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Top 5 favourite national parks in South Africa

16/10/2017

11 Comments

 
Picture
By Roxanne Reid
Since the publication of my book A Walk in the Park: travels in & around South Africa's national parks, people often ask which are my top 5 favourite national parks in South Africa. Picking my top three is easy; two I’ve visited time and again, never becoming bored, and I totally lost my heart to the third on my first visit. Choosing just two more from the other candidates is much harder.

1. Kgalagadi Transfrontier Park
Kgalagadi Transfrontier Park
My first choice in a list of top 5 favourite national parks in South Africa is the Kgalagadi Transfrontier Park. The Kglaagadi, or Kalahari, is special for its rippling red dunes and star-punctured skies Here herds of gemsbok, springbok and blue wildebeest follow the seasons, camelthorn trees offer welcome shade for black-maned lions, and hyperactive meerkats provide endless entertainment with their digging and scratching.

If you hate the heat, visit between April and September. The best things to look for are birds of prey and small mammals and reptiles. Although you may spot lion and leopard, leave your Big-Five notions at home and take pleasure in cheetah and an abundance of bat-eared foxes, whistling rats and barking geckoes, or you’ll miss the special Kalahari magic.

​See also: 10 reasons to love the Kalahari

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2. Kruger National Park
Kruger National Park
Second on my list of top 5 favourite national parks in South Africa is the Kruger National Park. You can visit this world-famous park in the Lowveld year after year and never have the same experience twice. Visit the south if you simply must see the Big Five but don’t mind a crush of people; venture further north for a true sense of wilderness and the joy of not having to share your sighting with 30 other cars and coaches.

Kruger is impossible to beat for both variety of game (147 mammals, 507 birds, 114 reptiles) and number of exciting sightings. It also boasts more than 200 cultural heritage sites. There's a wealth of things to do – day walks, wilderness hikes, night drives, 4x4 trails and mountain biking - but the main event is driving your own car around the game area. Stop near a waterhole and be patient, and don’t forget to look up into the skies for raptors and into trees for a snoozing leopard.

See also: 15 things to do in northern Kruger National Park

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3. Mapungubwe National Park
Ai-Ais/Richtersveld Transfrontier Park
Mapungubwe made it onto my list of top 5 favourite national parks in South Africa the first time I visited. Lying in the far north of South Africa, where you can peer into Botswana or watch eagles soar over Zimbabwe, Mapungubwe is rich in biodiversity and scenic beauty, but what makes it a Unesco World Heritage Site is its cultural importance. 

Archaeological treasures show that the people lived here between 900 and 1300 AD, even before Great Zimbabwe. It provides sanctuary for black and white rhino, elephant and other animals, and conserves fossils and ancient rocks that are nearly three billion years old.

I fell under the spell of its Venda-styled camp at Leokwe, its reddish sandstone rock formations, friendly people and magnificent baobabs - fat upside-down trees that can live for thousands of years. Venture here to enjoy a treetop walk, admire striking rock formations or sip sundowners where two rivers and three countries meet.

​See also: 15 things to do at Mapungubwe National Park

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4. Ai-Ais/Richtersveld Transfrontier Park
Ai-Ais/Richtersveld Transfrontier Park
This is by far the most remote of my top 5 favourite national parks in South Africa. At first glance this vast wilderness of sun-baked sand and rocky hills might seem devoid of life. Look more closely and you’ll discover a treasure house of succulent jewels and a sense of peace in what is South Africa’s last true wilderness. It’s Prozac for the soul. Its magic comes from wide open spaces, stars that are visible in their multitudes in the clear desert air, and hosts of desert plants hanging from cliff faces and burrowing into crevices, pint-sized succulents whooping it up whenever the early morning fog rolls in from the Atlantic Ocean.

It was declared a Unesco World Heritage Site in 2007. Don’t try to visit the park itself without a 4x4, though a visit to the nearby Richtersveld Community Conservancy settlements of Eksteenfontein, Lekkersing and Kuboes is possible with a sedan. And watch out for searing summer temperatures (up to 53°C) and chilly winter nights.

