God’s Window

God’s Window
After the flight to Johannesburg, we began our adventure towards Kruger National Park to seek out Africa’s Big Five. On our way in, we had a guide giving us a brief history and overview of the property. The park is “nearly 2 million hectares of unrivalled diversity of life forms fuses with historical and archaeological sights- this is real Africa” (SANParks). It offers a wildlife experience that ranks with the best in Africa. The park was established in 1898 to protect the wildlife of South Africa. Kruger is truly the flagship of South African national parks. It has 336 species of trees, 49 fish, 34 amphibians, 114 reptiles, 507 birds, and 147 mammals. The park used to be occupied by nomadic hunter-gatherers for thousands of years. People of other countries, mostly Europe, began arriving during the eighteenth century.
The Volksraad of the old South African Republic, came up with a motion to create a game reserve. The reserve was known as Sabi Game Reserve from 1898 until it was later changed to Kruger National Park in 1926. The park was initially created to control hunting and protect the number of animals in the park overall. The preservation of this park since 1898 has brought upon the name ‘God’s Window’ because of its beauty and wildlife. Only after our experience of the safari were we actually able to understand what they meant when they referred to ‘God’s Window’.
The park lies in the eastern part of South Africa, in the east parts of Limpopo and Mpumalanga provinces. It is one of the largest parks in the world, with an area of almost 20,000 sq. kilometers. There are several rivers running through the park, such as the Sabie River. It is considered to be in the subtropical climate. The summer days are hot and humid and temperatures can reach up to 38 degrees Celsius. Their wet season is from September until around May.
On our safaris, we were striving to see all of the Big Five. The Big Five consists of lions, elephant, cape buffalo, leopard, and rhinoceros. The term “Big Five” was coined by big-game hunters as the five most difficult animals to harvest. They were chosen by their difficulty to hunt on foot, not their size. During our safari, we were able to experience the beauty and majestic ways of four out of the five. The first animal we saw on the morning safari was the leopard. It was spotted by the guided bus in front of us, but we were able to get up close enough for photos and to get our hearts racing. We were also fortunate enough to see three male lions at a very close distance. We were probably 50 yards from them, while they had just filled their stomachs. Just after the close encounter with the ferocious lions, we met up with a herd of elephants and some of them were even closer than the lions. After being that close to such a large animal, capable of so much damage, it makes one stand back and do a reality check. It made me think of the reasoning behind the reserve and how poachers will viciously kill these large animals just for their ivory tusks and leave them laying. On the afternoon safari, we saw the white rhinos as well as some more elephants. During the last few minutes of the afternoon safari, we spotted three female lionesses searching for food. This experience made my heart miss a beat.
The beauty, as well as the thrill associated with them is worth the trip to the brush. Kruger National Park has the right idea as far as conservation. It is considered a world leader in advanced environmental management techniques and policies. “Man’s interaction with the Lowveld environment over many centuries – from bushman rock paintings to majestic archaeological sites like Masorini and Thulamela – is very evident in the Kruger National Park. These treasures represent the cultures, persons and events that played a role in the history of the Kruger National Park and are conserved along with the park’s natural assets” (SANParks). The beauty of the park cannot be put into words; it is only one’s own experience that can describe the natural beauty and preservation of this special part of the world. It is most certainly breathe taking, as well as a natural relaxant. Kruger National Park has created an experience of a lifetime for me, as well as many others and they will continue to do so. It is not only the preservation of the life currently at the park, but also the preservation of the ‘life’ previously occupying the land.