A big five safari is all about trying to see buffalos, elephants, leopards, lions and rhinos in the wild. You can see all of these animals in Kruger National Park!
Why are these animals called the big five? Because their skins, horns or tusks were worth the most to hunters.
There are a couple of ways to go about seeing the big 5.
In Kruger National Park, you can drive yourself around the game reserve.It does take time to see wildlife though. If you manage to see all of the big five in a single day, count yourself extremely lucky!
If you want to go on a wildlife tour and let someone else drive, Kruger National Park runs game drives from most of their rest camps. Kruger Park rangers will drive you and other wildlife seekers out into the bush. The rangers are extremely knowledgeable, but even they don’t know what you’ll come across. Every outing is different as are the animal sightings.
On top of this, there are a lot of private tour companies which run Kruger wildlife safaris. On our trips though, we always stay inside the park so we use the Kruger National Park run tours, rather than the private ones.
The luxury private concessions within Kruger National Park also have their own game drives, but you can only go on them if you’re staying at the particular concession. These game drives aren’t much different to the regular Kruger National Park ones, so don’t feel you’re missing out if you’re not on a luxury Kruger safari.
If you are driving yourself around the park, it can take days to see all of the big five. Leopards and lions are by far the hardest to find. They’re hunting animals and stealth is part of their success! On the other hand, buffalo, elephants and rhinos are grazing animals and are much bigger. They definitely make for easier game viewing!