​See also: Why you have to visit the Richtersveld wilderness

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5. Garden Route National Park: Wilderness Section
Garden Route National Park - Wilderness Section
This entry is a little different, not as remote and the only coastal park on my top 5 favourite national parks in South Africa. Wilderness is the gateway to the Garden Route in the west, a world of rivers, lagoons and lakes, of wetlands and beaches set against a backdrop of lush forests and mountains. Flowers carpet the ground in spring, and winding paths meander through dense woodland and along streams where kingfishers perch on the lookout for lunch.

If you’re feeling lazy, drive along the Seven Passes road between George and Knysna, take a picnic into the forest, visit a bird hide to get up close and personal with one of South Africa’s richest water bird habitats, or simply laze on a creamy white beach. If it’s action you’re after, row a canoe up the river, go fishing, windsurfing, hiking, abseiling, kloofing, paragliding, hang-gliding, or mountain biking. You’ll run out of energy long before you run out of fun things to do.

​See also: No chance to be bored at Wilderness

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Copyright © Roxanne Reid - No words or photographs on this site may be used without permission from roxannereid.co.za
Top 5 favourite national parks in #SouthAfrica #nationalparks #travel #safari #wildlife
5 of the best national parks in SouthAfrica and why you should visit  #nationalparks #travel #safari #wildlife
11 Comments
Russ
22/4/2010 03:41:50 am

Oh yes, I agree. Kruger and Kalahari take a lot of beating. Together with Etosha in Namibia they must be the best parks in southern Africa.

Reply
Nadia
2/2/2017 11:46:33 am

So happy to see two of the Arid Parks made your list :)
Great parks indeed.

Reply
Roxanne
2/2/2017 02:54:43 pm

Two out of five is great, Nadia! And they've been on my top five for more than ten years.

Reply
David
17/10/2017 05:50:41 pm

My top 5.
1. Hlhluwe-Umfolozi. I believe it does not get the recognition it deserves
2. Kruger Park. For sheercsize and bio diversity. But don't go during school holidays
3. Etosha. For a totally different Afircan experience.
4. Zambezi National Park. Across the river is Mosi-au-Tunya on the Zamdian side and a short river trip west and you can step into Chobe Reserve in Botswana. To see a herd of elephants cross the mighty Zambezi is an experience to remember.
5. Kgalagadi National Park

Reply
Roxanne
17/10/2017 08:47:18 pm

Interesting list, David, but you're cheating because they're not all in South Africa! Seriously, if I went beyond our borders, Etosha, Maasai Mara and Serengeti would all be hot contenders.

Reply
David Nicol
26/10/2017 10:03:24 am

Oops! Then I would replace Etosha with Kaoo National Park - a youngish and lesser known park with very comfortable accommodation and a growing animal population including the introduction of the "Qwagga's" from the re-establishment breeding project near Worcester. I would replace Zambezi National Park with the Wilderness National Park for the very reasons you set out in your blog.

Roxanne
26/10/2017 10:33:46 am

I love Karoo NP too, some really nice mountain drives there.

Rene Uys
17/10/2017 06:04:34 pm

Our favourite park made number 1 on the list! We have bee to kgalagadi 5 times and december will be our 6th. Counting down the sleeps... we will be visiting Ai Ai next year september during our namibia/sossusvlei tour...

Reply
Roxanne
17/10/2017 08:44:48 pm

Kgalagadi is like that, Rene, it gets under your skin and becomes an obsession.

Reply
Jessy Lipperts link
14/2/2018 03:47:39 pm

oh yes the Wilderness NP, I love it! Walking to the waterfall, canoeing and the self catering cottages are amazing. I prefer Wilderness over busy Knysna and Plett. Time to go on a road trip again, me thinks...

Reply
Roxanne
14/2/2018 05:13:41 pm

You're right, Jessy, Wilderness has a wilder, closer-to-nature feel about it that I love too.

Reply

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    About 

    I'm an independent travel writer and book editor with a passion for Africa - anything from African travel, people, safari and wildlife to adventure, heritage, road-tripping and slow travel.
    Since 2015, travel buddy and husband Keith has been the primary photographer for this blog.
    We're happiest in the middle of nowhere, meeting the locals, trying something new, or simply watching the grass grow.
    In this blog you can discover new places to go, revisit places you've loved, or take a virtual tour of destinations you only dream about.

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Copyright © Roxanne Reid - No words or photographs on this site may be used without written permission from roxannereid.co.za

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