi called the River Nkomwzi, which means ‘river if comes’. The name poort is named after where the Crocodile River and Komati River meet through the mountain pass (poort), flows through the Lebombo Mountains into Mozambique.
This quaint town is only 8km from Crocodile Bridge Gate and 50km from Malalane Gate, two of the well known gates of the Kruger Park. The town is only 3 km from the Lebombo Border Post.
Komatipoort is one of the consistently hottest places in South Africa with an average summer temperature of around 33c and a temperate 26.5c in winter.
There is an excellent 9-hole golf course in Komatipoort with a magnificent view of the adjacent Kruger National Park. The natural habitat of a variety of monkeys and birds with magnificent plumage, antelope and hippopotami forms part of this golf course.
