""Lion Tour" Kruger National Park 2004 " a Kruger National Park Travel Page by Waxbag

Kruger is one of the best and most accessible parks in all of Africa. The variety of plants and animals here is stunning. They boast to be the most diverse park in Africa with 147 species of mammals, 517 bird, 114 reptile, 49 of fish, 34 of amphibians and, 333 of trees. The down side is the park gets 1 million species of people every year and at times feels more like a zoo, which it is actually referred to in the central part of the park. The circus is in the south.

Anyway, it is possible to get off the main roads and find your self alone on a game drive. The north has fewer people, albeit fewer animals. But all in all, this park is great. It is a good value and extremely accessible.

This lioness was one of 15 taking a rest during the late morning. There were also 4 cubs. Some of the sightings I made in Kruger are:

Common duiker
Impala
Mountain reedbuck
Bushbuck
Steenbok
Dikdik
klipspringer
Kudu
waterbuck
Blue wildebeest
Chacma baboon
Vervet monkey
Black rhino
White rhino
Giraffe
Burchell’s zebra
African buffalo
Hippopotamus
Leopard tortoise
Serrated hinged terrapin
Nile crocodile
Blue-headed tree agama
Rainbow rock skink
Warthog
Porcupine
Scrub hare
Olive toad
Elephant
Hyena
Side stripped jackal
Black backed jackal
Honey badger
Lion
Leopard
Wild Dog

Amazingly enough, I had the opportunity of seeing three leopards while in Kruger National Park in 1999. Unfortunately, I didn't take enough pictures if them. But they are difficult to photograph. This cat was stalking a herd of impala when we turned the corner. This shot on this frame I took through the window of my rental car. He didn't stick around long.

There are 517 species of birds in the park (253 resident, 117 non-breeding migrants, 147 nomads). This place is awesome for birds, especially raptors.

My Bird Sightings:
Bearded vulture
Grey lourie
Ground hornbill
Yellowbill hornbill
Greybill hornbill
Lilacbreasted roller
Glossy starling
Swainson’s francolin
Natal francolin
Crested francolin
Helmeted guineafowl
Longtailed shrike
Crested barbet
Laughing dove
Arrowmarked babbler
Secretary bird
Redcrested korhaan
Brown snake eagle
Bateleur
Lesser masked weaver
African fish eagle
White faced duck
Saddlebilled stork
Burchell’s starling
Greater blue starling
Great white egret
Ostrich
Whitebacked vulture
Lesser stripped swallow
Little swift
Little bee eater
Redbilled oxpecker
White fronted bee eater
Yellowbilled stork
Knobbilled duck
African jacana
Malachite kingfisher
Martial eagle
Pied kingfisher
Ground scraper thrush
Crowned plover
Lappetfaced vulture
Yellowbilled kite
African whoopee
Crowned hornbill
Forktail drango
Lesser honeyguide
Mousebird
Kori bustard
Goliath Heron
Marabou stork
Whalberg's eagle
Lizard hawk
Burchell's Coucal
Emerald Cuckoo