Kruger - ventilated!

'I've often wondered why people prefer to stay outside the Kruger National Park rather than in it...'

Pestana Kruger Lodge - [Malelane]

I've often wondered why people prefer to stay outside the Kruger National Park rather than in the reserve at one of the many overnight camps. These visitors secure accommodation outside the Park - and enter the reserve each day, either under their own steam or on a scheduled OSV (Open Safari Vehicle) tour; the tour operated by a professional / specialist safari company.

On the 24^th of September, South Africans mark Heritage Day - a day set aside to celebrate the cultural wealth of the country. Dressed in traditional garb, the day is usually brightly-coloured and always festive. To spoil the fun some commercialist proposed that South Africa celebrate its cultural appetites in a way synonymous with the peoples of this country ie: around an open fire @ a braai (barbecue) &, as a consequence, "National Braai-Day" was whelped on the Promotions pages all across South Africa's retail space.

"National Braai-Day" was whelped on the Promotions pages all across South Africa..

The 24^th fell on a Sunday this year - an unfair roll of the dice really but that's the Gregorian for you. Fortunately ours is not a hard-working society & the Monday was set aside in its stead earning the diehards double-time at the tills. For the rest of us this concession to productivity equated to a long-weekend - the perfect excuse for an excursion elsewhere & up here, in the innards of the country, that means to the bushveld ie: the Kruger National Park. The scramble for access & accommodation is an eastward migration of urban aggression - which, some would argue, speaks to our true culture but there you are. It's a fact; the scramble that is. Notwithstanding, we tagged along for the jostle - securing the Saturday night's accommodation in the park [an online fluke] but in the sure knowledge that Sunday night's accommodation lay elsewhere; on the road outside - looking in. Kruger was filled to capacity & then some.

We avoid the southern region of Kruger like vegans at a pig-on-the-spit. I'm not immune to cretins unfortunately or the circus that is the OSV industry - a dust-cloud at odds with common sense and the ethos that is Kruger ie: peace & quiet. As for the cretins, most seem inexplicably drawn to the Park's southern camps - who knows why? Perhaps it's first seen - first bought ie: a bottom-up stare-down at the Park's map - a habit difficult to ignore away from the street-side cafés back home. To be fair the southern region is the most convenient point of access. At a guess it's also why most foreign visitors get posted to Skukuza by tour operators driven by a profit-engineered stratagem rather than on value-add. It's a shame. Skukuza, for those who don't know, is the Kruger's largest camp by volume & din and the Park's administrative hub. It's also located in the southern region. Avoid at all costs but if it's the only available option - go anyway! A day in Kruger is a day well-lived.

Avoid at all costs but if it's the only available option - go anyway! A day in Kruger is a day well-lived.

Malelane Gate - KNP (Saturday 11am)

With Saturday night's Skukuza reservation in hand, we arrived at Malelane Gate at approximately 9am (late by our youthful standards but we're older.. wiser now). When I say 'we arrived at Malelane Gate' I mean 'we could see Malelane Gate from the back of the queue - some 300 meters away'. From when 'we arrived' to when 'we entered' 2 hours had been consigned to our life's journal under 'waited in the queue - incompetence rife'! Gate personnel were seemingly more interested in the confiscation of alcohol, a commodity forbidden day-visitors, than in manning the formalities' desk. Two counters serving 100s, on behalf of 100s more, is a feat I would drink to most days but even the strongest sauce would not have dulled the aggravation of the most patient sot there.

When I say we drove to Skukuza in a convoy of strangers; a convoy no less impressive than rush-hour traffic back home - that is what I mean. Fortunately lions were scarce or we'd still be 'at-the-back-of-the-queue' en route to yesterday - a fact we proved next afternoon, further west, at a mating lions sighting somewhere between Lower Sabie & Crocodile Bridge; two more overnight camps located in the deep South, east of Skukuza. We heard from the broken-telephone info-booth, at the-back-of-the-queue, that 3 (?) lions were entertaining the front-seats with excerpts out of the Kama Sutra. We were obliged to leave some two hours later without laying eyes on the naked truth; a fortunate result given that our son of 3 was all ears on the back-seat. The same front-seats hadn't moved - or taken a breather even as temperatures spiked in spits & spats. Deviant cretins then.

A lion - no argument there

Never call a South African unobservant - test the hypothesis at Malelane Gate on the first day of a long-weekend. We know exactly when you arrived & where you should be in the queue - JUST TRY AND GET AHEAD *BOET [*'my brother' in JHB & in the more contemporary parts of Cape Town] ... "I'm just going to the bathroom" se gat ie: be damned!

Fortunately Alisha's smarter than I am & we spent early Sunday morning birding Skukuza camp. If you ever get the chance forget the leopard-tally for a second and walk the camps. It's Kruger at its best. Birdlife is prolific - the photographic opportunities less hurried - the birds themselves more used to one-eyed-dicks squinting through a lens; long or otherwise.

'If you ever get the chance forget the leopard-tally for a second..'

Close...

