The Kruger National Park

A Place of Treasured Memories.

In the North-East of South Africa lies a stretch of land approximately two million hectares in size, affectionately known as the Kruger National Park; a diverse wilderness, ranging from mixed woodland, and thorn thickets, to open savannah grasslands.

I use the word “affectionally” because for many South Africans and Internationals it’s a place of fond recollection, a refuge in memory from the stresses of daily life. From the moment you step out of your vehicle into the shimmering lowveld heat and chorus of Cicada’s, you enter an otherworldly place where time doesn’t seem to matter.

Here, the mournful Black Cuckoo‘s song - “I’m so sad” - vies with the haunting calls of the Emerald Spotted Wood Dove, and the graceful Impala’s easy manner assures you wordlessly that everything is going to be all right. On arrival at one of the guest camps and entering a thatched rondavel with its familiar idiosyncrasies, it dawns on you again how far you are from the daily treadmill. Here, just like the wildlife, it feels natural to nap in the heat of the afternoon, before heading out on a sunset drive.

Years ago, at Kruger, I remember being in bed by seven each evening, not just because of the soothing night sounds of the Hyena, the Fiery Necked Night Jar and the Scops Owl, but because removed from TV, emails, messages and all the world’s dilemmas - I simply could.

...it’s a place of fond recollection, a refuge in memory from the stresses of daily life.

Article by Dallas Gilbert - Oakleigh Funeral Home.

PMB/Midlands