getaway.co.za 73henmychildrenwerefourand
sixI tookthemontheirmaiden
triptoKruger.
OnourfirstdriveoutofMalelanewe
sawa bigmalelion.Heyawned,gotup
andwalkedtowardsus,thenroaredtwice
beforelopingoffintothebush.Kira,aged
four,watchedhisdisplaywithmild
interest.Thenshesatbackinhercarseat
witha ‘mph’sortofnoiseandsaid,‘Now
I wanttoseea tiger.’
Anddon’tweall– wanttoseea tiger,
lion,leopard,cheetah,wilddog...?It’s
called‘TheList’andit’sthecurseof
Krugerandgame-viewingeverywhere.
People’snaturalcuriosityaboutbig
predatoryanimals,andlionsinparticular,
cameasa welcomerevelationtoa feisty
ScotsmancalledColonelJamesStevenson-
Hamilton.In1902,Hamiltonwasappointed
aswardenofKruger’spredecessor,theSabie
GameReserve.Hisbriefwastorestorethe
antelopepopulationsthathadbeen
decimatedbypoaching,andpreservethem
forfuturehunting.Hismodusoperandiwas
toarrestallpoachers(evenwhitepolicemen
outforsomesportwiththeirservice
revolvers)andshootpredatorsonsite.
Thewarden’stenacityearnedhimthe
ShangaannicknameSkukuza(‘heturns
everythingupsidedown’),butovertimehe
begantodoubtthewisdomofpreserving
animalsfornootherpurposethanmeeting
a hunter’sbullet.By1912,Hamiltonhad
persuadedtheSelatiRailwaystostoptheir
trainsovernightonthebridgeoverthe
SabieRiver.Passengerslovedseeingthe
animals,particularlylions,whichinhis
words‘suddenlyacquiredimmense
popularitywiththesightseeingpublicand
became[thepark’s]greatestasset’.
Andsoit cametobethattheKruger
NationalParkwasproclaimedin1927.
Therewerenorestcampsandovernight
visitorssimplycampedwhereverthey
liked,sleptintheircars,orupa treeif lions
orleopardswerebeingoverlyattentive.
There’sa partofmethatwouldloveto
sleepina treeinKruger.Butinstark
contrasttothosedaysofyore,I beganmy
tripat SkukuzaRestCamp,witha wildlife
moviefollowedbya beetrootandbutternut
saladontheMugg& Beandeckoverlooking
theSabieRiver.Anda fiercedetermination
nottobea slavetotheTheList.
Inpull-offsfromtheH4-1,boundinno
hurryforSataranextmorning,I watchedthe rising sun creep up the trunk of a
magnificent marula as vervets swung,
one-handed from the branches. A fish eagle
swooped over the river, and landed nearby,
head back it gave its call-of-Africa cry. I
pointed my lens at a baboon mom cradling
a new-born. She gave me a ‘for goodness
sake, enough already’ look as I clicked away.
I spent an hour with an impala and her
baby that intermittently kicked up its heals
in pure exuberance. I felt like doing the
same, such was the beauty of it all.
Orpen Rocks had a leopard – and 20 cars
jostling for a glimpse, so I passed on. If this
was 1928, I’d definitely have pitched my
tent at the base and poured a sundowner
(though I might not have lived to share the
experience). The pretty koppie is named
after Eileen Orpen, a major benefactor by
whose generosity the park gained sevenABOVE Don’t mess with our mom – hyena females have triple the testosterone of their mates
and are much more aggressive; new-born impala lambs are a popular prey for martial eagles.
TOP Oxpeckers feed on ticks, lice and flies on rhino, giraffe and other big-game species, keeping
them free of infestations; elephants, however, don’t tolerate these hitchhiking birds.adjoining farms. And Mrs Orpen got a
koppie, rest camp and a dam named in her
honour. Even at midday, there was animal
action at her delightful dam and shady
benches from which to watch the spectacle.
As I crawled slowly towards Satara,
stopping often for giraffe and elephant, the
mixed woodland and thorn thickets gave
way to more open savanna. Kruger’s second-
largest camp is bang in the middle of plains
that attract vast herds of zebra, wildebeest,
waterbuck and buffalo – and that means it’s
arguably the park’s best camp for lions. True
to form, there was a mating pair busy near
camp, whose roaring was the soundtrack to
my braai on both nights.
The H1-3 south from Satara is one of the
best game-viewing roads in the entire
Kruger and early the next morning it didn’t
disappoint. First up was a hyena with twoW