Mpumalanga Province

The province of Mpumalanga is home to two of the country's most important sights, the southern Kruger Park and the Panorama Route, both of which are in the immediate vicinity. The state-owned Kruger Park is the largest and most famous national park in South Africa, and the southern part is also the richest in wildlife, including the Big Five, of course. To the west and southwest of the Kruger Park are the private game reserves. Only guests staying in private lodges have access here. The Panorama Route offers unique viewpoints and scenic highlights on the steep edge between the high and low plains, including the highest density of waterfalls in the entire country. To discover the beauty and abundance of wildlife in the region at your leisure, you should plan to stay one to two nights on the Panorama Route and at least two nights in the Kruger Park or an adjacent private game reserve.

Kruger Park

The state-owned Kruger Park is located on the borders with Mozambique and Zimbabwe and is roughly the size of the Netherlands. For a short stay, the southern part of the park is preferable due to its abundance of wildlife. There are paved and unpaved roads for self-drivers with their own rental car. However, everyone should afford at least one guided game drive in an open off-road vehicle with a local ranger, a first-class safari experience. For overnight guests in the Kruger Park, there are either the very rudimentarily equipped state rest camps or a handful of very expensive private lodges. The best time of year for safaris is the South African winter between May and October, as this is the dry season. The grass is low, the trees have few leaves and the animals are forced to come to the waterholes to drink. Ideal observation opportunities. During the day it is pleasantly warm at 20°C to 25°C and almost always sunny. During this time, the risk of malaria is low. In the period from November to April it rains more often and can get very warm. The risk of malaria is higher during this time.

Private Game Reserves

To the west and southwest of the Kruger Park are the private game reserves, most of which are also home to the Big Five. Some of these reserves have now removed the fences to the state-owned Kruger Park so that the animals can move freely. As a rule, only the overnight guests of the private game lodges have access to the private game reserves. This allows guests to experience exclusive and intensive game viewing, as the accommodation price includes full board as well as guided game drives in open off-road vehicles or guided excursions on foot through the bush, known as game walks. For a short stay of two nights, experience has shown that a private game reserve is preferable to the state-run Kruger Park. The climate and the risk of malaria are the same as in the Kruger Park.

Panorama Route

The Panorama Route leads through the most beautiful sections of the northern foothills of the Drakensberg and is one of the visual highlights of any visit to South Africa. The area around the Blyde River Canyon offers breathtaking views, countless waterfalls, bizarre rock formations and historic sites such as the former gold mining town of Pilgrim's Rest. Highlights such as God's Window, the Three Rondavels, Long Tom Pass, the Mac Mac Pools and no less than the end of the world (World's End) are very close to each other and can be admired on a round trip. Small towns such as Sabie or Graskop invite you to linger. There are countless hiking and mountain biking trails for active vacationers. In the higher part of the Panorama Route (plateau), where most of the sights are located, there is no risk of malaria.

Southern Mpumalanga

Piet Retief is a good alternative on the N2 national road if you don't want to cross Swaziland and prefer to stay in South African territory instead. The region around Badplaas impresses with its mighty mountain ranges, wide river valleys and impressive grasslands. There are also some interesting nature and game reserves here. Nelspruit is the busy center of the province of Mpumalanga. For tourists, the local airport is really only of interest if you want to shorten routes to or from the Kruger Park. Waterval Boven is an overnight stop on the way between Johannesburg and the Kruger Park, but only makes sense if you can't complete the route in one go due to flight times. Southern Mpumalanga is considered malaria-free.