Greater Kruger (incl. Sabi Sand)
The Greater Kruger is South Africa's flagship safari, a vast sweep of golden bushveld in the country's northeast that holds one of the richest concentrations of wildlife on the continent. At its heart is the Kruger National Park, nearly the size of a small country, and along its western edge lie the celebrated private reserves, the Sabi Sand foremost among them, where the fences have come down and the animals roam freely between the two. This is the home of the Big Five: lion, leopard, elephant, buffalo and rhino, and the place where many travelers see all five in a single unforgettable few days.
What sets the private reserves apart is the way you experience the bush. In the Sabi Sand and its neighbors, expert ranger-and-tracker teams take you off-road in open 4x4s to follow a leopard on the hunt or a pride of lions at rest, and the strict limit on vehicles means you often have a sighting all to yourself. Mornings begin before dawn with coffee by the fire and a game drive into the cool golden light; the heat of midday is for a long lunch and a rest at the lodge; and the afternoon drive carries you to a sundowner in the bush before a night drive home under a canopy of stars. The lodges range from relaxed family camps to some of the most romantic and luxurious hideaways in Africa.
For families and travelers who would rather not take antimalarials, we often point north and west to Madikwe, a malaria-free reserve near the Botswana border that delivers the Big Five and superb lodges without the precaution. Wherever we send you, we match the reserve and the camp to how you like to travel, and we build the safari to slot easily onto the rest of a South Africa trip, most often a few days in Cape Town and the Winelands first, then a flight north to finish in the bush.
