The Kruger National Park is South Africa's oldest, largest and best-known wildlife conservation area, home to a huge variety of wildlife and most famous for its 'Big 5' viewing opportunities. Visitors have an excellent chance of seeing lion, elephant, leopard, buffalo and rhino among the enormous variety of wildlife, including over 140 species of mammals, 500 species of birds, reptiles and amphibians. The park had its beginnings in 1898, when President Paul Kruger established a protected area for wildlife after hunters came close to wiping out the rich game of the region. The Anglo-Boer War (1899-1902) stopped further progress until the development of the Sabie Game Reserve by the British, which later expanded into today's Kruger Park. The park was opened to visitors in 1927, and at present stretches for 236 miles (350km) from the Crocodile River in the south up to the Limpopo River, and is about 40 miles (65km) wide; roughly the size of Israel. It is now part of the Great Limpopo Transfrontier Park, a peace park that links Kruger National Park with the Gonarezhou National Park in Zimbabwe, and with the Limpopo National Park in Mozambique. Situated on South Africa's north eastern border, Kruger is a primary destination for international tourists, and is visited by more than half a million local and international people every year who are attracted by the different safari options as well as the park's excellent range of visitor facilities and choice of accommodation, from luxurious game lodges to cottages and camping. The park is criss-crossed by over a thousand miles of roads and offers excellent opportunities for self-drive safaris as well as guided drives. Bush walks with armed and experienced rangers offer a more thrilling safari option where animals like lion and elephant are tracked through the bush on foot. Visitors may only traverse the park between sunrise and sunset; when darkness descends it is best to be safe in a fenced rest camp.

This vast sanctuary is a must-see for every visitor to the country.You can easily self drive all of the park, guided tours and expeditions are offered at all main camps. All the Big 5 game animals are found at Kruger National Park, which has more species of mammals than any other African Game Reserve (at 147 species). The south is teeming with wildlife and as a result is the most popular area, while the remote northern region is little visited by game or people, but provides some of the best birding opportunities in southern Africa as well as an abundance of historic iron-age and Bushmen (San) sites. Rivers interrupt the extensive grassy plains towards the centre of the park, and the region provides an excellent setting for predators and birdlife. Camps inside the KNP provide shelter to visitors and are the only places inside the park where you leave your car safely. The level of service dependents on the camp size and can range from a tent site with a picnic area and bathroom facilities to a small town with swimming pool, library, restaurant, cafeteria, filling station, supermarket and golf course. Travel from one site to another takes on average 2 hours, whereas distances in the south are shorter and northern camps can be a little bit further apart. Bush camps provide smaller accommodation varieties than the main camps. They do not have full shops or restaurants in them and only some (Talamati, Biyamiti and Bateleur) will allow you to use electrical equipment like hairdryers.