The Kruger National Park is the largest game reserve in South Africa and one of the largest national parks in the world. It covers an area of just under 19 000 square kilometers, is around 350 kilometers in length and 60 kilometers in width.
North of the Kruger National Park lies Gonarezhou National park connecting it to Zimbabwe, whilst to the east is the Limpopo National Park connecting to Mozambique. Together these 3 wilderness area are all joined to create the Great Limpopo Transfrontier Park.
The area that the park currently encompasses was occupied by nomadic hunter-gatherers for thousands of years prior to the arrival of Europeans in the early eighteenth century. The park was initially created in 1989 to control hunting and protect the steadily diminishing number of animals in the park. By 1927 the Kruger National Park was opened to visitors for the first time.
The Kruger National Park is divided into six eco-systems: Baobab Sandveld, Mopane Scrub, Lebombo Knobthorn-Marula Bushveld, Mixed Acacia Thicket, Combretum-Silver Clusterleaf Woodland and Riverine Forest. In total it is estimated that there are over 1900 species of plants, 517 species of birds, 114 species of reptiles and 147 species of mammals which include all of the Big Five.
The park is also home to the Kruger Park Lodge and is surrounded by a variety of private Game Reserves including Londolozi.