Later that morning, whilst watching a buffet of the camp's local specials drink at an unrepentant leak - 'Africa's most precious resource' - we heard some Vervets arguing a point - in no particular order really. If the leopard walking nearby was anything to judge these things by, then at a guess, the monkeys were a little too distracted to notice us as we veered-in on the cat. We didn't want to be rude but the fracas in the trees seemed less intriguing than a tom-in-camp even if the cat was on the other side of the electric-fence. Stellar stuff - memories even. Elephants & a herd of buffalo were also in close attendance. A veritable smorgasbord of the big uglies - all within touching distance & whilst we were on foot.

Hippo disagreement - discussed

I can't argue the merits of the South's potential for unusual / special sightings. Fair enough. We saw the Big 5 more than once but at a cost to all things simple & smart... 'Nuff said. 

Before we ended up at Pestana Kruger Lodge on the Sunday night, a resort located on the banks of the Crocodile river & adjacent Malelane Gate, we exited the Park further east at Crocodile Bridge en route Marloth Park. We'd seen the brochures & succumbed to the media-hype. All the lodges in Marloth were at capacity save a single 'lodge' hitherto rated 9/10 by past attendees. This fine, clinker-brick emporium had a single room for us - at least as far as booking.com was concerned. We filled in our particulars online at circa 120kph en route only to be told, on arrival, well after sundown I might add, that they 'couldn't honour the booking'. Why? 'We're tired - room's dirty'. The empty bottles of alcohol, lolling on the lawn, seemed proof enough. We left - vowing to never set-foot-in-Marloth again.         Don't say I didn't warn ya.            An hour later we arrived at Pestana 60 km or so further west on the Kruger boundary hat-in-hand. I think the gate security will forgive the 'we-have-a-reservation' fib. Truth is we didn't - they probably guessed - we were let in anyway, dishevelled & a little tired to say the least.

Pestana Kruger Lodge - (Malelane)

If I said the reception desk was a peel of angelic music would that be too much? We were offered the very last room on the books; I suspect kept 'in reserve' for vagrants like us whenever the opportunity to score a few points presents & score they did. It has changed my outlook on 'southern' Kruger fairly dramatically. I know it isn't strictly accurate comparing the Kruger's dated accommodation with the facilities of a four-star lodge but I think the comparison is valid in this case.

Forgotten perhaps - Skukuza nevertheless

The 3-bed rondavel at Skukuza set us back approximately R1500pn (per night); the Pestana room circa R1900pn. Skukuza's accommodation is grimy (a consequence of inattentive housekeeping more than anything else); the linen threadbare and the decor mostly beige or spotted in derivatives thereof. The room at Pestana was contemporary, tasteful and bright. Some dust on the balcony & on the back of the bathroom door spoilt the Pestana card but I think the point is fair.

Pestana's rates are full-board [Dinner & breakfast] - Skukuza is self-catered. Leopard Creek, adjacent Pestana on the same Crocodile river but on the other side of the bridge, observes the 'quiet-after-9' ethos I generally encourage. The bushveld demands a quiet neighbour. 

Protea Hotel by Marriott Kruger Gate 

Out front - off the Pestana deck, the night sounds & the ambience were the equal of Skukuza's Sabie river by anybody's measure; certainly in our books & we know Kruger. So I ask you this. Where would you stay? We're not talking about financial semantics btw. - everything is relative. The same applies to Protea Kruger Gate on the eastern boundary nearest the Kruger Gate & closer still to Skukuza. The same contemporary decor, rates / services apply there too.

The New Kruger Safari Lodge

Again, in fairness, I think Sanparks [Kruger's de facto administrators] acknowledge the shortfall & are attempting [at last] to meet the demands of the more discerning visitor &, more importantly, the expectations of our international guests. Eateries / restaurants have been outsourced - so too the retail space mostly. These economies of scale filter down to the user; a nice change from yesteryear when that wasn't always the case. At Skukuza the 'New Skukuza Safari Lodge' is under construction and due for completion this time next year. At face value the construction is impressive. I don't care much for the argument against a hotel in the park. Congestion is what it is. A tasteful day-spa kneads-away the aches & pains of what I would assume is an assortment of cricked necks & wobbly bums. Safari isn't always a song & dance. Elsewhere in the camp the riverside accommodation has been renovated - & on first-hand experience a nice surprise but that too is becoming a victim of inept housekeeping.

The modern traveler is experience-driven. Private lodges acknowledge the fact and are modifying their focus on the overall experience accordingly. It's important, therefore, to make the distinction between a 'boutique hotel in the bush' and a 'bush experience'.

However, when we rate Kruger the safari / game-viewing experience is more generic - sightings are a factor of course but premised on luck & the experience of the tour operator / visitor. The same criteria apply for privately-owned, non-safari lodges catering to the same Kruger visitor but located outside the park. The safari experience, in the park, is equally generic. The difference, however, is in the quality of the stay & on that basis these lodges are more bang-for-back; more comfortable & generally streets ahead.

Where the attraction is the Kruger and well-positioned, privately-managed resorts exploit the opportunity - it's only fair to call it as it is. Then again, in case we forget, the Kruger is the attraction. The potential is limitless. 


Just leave the north alone - it's perfect as it is.