Krüger-Nationalpark vs. Private wild reservates in South Africa
Krüger-Nationalpark vs. Private wild reservates in South Africa
A guide to choose between the Krüger National Park and the private game reserves in South Africa at a glance
When it came to planning our trip to South Africa, Kia let me put on my own because I knew how much I enjoyed breeding cards and researching possible routes. This is usually fun, but occasionally is also stressful because I know that I am responsible for it when something goes wrong.
Against this background, I struggled to answer a central question: What are the advantages and disadvantages of the Krüger national park compared to private wild reserves in South Africa?
A safari in South Africa is a point on the bucket list and I didn't want to go wrong. So I spent a few hours to search travel guides and blog posts to weigh our options. To save you the same problems, I have put together my results below to give you a guide for the choice between the Krüger National Park and the private wild reserves in South Africa.
Krüger National Park shortly
The Krüger National Park is one of the best travel destinations in the world to observe wild animals. On an area of 19.485 km2 (about as large as Wales!) The park offers a wealth of the "Big Five" game animal (lion, leopard, rhino, elephant and buffalo) as well as 142 other mammals, including cheetahs, giraffes, hippos, zebra and hyena.
alt = “Big 5 views are the Krüger National Park as well as private wild reserves in South Africa”> Atlas & Boots Big-Five views are not uncommon in Krüger National Park
named after Paul Kruger, the former President of the South African Republic, the park was partially protected in 1898 and in 1926 to the first national park of South Africa.
In 2002 the Krüger National Park Mosambiks Limpopo and Zimbabwes Gonarezhou joined. The resulting Great Limpopo Transfrontier Park became the largest game park in Africa and enabled the free movement of animals in one of the largest nature reserves in the world.
private game reserve shortly
The "Greater Kruger Park" refers to the Krüger National Park (which is managed by the government via Sanparks) and the adjacent private wild reserves, some of which do not share with Kruger.
The private game reserves in South Africa are more comfortable but also more comfortable. Sabi Sands is the most luxurious of them (and therefore the most expensive). Other private wild reserves in the area include: Balule, Kapama, Klaserie, Makalali, manyeleti, Thornybush and Timbavati.We stayed in the Honeyguide Khoka Moya Camp in the manyeleti game reserve. Manyeleti, which belongs to the local Mnisi tribe, is the only park that granted black South Africans during apartheid.
take a look at this card to get an idea of the overall layout of the private game reserves in Krüger.
Krüger-Nationalpark vs. Private wild reservates
Below we list relevant information to help you choose between the Krüger National Park and private game reserves in South Africa.
| private wild reservates | National Park (public) | |
|---|---|---|
| The big 5 | yes | yes |
| General sightings | good Most lodges are in the south, where leopards are often spotted. Guides exchange information about finding wildness (although radio contact can be distracted). | good depends on your ability to find animals when you drive yourself. Larger herds, greater variety of animals. |
| crowd-level | low Even if the lodges are full, the guides limit the number of vehicles in the event of sight. | very busy during the school holidays (December Jan, Easter and Juni-Jul). Expect tour buses, commercial restaurants and an uncontrolled number of vehicles in the event of sightings. |
| vehicle limit in sights | yes | no |
| self-driving | no | yes |
| off-road | yes | no |
| Pirschwahnen | yes, some lodges limit the number of people per vehicle, so that everyone has a window seat. | yes. These can have 10 people per vehicle so that not everyone will have a window. |
| dedicated tracker | yes | no |
| private game drives | yes | no |
| night trips | yes | No game drives are limited to daylight. The exception is when you book an evening trip to Sanparks. Private operators and self-driver tourists are not allowed to drive after dark. |
| area covered | limited you see a small part of the Greater Kruger with minimal landscape variations. | far-reaching larger distances, larger landscape and vegetation variety. |
| led hiking | Yes is usually offered by default. | yes. You can book a guided hike with the rangers of Sanparks. |
| flexibility | star the daily routine in private wild enclosures is usually quite fixed. | free |
| accommodation | luxury lodges with air conditioning, private pools, WLAN and spa facilities. | simple bungalows with air conditioning, own bathroom and kitchen; Simple huts with common bathrooms and kitchens; Camping. There are some private lodges in the park, but they use the same streets as everyone else and therefore do not offer a good price-performance ratio. |
| eat | high standard | basic standard |
| self-sufficiency | no | yes |
| cost point | high to sky high | Standard |
our recommendation
The Krüger National Park offers the opportunity to see larger herds and a larger variety of animals. The landscape is more diverse and the costs are much more manageable.
If you can afford it, we recommend a private wild reserve for all reasons mentioned above. Of course, the costs play a major role. We spend much more a night than usual, but our philosophy is: If you fly all the way to South Africa for a one -time safari, it is pointless to downside.
good luck and let us know in the comments when you have any questions.
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