Explore the Kruger on foot

WILDERNESS TRAILS

Hike in style

I can’t believe I’m this deep in the Kruger Park, away from the tourist roads and rest camps.

This morning, eight of us, each carrying only a daypack, followed two guides into the veld. We weren’t in the safety of a game-viewing vehicle, but on foot – and earlier we had heard a lion roar. The sun wasn’t up yet and the sky was layered in shades of pink and grey. Around us, a cacophony of birdsong rang out, like an Idols audition where everyone wants their voice heard at the same time. The low bass rumbles of a southern ground-hornbill competed with the bubbling notes of a Burchell’s coucal. Somewhere, a bearded woodpecker hammered away at a tree trunk.

The wild animals of the park are comfortable around vehicles but they’re wary of hikers, so we followed the guide as quietly as possible. We walked in single file with the other guide bringing up the rear. Occasionally the