south africa is blessed with a variety of national parks the best known perhaps are the kgalagadi
transfrontier park and the kruger national park each are absolutely unique so let's compare them
i'm going to use five criteria to rate the parks first of all accessibility the second one will be
the wilderness experience of each park number three will be the game
viewing potential number four the facilities and fifth the uniqueness of each national park
this is my personal subjective opinion but let me have your thoughts in the comments the kgalagadi
is remote 1200 kilometers from cape town over 900 from johannesburg and 1450 odd from durban
cape town to the kruger is 1 800 kilometers but johannesburg 406 and durban 725 there are
daily flights from cape town and johannesburg to the kruger at skukuza the kruger's got easy
road and air access and there are nine entrance gates to the park and an excellent network of
tar and good gravel roads within the park itself this comparison is only the south african part of
the kgalagadi which is a long way from uppington the closest town there's only one access gate
and the roads within the park are all gravel this one has to go to the kruger kgalagadi zero
the kgalagadi truly is one of the last great wilderness areas
in south africa there are no tarred roads it's all gravel and quite a lot of fairly deep sand
so a four wheel drive vehicle is necessary for some parts of the park the roads are maintained
although they can get corrugated and after heavy rain they can get flooded
as well it's a popular reserve nevertheless and game sightings can get quite congested
if you're looking for a genuine african wilderness experience the kgalagadi delivers
well the kruger is covered by an excellent network of tired roads
it's a massive area the size of a small country with plenty of wilderness areas
and if gravel roads are your thing you're not going to be short of options
but i wouldn't call the kruger a full wilderness area there are numerous
rest camps and accommodation options there's even an airport that accommodates full-size jets
there are also well-stocked shops and a choice of restaurants my vote for the wilderness experience
goes to the kgalagadi trans frontier park so that's one all
when it comes to gaming the kgalagadi is not a big five reserve there are good
populations of lion leopard and cheetah and loads of bird life you there are gemsbok
also known as oryx in namibia and springbok and wildebeest
there are loads of smaller game and giraffe can also be found in the south african portion of
the kgalagadi the game is mainly concentrated around the auob and the nossob rivers so when
the game is active it's somewhat easier to spot that in more overgrown reserves but you won't
find buffalo elephant rhino or zebra so the sheer number of species is a little bit more limited
the kruger national park is not the most popular
game reserve in south africa for nothing these are just a few of the game numbers given by sanparks
so when it comes to sheer numbers and variety the kruger has definitely got the upper hand
and the kruger has a lot of rivers so there's also the
aquatic life crocodiles hippos and quite a good number of fish species as well
it's also a bird lovers paradise
this one has to go to the kruger so scorecard so far kgalagadi 1 kruger 2
there are only three main rest camps in the kgalagadi
that's twee rivieren noosob and mata mata there are also a couple of bush camps which are unfenced
the rest camps are all really really well maintained and well looked after they've got
beautiful swimming pools which is quite desirable in the kgalagadiespecially in summer you can also
get fuel although be aware that it's not always available at the rest camps other than twee rivieren
the three rest camps also have shops although once again apart from twee rivieren and they're not
always that well stocked although you can usually get your essentials
the chalets are always very clean very well maintained and nicely looked after
a lot of visitors to the kgalagadi prefer camping i personally prefer mata mata nossob
comes a close second twee rivieren campsite is quite exposed and not as nice as others
apart from the more rustic and unfenced bush camps the kalahari tainted camp is a somewhat
more luxurious glamping kind of option it's a couple of kilometers from mata mata rest camp
and it's also unfenced but it is really is a very special place it's very cool braaing
on your deck in the evening watching the animals in the auob river below
and it's not at all unusual to have a lion or a cheetah walking right past your tent there are not
that many places you can get out of your car but there are a couple of picnic sites dotted around
the reserve where you can have breakfast or a braai and there are ablutions as well another
accommodation there is the kgalagadi lodge which is just a few kilometers before the entrance to
the park at twee rivieren a good base for day visitors and there's also a decent restaurant
the only really upmarket or more luxurious accommodation in the south african portion
of the kgalagadi is a community-owned project called !xaus lodge please excuse my pronunciation
it does require a 4x4 to get there but it's a very very unusual and very spectacular place
in terms of facilities the kruger is well served there are 12 main rest camps numerous secondary
bush camps and even a couple of luxury lodges skukuza the administrative center of the park
and the largest rest camp has an airport with daily flights from cape town and johannesburg
there's a golf course there's a first aid station restaurants and a stocked shop in fact all the
rest camps have shops where you can get most of your provisions they also have restaurants
all of the rest camps have swimming pools some of which are better maintained than others you seldom
too far from a rest camp or a picnic site where you can get out of your car there are ablution
facilities and places where you can sit down and have a meal and also some awesome viewpoints
most of the accommodation in the kruger is in rondavels like this one but the rondavels
are probably the most reasonably priced and the most popular but the quality does
vary quite considerably from camp to camp most of the rest camps also have campsites apart
from the rest camps there are also various bush camps that have fewer facilities you don't find
shops or swimming pools and so on there but they are very much more the bush experience
the type of accommodation the bush cams varies quite considerably
you get the more rustic tented type of accommodation and then more well-equipped
bungalows with all the essentials you need some of them even have tv it's a
pretty good way to have the bush experience without foregoing too many creature comforts
there's no shortage of luxury accommodation in and around the kruger national park the
quality varies from luxury to super luxury and super high price as well
but there you'll be pampered from the moment you arrive to the moment you depart
although my heart says the score should go to kgalagadi my head says
that it has to go to the kruger just the sheer variety kgalagadi 1 kruger 3
it doesn't matter how many times i visit the kgalagadi every time i'm blown away
once again just by the unique people and animals who have made this incredibly harsh
environment their home there are other wild places in the world
and in africa but the kgalagadi is one of the last true real wild places on the planet
there are many parts of the kruger national park that are inaccessible to visitors
and are absolutely wild and it's a really really special place and because of that it's so popular
and that is what detracts from the wilderness aspect of it and the uniqueness of it the tide
roads the restaurants the shops the busy rest camps but the kruger is different
in every season and it's a place that i really love and i will keep on visiting but
in terms of uniqueness and that x factor this one has to go to the kgalagadi so that's kgalagadi 2
kruger 3. so there we have it the kruger wins 3-2 on the strength of the sheer ease of access
the amount of game and the abundant facilities in the reserve the krig is a worthy winner
but if i had to choose one game reserve that i could visit for the rest of my life
it would be the kgalagadiit's got a special place in my heart