The short answer
South Africa’s first national park turned 100 in 2026. Kruger runs about 360 kilometres from north to south along the border with Mozambique, in the Limpopo and Mpumalanga provinces, and began as the Sabi Game Reserve, proclaimed in 1898 between the Sabie and Crocodile rivers. Since 2002 it has been part of the Great Limpopo Transfrontier Park, which runs on into Mozambique and Zimbabwe.
From Tally’s diary
Queued at the gate before sunrise with everyone else, then drove slowly along a tarred road through thorn trees and dry grass, stopping wherever another car had stopped. An elephant crossed in no hurry at all. Back through the fence before the gate shut, with smoke from cooking fires and something grunting down by the river. Nobody asked what I had seen. Everyone told me what they had.
April 2024A giraffe in open bushveld in the park.
Photograph: Charles J. Sharp, CC BY-SA 4.0, cropped
Why it's worth knowing
The big five, and then some. Lion, leopard, elephant, buffalo and rhino all live in Kruger, and the park has more species of large mammal than any other game reserve in Africa: 147 of them. Packs of the endangered African wild dog roam the park too. The seasons rearrange everything: most birds breed in the summer rains, but the big birds of prey breed in the dry winter, when their prey is easiest to see.
Named for one of three. The park’s own history names three founders: President Paul Kruger, who proclaimed the Sabi reserve in 1898; Piet Grobler, the minister who took the National Parks Bill through parliament in 1926, and Kruger’s great-grandnephew; and James Stevenson-Hamilton, the reserve’s first warden. The name, proposed by a judge, J. A. J. de Villiers, went to Kruger, and historians have argued in print over how much he deserved it. Even the birthday is a choice: no exact date for 1898 could be found, so the park celebrates 31 May, the day it gives for the passing of the Act in 1926. The centenary was launched at Skukuza on 30 May 2026, with an address by President Cyril Ramaphosa.
The field notes
A park on a timetable
For most of its visitors, Kruger is a place to drive, from Skukuza, its headquarters and largest camp, or any of the others. Latecomers are refused entry at the gates; late arrivals at the rest camps are warned and, if they do it again, fined. Visitors stay in their vehicles except in designated areas, keep every part of themselves inside the car, and keep to 50 km/h on tarred roads and 40 km/h on gravel.
March 2023A young leopard tortoise crossing the H1-6 south of Shingwedzi.
Photograph: Bernard Dupont, Leopard Tortoise (Stigmochelys pardalis) juvenile crossing the road ..., CC BY-SA 2.0
The fence around the whole park is younger than the rule. Fencing began along the Crocodile River in 1959 and reached the western and northern boundaries in 1960, then the Mozambique border. In 2002 the fences on the Mozambique side came down, to let the park run on across the border.
Skukuza
James Stevenson-Hamilton, an Irish-born British army officer, became warden of the Sabi reserve in 1902 and retired in 1946, after 44 years. The Tsonga people who lived on the reserve called him “Skukuza”, a name translated both as he who sweeps clean and as the man who turned everything upside down: he banned hunting and moved their homesteads off the reserve. The camp at Sabi Bridge, now the park’s headquarters, was renamed Skukuza in his honour.
Whose land the north is
The park’s northernmost wedge, the Pafuri triangle between the Limpopo and Luvuvhu rivers, was the home of the Makuleke people. In 1969 the apartheid government removed them, about 1,500 people, so that the land could be joined to the park. In 1998 the Makuleke were one of the first communities in democratic South Africa to win back land, and the first to recover land inside a formally protected park.
July 2007The Luvuvhu River in Lanner Gorge, in the Makuleke region at the park’s northern tip, 2007.
Photograph: Profberger, Makuleke4, CC BY 2.5, cropped
They chose not to resettle it. The Makuleke region is a contractual park: SANParks manages the conservation, a joint management board runs the region, and the community, through its communal property association, decides what business happens there. The 50-year agreement is reviewed after 20 years, and income from the lodges built on the land has helped electrify three villages and build a school.
August 2022The Olifants River braiding across the bushveld in the dry winter, seen from the camp above it.
Photograph: Bjørn Christian Tørrissen, CC BY-SA 4.0, cropped
- Stay in the car, even when the car is the least interesting thing for miles.
