Evergreen Explorer Magazine

Kruger National Park Established: 1923 Size: 2 million hectares Where Located in the Lowveld region of South Africa's Limpopo and Mpumalanga Provinces, Kruger covers two million hectares. Two ironies surrounded the establishment of the park. Firstly, if any animal survived the onslaught of the white hunters it was due to the fact savannah to dense brush, with naturally great botanic diversity. The park consists of three major habitat zones. In the north, vast plains of mopane trees, red bush- willows and baobabs dominate; in the south and east, you'll find knob-thorn and marula savannah; and throughout the park in and around the water courses, densely vegetated riverine systems occur. The People Before 1926, the Makuleke people of the Tsonga Tribe inhabited the region that was annexed to make Kruger National Park. They used to earn their livelihood in agriculture and fishery but after restitution post-1994, many entered the hospitality industry in collaboration with private companies. The Wildlife All of the "Big Five" – lion, leopard, rhino, Cape buffalo and elephant – can be seen in Kruger, as well as more species of large mammals than any other African game reserve. Keep your eyes peeled for a potential sighting of packs of the highly endangered African wild dog. Where The third largest national park in South Africa, Addo Elephant National Park includes the Bird and St Croix Island groups. The name "Addo" comes from the language of the Khoi, the first people of South Africa. The original Khoi word "Kradouw", meaning "the way across the river", referred to an ancient fording place across the Sundays River, and evolved over time to "Addo". The Landscape It stretches from the semi-arid Karoo area in the north around Darlington Dam, over the rugged Zuurberg Mountains, through the Sundays River Valley and south to the coast between Sundays River and Bushman's River mouths. The park's vegetation is unique, comprising of dense evergreen Addo bushveld/forest with spekboom, sneezewood, guarri, milky rope and tree fuchsia, as well as succulents, vines and creepers being the dominant plant types. The nutritional-rich vegetation means Addo can sustain a carrying capacity higher than any other park, in fact five times higher than Kruger! The People The inhabitants of the area are largely farmers. The park was actually established to save the Eastern Cape/ Addo elephant from extinction as many were being killed by local farmers due to the damage the elephants were causing to the region's newly established citrus farms. To keep the elephants in the park, a special fence had to be designed by the warden at the time. Called an "Armstrong" fence, it was made from railway sleepers and steel lift cables! The Wildlife As the name suggests, the native Addo Elephant calls Addo home. They are smaller in size and have less ivory than other African elephants, and only the bulls have tusks. Addo is also the only national park where you can see the "Big Seven" which are the "Big Five" plus dolphins and whales! In recent years, the park has expanded to include the Woody Cape Nature Reserve on the Eastern Cape coast, making it the first, largest and most biologically diverse park in South Africa. One of the most curious sightings in Addo is the flightless dung beetle. This is one of the few places in the country that this busy little insect lives! The Accommodation With Evergreen, you can also have a two Addo Elephant National Park Established: 1931 Size: 180,000 hectares that the region was home to two nasty insects, the tsetse fly and the anopholes mosquito, which kept the hunters at bay. Secondly, when President Paul Kruger of the then Transvaal Republic was approached to establish a game reserve in 1898, it was by a group of hunters who wanted to ensure that the Lowveld game was protected for hunting in the future. The Landscape Vegetation in the park ranges from 3 | Explorer Magazine

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