One of the world’s finest safari destinations, the Kruger National Park protects a mind-boggling 7,200 square miles of tropical savannah in the northeast of South Africa. Home to 149 mammal and 517 bird species, it is the centerpiece of the Greater Kruger, an unfenced cross-border ecosystem that incorporates national parks in Zimbabwe and Mozambique, as well as world-famous private reserves such as Sabi Sand, MalaMala and Timbavati. 

Discover Greater Kruger 

Kruger is the last remaining African reserve of comparable area to host viable populations of all the Big Five. Current estimates are 2,000 lions, 1,000 leopards, 45,000 buffalos, 20,000-plus elephants, and what are almost certainly the largest single populations of both African rhino species. Other wildlife includes cheetah, African wild dog, spotted hyena, giraffe, zebra, hippopotamus, warthog, impala, wildebeest, kudu, waterbuck, vervet monkey and baboon.  

An extensive network of well-maintained roads and modern family-friendly rest camps, together with a wealth of easy-to-use interpretive material, make Kruger National Park better suited to self-drivers than any other major African safari destination.  

Private reserves such as Sabi Sands (which includes Londolozi, Singita and Sabi Sabi), MalaMala, Manyeleti, Timbavati, Klaserie and Balule are part of the same unfenced Greater Kruger ecosystem as the national park, but they operate very differently. Closed to self-drivers, the private reserves offer all-inclusive luxury safaris in small service-oriented lodges and camps that place as much emphasis on wining and dining as they do on guided game drives. There’s a high probability of seeing all the Big Five in any of these reserves, and leopard viewing is peerless.