This is undoubtedly the area you want to be in if you’re looking for the ultimate South African safari. Home to the biggest game park in South Africa, with a landmass of 2 million hectares, larger than Israel Mpumalanga welcomes you with open arms to: The Kruger National Park. The park all others are compared to, life outside the great park is mostly found in picturesque little towns in the area, along the Panorama Route, peppered with country lodges and stopovers en route to Johannesburg, Gauteng.

So what makes Mpumalanga a special safari destination? Big is beautiful in the case of The Kruger National park. And for exclusivity you couldn’t find a more perfect Reserve than Sabi-Sabi.

POPULAR GAME RESERVES:

Greater Kruger National Park
African sunrises and sunsets, the dusky earth with all kinds of animals running sfreely, this is the Kruger Park, and the quintessential African and South African safari. If you know no other game reserve in South Africa, you will most definitely have heard of The Kruger National Park.

Spanning the provinces of Mpumalanga and Limpopo in the north of South Africa, the Park is also part of the Great Limpopo Transfrontier Park, a ‘peace’ park joining Kruger National Park with parks in bordering Zimbabwe and Mozambique. Free of fences this allows game uninhibited reign of the grazing land. Baobabs, knob thorns, marula and mopane trees, from a canopy of sorts for the wildlife teeming beneath, including Big Five, the Little Five (buffalo weaver, elephant shrew, leopard tortoise, ant lion and rhino beetle), birds and is proud to boast more species of mammals than any other African Game Reserve.

Although there are guided tour operators, the park is self-drive destination, with picnic sites, camps, waterholes, and you can easily stumble upon an animal on a kill.
A booked safari or private game lodge includes regular game drives with an experienced ranger, and if you’re on a self-drive there are plenty of rest camps offering night drives, early morning, mid-morning and sunset game drives.

The Sabi Sands Game Reserve
The Sabi Sands Game Reserve is regarded as the most exclusive private game reserve in South Africa. Nestled in the south-western corner of the Kruger National Park, the 65 000 hectare has no fences between it and the Kruger Park, allowing wildlife to roam freely between the two reserves.Boasting some of the best and most exclusive private game lodges in the country, Sabi Sands Game Reserve promises excellent opportunities to see the Big 5 (lion, leopard, buffalo, elephant & rhino) up close.

Blyde River Canyon Reserve
Though not specifically a wildlife safari destination, Blyde River Canyon Reserve along the Blyde River Canyon, is one of the most breath-taking Natural Game Reserves in South Africa. Sheer cliffs, mountain scenery and stunning panoramic river across the Drakensberg and Blyde River are what makes this a must see. With names like God’s Window and Wonder view, well, you can only imagine why. A natural pheneomena formed by water erosion, has made ‘Bourke’s Luck Potholes’ one of the strangest sights in the land: strange cylindrical sculptures carved by swirling water.
Smaller animals found here: klipspringer, dassies, grey rhebuck, rare oribi, rodents, reptiles, seed-eating birds, plenty of insects, Kudu, bushbuck, bushpig, bushbabies, chacma baboons and vervet monkeys. Hippopotamus and crocodile live in and around the rivers and wetlands.

With a Province so rich in wildlife, the opportunity for different types of safaris and accommodation suited to any budget, be it shoestring or Kings ransom, you will find something suited just for your needs.

Read more on: Safari accommodation and Lodges: Mpumalanga

OTHER GAME RESERVES IN MPUMALANGA & SURROUNDING ACCOMMODATION:
Dullstroom Nature Reserve
Gustav Klingbiel Reserve
Ligwalagwala Conservancy
Loskop Dam Nature Reserve
Mount Sheba Nature Reserve
Mthethomusha Game Reserve
Nooitgedacht Dam Reserve
Ohrigstad Dam Nature Reserve
Steenkampsberg Reserve
Sterkspruit Nature Reserve
Songimvelo Game Reserve
Verloren Vallei Nature Reserve