- Drive slower than you think you need to. Then slower again.
- Ask whose land the far north is, and listen to the whole answer.
- Keep an eye on the gate times the way other people keep an eye on the sky.
- See every one of the famous big animals. (Missed one. Substituted a tortoise of great personal dignity, now entered on the list in capitals.)
A relic from Kruger National Park
Relic, entry 107Stands above: the Sabie RiverNamed for: Paul Kruger
The Paul Kruger Gate. It stands above the Sabie River, and it carries the name of the president the whole park is named after.
Tally, in the marginA gate that shuts when the sun says so, whatever is still out there to be seen. On the first evening I raced it back; by the third I was keeping its hours in my notebook too, and the list has never been so well rested.
Getting there
- 1
Flights
Into Skukuza, inside the park, or an airport nearby.
- 2
By road
Many visitors drive from Johannesburg.
- ✓
How to get there. Daily flights run from Johannesburg to Skukuza Airport inside the park, to Phalaborwa and Hoedspruit near its western edge, and to Kruger Mpumalanga International Airport between Nelspruit and White River, with flights to Skukuza from Cape Town as well.
Holidays. In busy holiday periods SANParks has applied daily quotas at the gates.
When to go. Winter, roughly April to September, is traditionally the best time for game viewing: the bush thins and animals gather at rivers and waterholes. Summer, October to April, is hot, and is the rainy season.
Health. Kruger is in a malaria area; SANParks says the risk is highest from November to April. The CDC publishes malaria guidance for travellers to South Africa, and a doctor can say what applies to a particular trip.
Safety. The United States has South Africa at Level 2, exercise increased caution, because of crime, terrorism, civil unrest and kidnapping. The advisory names no area warning for the park; it advises against driving outside metropolitan areas at night and against displaying signs of wealth.
Mark this place
The passport stamp for this place.
Common questions
What animals live in Kruger National Park?
All of the big five, and far more. Kruger National Park in South Africa has more species of large mammal than any other African game reserve, 147 of them, as well as packs of the endangered African wild dog.
Why is it called Kruger National Park?
After Paul Kruger, one of three founders. Kruger, president of the South African Republic, proclaimed the park’s forerunner, the Sabi Game Reserve, in 1898; the park also names the minister Piet Grobler and the warden James Stevenson-Hamilton as founders, and historians have argued over how much Kruger deserved the name.
How old is Kruger National Park?
It turned 100 in 2026. Kruger National Park celebrates 31 May 1926, the day South African National Parks gives for the passing of the National Parks Act, because no exact date for the 1898 Sabi Game Reserve could be found.
How big is Kruger National Park?
Nearly 2 million hectares. Kruger National Park runs about 360 kilometres from north to south, and about 65 kilometres wide on average, along South Africa’s border with Mozambique.
Can you get out of your car in Kruger National Park?
Only in designated areas. South African National Parks requires visitors in Kruger National Park to stay in their vehicles except at designated places such as camps and picnic sites.
What time do the Kruger gates close?
It changes with the month. Kruger National Park’s gate times follow the daylight, and South African National Parks publishes them for each gate.
Who are the Makuleke?
The people whose land the park’s far north is. The Makuleke lived in the Pafuri triangle at the northern tip of Kruger National Park until South Africa’s apartheid government removed them in 1969. In 1998 the land was returned to them, the first successful land claim inside a formally protected area, and they chose to keep it as a contractual park, earning income from tourism lodges.
Is Kruger National Park a malaria area?
Yes. South African National Parks says the risk in Kruger National Park is highest from November to April, and the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention list the park among South Africa’s malaria areas.
Photographs on this page
Tap a photograph to see it full size.
Photograph: Bernard Dupont, African Elephants (Loxodonta africana) crossing Sabie River ..., CC BY-SA 2.0, cropped
Photograph: Bjørn Christian Tørrissen, CC BY-SA 4.0, cropped
Photograph: Charles J. Sharp, CC BY-SA 4.0, cropped
Photograph: Profberger, Makuleke4, CC BY 2.5, cropped
Photograph: Bernard Dupont, Leopard Tortoise (Stigmochelys pardalis) juvenile crossing the road ..., CC BY-SA 2.0
