 Paul Kruger Memorial Established in 1898 by President Paul Kruger as the Sabie Game Reserve, which was the beginning of animal conservation in South Africa and in 1902, Colonel Stevenson-Hamilton was appointed head ranger of the Sabie Game Reserve. He was given the name Skukuza that means “He who sweeps clean” and today the main camp boasts this name. Skukuza is situated along the bank of the Sabie River and functions as the park’s administrative and operational headquarters. The size of the park is 2000 000 hectares (19 685 square Km) and is presently changing in to the Kruger Transfrontier Park in conjunction with the Gonarezhou park in Zimbabwe and Coutada 16 in Mozambique. This is a size of 35 000 square kilometers “Greater Limpopo Transfrontier Park.” This makes it one of the largest parks in the world.  Impala Antelope The park enjoys a sub-tropical climate, with annual rainfalls of 500 to 700 mm, falling between September and March. The temperatures are hot in summer and winter is the most popular season for viewing animals, which congregate at the rivers and watering holes during the dry season. Winter has a mild climate and low vegetation that benefits animal viewing. A large variety of bird species (520) as well as herbivores, carnivores (146 Mammal), insects (114 reptile) and plant and tree life are in great abundance in this park. This provides visitors with unbelievable sights and sounds of this species kingdom. The park at present boasts 3000 Km of road surface and 23 camps plus several private concessions. Wilderness trials, picnic sites as well as 4 * 4 routes, hides and massive dams are there to be used and visited. San paintings and ruins of previous era are there to be seen and the park has museums in the camps that can be visited for the history of not only the park and its animals, but also the people that lived and worked in this heritage.  Kruger Park Gate, Phalaborwa. ♥
|
