Posted: 10/9/17 | October 9th, 2017

Hej igen! After six weeks of travel, I am back in new York City. I was all over the US, parts of Europe, South Africa, and Madagascar.

There’s a lot — A lot — of new content coming and I’m kicking it off today with an epic photo post from my visit. because who doesn’t love animals, right?

When I first went to South Africa, I stuck to the west coast, landing in Cape town and traveling north into Namibia (or “Nambia,” as El Presidente likes to call it) before trekking across southern Africa.

Because of that, I missed one of place I’ve longed to visit: Kruger national Park.

Possibly one of the most famous parks in the world, Kruger is one of the largest game reserves on the continent and covers an area of 19,485 square kilometers (7,523 sq. mi.), sharing borders with Mozambique to the east and Zimbabwe to the north.

It was first protected in 1898 and became South Africa’s first national park in 1926. According to the government, over 1.6 million people check out it each year.

I’ve long dreamed of going on safari there, spotting lions, elephants, cheetahs, leopards, and my personal favorite, the honey badger. You always hear how terrific Kruger is for safaris. It’s like an animal lover’s utopia.

Last month, I finally got to tick the park off my list. I spent three days there with Intrepid Travel. It was everything I had hoped it would be. animals to my left, to my right, and in front of me. I watched as elephants played on riverbanks and lazy lions slept the day away. Birds tried to steal my lunch as I wondered, “Where are the honey badgers?”

I saw sunrises and sunsets that made my heart go aflutter. The red sun rose and set, letting us know that he is the king of the sky. and after he retired for the day, I watched the sky twinkle with stars, unpolluted by city light, with the Milky way clouding the sky.

There’s just something magical about being in the Africa savannah. It’s as if my Neanderthal DNA called out to me through my blood, recognizing its long lost home.

And the only way to show you that majesty is through pictures, as they do more justice to the park than my words ever could.

A male lion looking at me like I’m food.

The southern yellow-billed hornbill, which was as enormous as it seemed.

Getting up close and personal with a zebra. There’s upwards of 35,000 zebra in the park.

A cute little monkey just hanging around!

A female grey-headed king fisher! They’re a common bird and very protective of their nest.

A zebra and elephant each going their own way. In 1920, there were thought to be only 120 elephants left in the country. thanks to conservation and sustainable tourism, there are now around 10,000.

A cute little bush baby! also known as a galago, they’re a nocturnal primate native to sub-Sahara Africa.

During our night safari, we ended up spotting a lot of lions. I did hate how they shine the light on them though.

A lonely zebra on the savannah.

A monkey following us on the road (probably looking for a free ride!).

A worried-looking impala (don’t worry it was just our engine that freaked him out). They’re one of the fastest land animals in the world, reaching speeds of up to 90km/hour (55 miles/hour).

Elephants playing in the mud. We sat there and watched them for about 20 minutes. They looked like they were having some fun!

More elephants. You can never have enough.

A nyala, a spiral-horned antelope that’s bigger than both impalas and gazelles.

En giraff. We went a long time before seeing any and then I felt like I saw everyone in the entire park. There are around 7,000-10,000 giraffes in the park (but only 100,000 left in the world).

A zebra smiling for the camera!

The sunsets (and sunrises) in Kruger are simply stunning. The sun is always this vibrant red. väldigt mäktig.

Så vacker! Here’s another.

The incredible Blyde River Canyon! It’s one of the largest canyons in the world and generally considered to be the largest “green” canyon (as in a canyon that is lush with flora). It’s the second-largest canyon in Africa.

Cape buffalo, one of the big Five. The others are lion, leopard, rhinoceros, and elephant. The term was coined by big game hunters who considered these 5 to be the hardest animals to hunt on foot.

A lioness on the hunt.

Another male lion.

A baby elephant and its family.

***
Kruger national Park is pretty easy to check out if you have a automobile (you can just drive there and stay at a lodge), but while I noticed a lot of people self-driving through the park, having a guide to spot animals and explain the ecosystem of the park made the experience much richer (these guys have eagle eyes!).

It was nice to hear some history of the park and learn about the bush, how the animals there interact, and about poaching and how they are combating it, as well as hear opinions on dealing with the influx of tourists. You don’t get that when you go alone.

Om duJag åker till Sydafrika, den bästa tiden att kolla in Kruger är slutet på den torra säsongen (augusti – november) eftersom bristen på vattenhål innebär att djur har färre platser att samlas runt, vilket gör dem lättare att se.

Boka din resa till Afrika: Logistiska tips och tricks
Boka din flygning
Använd Skyscanner eller Momondo för att hitta en billig flygning. De är mina två favorit sökmotorer eftersom de söker webbplatser och flygbolag runt om i världen så att du alltid vet att ingen sten lämnas omvänd. Börja med Skyscanner först men för att de har den största räckvidden!

Boka ditt boende
Du kan boka ditt vandrarhem med Hostelworld eftersom de har den största inventeringen och de bästa erbjudandena. Om du vill bo någon annanstans än ett vandrarhem, använd Booking.com eftersom de konsekvent returnerar de billigaste priserna för pensionat och lågkostnadshotell.

Glöm inte reseförsäkring
Reseförsäkring kommer att skydda dig mot sjukdom, skada, stöld och avbokningar. Det är ett omfattande skydd om något går fel. Jag åker aldrig på en resa utan den eftersom jag har varit tvungen att använda den många gånger tidigare. Mina favoritföretag som erbjuder bästa service och värde är:

Säkerhetsvinge (för alla under 70)

Försäkra min resa (för de över 70)

Medjet (för ytterligare repatrieringstäckning)

Letar du efter de bästa företagen att spara pengar med?
Kolla in min resurssida för de bästa företagen att använda när du reser. Jag listar alla de jag använder för att spara pengar när jag är på väg. De sparar pengar när du reser också.

Obs: Intrepid Travel, vårt partnerturföretag, täckte min resa till Kruger och gav bilen, guiden och logi. Flyg till Sydafrika och mat var på min egen bekostnad.