South Africa - luxury hunting safari
Today a hunting safari in South Africa is synonymous with luxury accommodation, rich & exciting wildlife and relaxing vacation activities. The parks and game reserves from this country are filled with wildlife. Luxury hunting safaris are extremely popular amongst vacationers from South Africa because the thrill of the wild is combined with five star safari lodges and amazing entertainment. South African game reserves encompass every possible landscape, from deserts and forests to mountains and coastal regions. Home to over 100 game and nature reserves is no wonder that South Africa is Africa's premier safari destination! Out of all these reserves the internationally renowned Kruger National Park and its surrounding reserves are the most popular safari destinations.
Kruger National Park
Each year approximately half million travelers visit this premier game reserve. Kruger National Park is a 2 million hectare park that was established in 1898 to protect South African wildlife and is today an unrivalled leader in environmental management. Surrounding Kruger National Park are several smaller game reserves; between these reserves are no fences, so the wild animals can roam free. During your South African safari you'll have the opportunity to observe lions, leopards, rhinos, elephants, buffaloes and many other wild species.
A safari in this country is the ideal wildlife travel to go on because the infrastructure and accommodation is excellent in all wildlife parks. Even if many resorts offer luxury amenities the rates are still highly affordable in comparison to other African countries!
In Kruger National Park is not unusual to see lion, leopard, cheetah, a pack of wild dog, rhino, elephant, buffalo and antelope, crocodile and hippo in the course of a single trip! If we speak about birds you'll be spoiled with a seemingly never-ending supply of eagles, hawks, water birds and many other migratory and indigenous species - here live about 510 different varieties!
You can easily do a self drive safari here and still see a decent amount of wildlife - especially if you travel to the central and southern portions of this big park, which is larger than Ireland! The northern area has fewer animals due to dryer conditions but also less vacationers, so you can experience a more isolated and intimate wildlife experience.
Sabi Sands Game Reserve
Sharing a fenceless border on the western side of Kruger National Park is the Sabi Sands game reserve. This reserve contains a few of the world famous private concessions - Mala Mala, Sabi Sabi and Londelozi.
The inexistence of the fence between parks allows to animals to roam freely, so the game viewing experience is just as in the Kruger National - with one important difference. Because this reserve is privately held, off-road game tracking is allowed, so your chances to find big cats, elephant, rhino, buffalo and wild dog increase significantly.
Sand and Sabi rivers, which bisect the reserve, are the focal points in this reserve, attracting the wildlife especially in the dry season. So, viewing big cats and many other interesting animals is virtually guaranteed here.. In this reserve are located about thirty different top class lodges. But attention! All of them are pretty expensive and unless you have deeper pockets this fantastic reserve is not affordable for you!
Hluhluwe Umfolozi National Park
If you want to see the endangered black and white rhinos in the wild then this is the park that you have to visit. This park is now home for the largest population of white rhino in the world, numbering over 1600 animals. Hluhluwe has also a slowly increasing black rhino population - a little over 400. During your South African safari you'll be also able here to see lion, leopard, buffalo, elephant, cheetah and more than 400 bird species. Due to the large number of resident elephants you might have some close encounters with them on the roads...
Madikwe Game Reserve
Most of the wildlife contained in this park was relocated here from other areas in 1991. Twenty seven different species amounting over 10,000 head of game were re-introduced into the area where they once thrived but had disappeared because of hunting and habitat destruction!
A huge advantage of taking a safari in this park is that it is not situated into a malaria area, so you don't have to bother about taking malaria tablets as you do in most other reserves.
Rare antelope like eland, gemsbok and sable can be seen here and you'll be able to enjoy your wildlife viewing in peace and isolation - not many vacationers know about this excellent game reserve.
Kgalagadi National Park
The locals know that this is an excellent game park and it falls into the "best kept secret" category, that each country seems to have...This happens because, for some unknown reason, a reserve doesn't get the notice from vacationers and safari companies that it deserves. Maybe it's because this reserve is located in Kalahari desert and the people normally don't associate deserts with lots of wildlife... Partially it's true, but there are always exceptions to the rule and this South African safari park qualifies as an exception. You can see there some very interesting game, such as the gemsbok antelope (which can go for months without water!), springbok, blue wildebeest, eland and red hartebeest. If somewhere is a good supply of antelope, the predators are never far away - you'll have chance to see there black manned lions and leopard. This South African national park is also famous for birds of prey, such as the pygmy falcon.