SA National Parks and Reserves dominate best in Africa list

[Lisbeth]

SA National Parks and Reserves dominate best in Africa list

It's no secret South Africa's National Parks are of impeccable standards.

Aside from tourist facilities, camps and roads, the parks' core - the natural beauty and wildlife - is what makes these spaces so incredible.

And we're not the only ones to think that. According to experts Safari Index, two of Africa's Ultimate Safari Destinations and seven of Africa's Best Parks and Reserves are in Mzansi.

The beloved Kruger National Park and the Kgalagadi Transfrontier Park have been listed as two of the ultimate safari destinations on the continent, alongside other major African parks such as Hwange National Park in Zimbabwe and the Masai Mara in Kenya.

The Kruger National Park is packed to the brim at the moment, at the height of the school holidays in SA. Winter is the best time for game viewing in the country, but also a time of great frustration in the parks because of traffic jams! Many Kruger visitors ascribe the congestion to the use of wildlife apps in the Park, and people rushing from sighting to sighting as they get posted on the tracking apps.

[Flutterby]

The apps sure are getting it from all sides!

[Bushcraft]

The apps sure are getting it from all sides!

Yip, but mainly from those who don’t understand the big picture, hence rely on statements from SANParks. Those who have visited over many years just know that the park has changed and it’s chaotic on most roads in the south, so they latch onto the first thing blamed by SANParks.

The Kruger National Park is packed to the brim at the moment, at the height of the school holidays in SA

It’s simple in my mind though; more people in the park means more congestion and greater odds of: chaos at a sighting, road kills, speeding, lawlessness, etc, but who is squeezing more people into Kruger, SANParks, not the apps. The apps may add slightly to the problem, but they certainly aren’t the cause of the problem.

[Richprins]

I don't think this is a SP release, rather a buildup to today's Twitter thing, and she would have learned some stuff!

[Flutterby]

According to Die Burger newspaper today Kruger is no longer in the Top 10 of Safari destinations! It now comes in at 14th on the list, the Serengeti is 1st and Mala Mala is 2nd.

The quote in big letters basically says that Kruger doesn't have the proper bush feeling anymore and visitors need to go far north to find it!

[Richprins]

Yup. Overcrowding and poor maintenance, coupled with dangerous access roads, IMO. Interesting that Mala Mala, next door, is second, so nothing wrong with the natural environment.

One paragraph says visitors can only experience the Kruger feel in the North of the Park now.

[Dzombo]

Yup. Overcrowding and poor maintenance, coupled with dangerous access roads, IMO. Interesting that Mala Mala, next door, is second, so nothing wrong with the natural environment.

Who conducted the survey?
These things can be very subjective.

RP - why do you say dangerous access roads?

[Flutterby]

He's referring to all the service protests that happen on the roads outside the park. I think this must be the biggest turn-off for visitors!

[Richprins]

Safaribookings.com did the survey, with 2500 respondents.

SafariBookings.com conducted an in-depth analysis of 2,530 reviews to determine the best African Safari Parks. With an outstanding overall rating of 4.9 out of 5, Serengeti National Park in Tanzania came out the clear winner (Serengeti also topped the Best Safari Parks list in 2015, when we last carried out this analysis). Rounding out the Top 3 parks in our list were Mala Mala Game Reserve in South Africa, and Mana Pools National Park in Zimbabwe, which jumped a spot higher in 2018 (it came 4th in 2015).

In total, 139 parks in the 8 major safari countries were in consideration for a place in the top 50. The analysis was based on 2,530 park reviews collected through the SafariBookings.com website. 1,670 reviews were contributed by safari tourists from 72 countries around the world. The remaining 860 reviews were written by renowned industry experts, most of whom are guidebook authors working for Lonely Planet, Rough Guides, Frommer's, Bradt and Footprint.


https://www.safaribookings.com/blog/top ... stinations

[Dzombo]

He's referring to all the service protests that happen on the roads outside the park. I think this must be the biggest turn-off for visitors!

Ah yes, it does not show SA in a good light.

Re the article, who conducted the survey?
"Back in the day", the general perception was that the KNO was cheap basic accommodation aimed at mainly SA visitors.
The luxury private reserves on the boundary were expensive and mainly for the foreign visitors who came with $ £ and wanted to be pampered, have someone take them on a game drive etc

I visit a general travel forum, and this perception seems to be changing.
A lot of foreign visitors enjoy the concept of self driving.