headed to kruger

Mat and I are finally going to Kruger National Park! For those of you who don’t know, Kruger is the safari destination in South Africa. The park is HUGE, spanning more than 7,500 miles. It is located in northeast corner of the country (map below), and is about a 4 ½ hour drive from our house. We leave on Monday morning and will return on Friday evening. We also plan to see God’s Window in Blyde River Canyon on the way home.

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Kruger is home to all of the Big 5 animals: rhino, leopard, lion, cape buffalo and elephant (and many, many more). We are hoping to see all 5, but the leopard is notoriously hard to spot. No pun intended!! Some people joke that we will see the Big 6 at Kruger: the Big 5 + tourists. Haha!

The park was initially created to control hunting and is now protected by the government. Kruger has a substantial anti-poaching unit that includes game rangers, two drones, movement sensors, cameras, helicopters and more. Poaching is a really big deal here. You guys probably remember my post on the poor rhinos. Unfortunately, the poaching is not limited to rhinos.

The only thing looming over our heads is that Kruger is a malaria area. In case you do not remember, mosquitos carry malaria. Like anywhere, mosquitos do not like cold weather so winter is the best time to visit the park in terms of malaria risk. Thankfully, it is springtime here and is still cool in the mornings and evenings. Basically, it is not prime time for mosquitos quite yet.

Just to be sure, we went to the doctor to discuss getting the malaria pills. I have heard crazy things about the tablets, including that they can make you act like a crazy person and can also cause severe nausea and headaches. Needless to say, we did not want to take the pills if it was not critical.

The doctor did not recommend the pills because the mosquitos are not out in full force yet and also because they don’t actually prevent you from getting malaria. If you get bitten, the pills can actually mask the malaria symptoms until it’s too late. He said our best defense against malaria is to prevent the mosquitos from biting us using these two products: Tabard and DOOM Destroyer. Apparently these products are the bees knees and, if used correctly, will keep those ‘skeeters away from us. Note: this was our experience. If you go to Kruger, ask your own doctor about the pills.

The doctor was really cool, and guess what? He did not even charge us for the consultation!!!!! Mat and I could not believe it.

We are so lucky to have Kruger on our doorstep, and we cannot wait for this adventure.

Love,

Jess & Mat