South Africa-Kruger spectacular wildlife adventure. Review on South Africa, General

Having travelled to almost all the wildlife sanctuaries in Southern India, our BIG trip to South Africa was awaited with Great enthusiasm. To tell you that my family trip to South Africa was the most scintillating and Soul stirring experience is putting it mildly. For those of you who had the pre conceived notion that SA is a developing country, I must tell you that it is very much a ''Developed'' country and follows international standards.

Bombay to Johannesburg was only an overnight journey.We rented a car from Johannesburg for the entire trip (which is the most feasible and sensible thing to do if one wishes to go on safaris).

We drove all the way to Haze View in Mpumalanga. I must insist that Haze View is one of the places that a nature lover should visit. The Panoramic drive to God's Window offers a magnificent view of the Blyde River Canyons(not huge as the Grand Canyon but awsome neverthless), Lowveld, Bourkes' Luck Potholes(where Tom Bourke found Gold in the area), Mac-Mac Waterfalls, and historical Pilgrims' Rest . We stopped over at Graskop(pronounced Hraskop by the locals) a lovely tiny town ideal for buying souvenirs especially animals carved out of wood at very nominal rates and ate at one of the many small restaurants offering delicacies like Snails and Smoked trout.

We travelled to Kruger in the month of August., a good time to visit as the weather was very pleasant. The rest camps we stayed at were, Ber en dal, Skukuza and The crocodile Bridge. The rest camps mostly have 4-5 types of accomodation - Bungalows, Family Cottages and Guest Houses besides camping in tents. All rest-camps allows for open air cooking called the ''Braai'' (u would enjoy it if you are a steak eater). If you prefer a less rugged eating experience you can make use of the restaurant & cafeteria located inside the park or buy the ingredients from their well stocked grocery shop that stocks a variety of marinated ''ready to cook on Braai'' steaks and cook your own food in the kitchen which is attached to every cottage or if you are the adventurous type, you could even try out their local food '' Pap and Poiky '' which is basically made of maize and a gravy, besides this, all rest camps provides a laundromat and petrol (gas) station. Surprisingly there were'nt any mosquitoes or insects inside the cottages (malarial shots are not required for this trip) the only place we were swarmed by mosquitoes were in the Bombay airport so keep your odomos cream handy .

Berg en Dal Restcamp, is situated on the bank of Matjulu Spruit and is surrounded by rocky hillsides.The animals found around this area are White Rhino, Kudu, Impala, Giraffe, Elephant, Reedbuck, Klipspringer, Grey Rhebok, Warthog and Leopard. The first animal encounter will probably be a Giraffe (if not careful you might even bump into one as they stand tall close to the road ) Our cottage had 2 bedrooms and a huge living cum kitchen with a private patio where the ''Braai'' was situated. The experience of building a fire and cooking steak was something else.

Our stay at Skukuzawas not very great as it was very crowded and if you prefer some quiet and tranquil surroundings then skukuza is not the place for you. However chances of spotting ''The Big Five'' (which refers to five of Africa's greatest wild animals - lion, leopard, elephant, buffalo and rhino) is very high. The next time we visit Kruger, we will definitely stay at the Lower Sabie rest camp instead of Skukuza , which is located by the Sabie river. The sweet grass and foliage in the vicinity of Lower Sabie Restcamp has a diversity of game, like the Lion, Cheetah, Elephant, Hippopotamus, Rhino, herds of Buffalo.

We spent the last 2 days at The Crocodile Bridge. This small and delightful camp is situated in the Southeastern corner of the Kruger National Park, on the northern bank of the Crocodile River, from which it derives its name. Of all the 3 rest camps we stayed at , our best experience was at Crocodile Bridge where we saw a pride of lions lazing unfazed by the glares of the cameras. We also had a lovely encounter with the African elephants at close hand as they approached our hut to eat the lush leaves from the Marula trees ( which bears the Marula fruit from which Amarula , a local alcoholic drink is made from . Tastes similar to Irish Cream) .

However one wonders if '' Heaven really is a place on Earth '' when one is blessed enough to see the congregation of all the animals like kudus, Nyalas, Hippos, Giraffes, wilder beasts, Zebras, warthogs and many more drinking water from the river at Sundown. Definitely a moment that will be permanently etched in our memory. Its definitely Haven for an avid nature lover ! It might be a big budget trip but worth every rupee.I would love to go back to Africa to be one with nature!