Nelspruit is the capital of the province of
the
Malelane Gate, southern access to the Kruger
Mpumalanga
/ South Africa
Nelspruit is the capital of the province
of
the
Malelane Gate, southern access to the Kruger
|
Travel
Hints and Attractions |
Position
Nelspruit
is situated in a strategic position, being only 50 kilometers from the
as well as the borders to
opportunity for various outdoor activities like cave climbing,
white water rafting, hot-air ballooning
adventures or prospecting for gold.
Riverside
Mall Shopping Centre
Nelspruit has a
popular shopping mall, where one can find - amongst other things -
attractive
arts&crafts and jewelry items, because many artists have taken residence in
the
town and its surroundings.
Lowveld
Botanical Gardens
The botanical
garden on the outskirts of Nelspruit is one of its greatest attractions.
Spectacular
cascades and waterfalls of the rivers Nels and Crocodile are the
core of this tropical paradise.
Visitors
can encounter the typical Lowveld vegetation, rainforest,
cycads and many other endemic
plants. You will find more than 2000 plant species
on almost 160 hectares. Guided tours
are available. Further information at the
park's office: Tel : +27 (0)13 7525531, Fax: 7526216.
CrocRiver
This private reptile park is one of the biggest in South Africa. Besides crocodiles, there
are many other
reptiles, snakes and spiders from all over the world.
The famous
years old and rank among the
oldest caves in the world. They lie about 37 km outside of
Nelspruit (
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Pilgrim's
Rest
Pilgrim's Rest is a historical gold-mining town. In the year 1873, the digger
Alec Patterson was roaming
the densely forested hills, all the while pushing a
wheelbarrow with his belongings. At a place later called
"Pilgrim's
Creek" he got lucky. He saw big lumps of gold shimmering in the clear
water. Full of joy he exclaimed
"The pilgrim can rest!" Soon
thereafter, the gold rush started. Diggers from all over the world flocked to
Pilgrim's
Rest and settled along the river. The town developed rapidly.
The gold finds of Pilgrim's Rest turned out to be the richest alluvial gold
deposits (surface gold) in southern
Africa
the diggers, most of them only
about 50 sqm in size. The company worked profitably until the middle of the
20th
century. Eventually, in 1971 the resources were exhausted and the operation was
shut down.
In
1972 the former company town of Pilgrim's Rest was bought by the government and
declared a National Monument.
The old buildings were meticulously restored,
preserving the special character of the place with its tin-roofed cottages.
Visitors can nowadays walk through various of theses houses, e.g. the
"Miner's House", a typical, very humbly
furnished dwelling of a gold
digger. Or "Alanglade", which used to be the residence of the director
of the Transvaal Gold Mining Estate Ltd, furnished with pieces of the 1920s.
The "Drezden Shop" is the town's historic general store.
Here
one could buy anything, groceries, whisky, tools, household articles and much
more. A lot of old merchandise
is exhibited in the store. The old newspaper
printing office and the Royal Hotel are also open to visitors. And at
Pilgrim's
Creek visitors can still today try their luck at gold washing.
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The Kruger National Park is the primary destination in
more than half a million visitors are registered.
The National Park was opened in 1898 at the instigation of then-president Paul
Kruger. After hunters had
considerably decimated the originally rich game stock,
all the land between the Sabie and the
was put under the protection
of Nature Conservation to ensure the survival of the remaining animals. Only as
recently as 1961 was the extended
The park stretches from the
border in the north. Altogether it is 350 km long, 65 km wide and comprises an
area of about 20,000 sq km.
leads through the
National Park, 697 km of them being tarred. For the visitor
there are numerous
differently equipped rest camps, most of them scenically positioned. Within the
park boundaries,
travel is only allowed between sunrise and sunset. After dark
one has to stay in one of the fenced
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Kruger
The game stock in the
147 mammal species are represented
here. About 3000 hippos and just as many crocodiles live in the rivers which
have water all year long. On land, the Impala antelopes are the most numerous
animals, with more than 90,000
specimens. Some 30,000 zebras and 15,000
buffaloes also bustle about in the vast savannah, and 5,000 giraffes
and 8,000
elephants keep them company. Only the rhinoceros seems to be a bit
under-represented with a population
of only 300. However, the number of
predatory cats is considerable: 1,500 lions, 900 leopards and 300 cheetahs are
part of this magnificent eco-system.
Lions
in the
The sighting of a pride of lions is one of the most desirable highlights
of any visit to the
Hours can pass, especially
watching the clumsily frolicking young cubs, and one can easily forget how
dangerous
they are going to be.
Lions almost exclusively prey on plant-eating hoofed mammals. After having
killed their prey, they usually eat the
intestine first, and the meat only
afterwards. Hunting is done primarily by the female, but the males, nevertheless,
get the "lion's share" of the prey. Lions weigh up to
200 kg. While attacking, they can reach a speed of 50 km/h and
jump up to 12 meters. There are some 1500 of the big cats living in the
Elephants
in
Kruger
Park
high and weigh up to six
tons. Their heart alone weighs 25 kg. That makes them the biggest land mammals
on earth.
Elephants live in family groups of between 6 and 200 animals. Leader of the herd
is always a female. Young bulls
are excluded from the herd at the age of 12 to
15 years when they reach sexual maturity. Then they join small "bachelor
herds".
of water daily. The gestation of the cows
takes 22 months. The
calves live on mother's milk for about 4 years. Although
elephants are basically peaceful animals, mother cows can become
highly
dangerous when they feel their calves are threatened.
Leopards are shy nocturnal animals and hence not
easy to observe. That might be a reason why the leopard is the most
prevalent
wild cat. It can survive in the most diverse environments, in the jungle as well
as in the desert. Its senses of sight
smell and hearing are extraordinarily
well developed, and they are good climbers and swimmers. The leopard of the
bushveld
weighs on average not more than 70 kilos.
Nevertheless, leopards are
able to prey on big animals
like impalas and pull them up into trees to save
them from other predators. It is reported that once a leopard even pulled a
young giraffe of 100kg a couple of meters up into a tree. Leopards are loners. Males and females live in separate territories.
The
district of a male partially joins those of a couple of females and during
mating season, the leopard mates with each female
on heat within his territory
Cheetahs in the
Cheetahs
are the fastest of all the land animals. They have been
clocked at sprinting speeds of 114 km/h. Cheetahs can bring
down their prey
after a short-coursing hunt, but would not be able to chase another animal to
death over longer distances.
Cheetahs are known to be sight-hunters and can be watched
hunting in the mornings or late afternoons. When they eventually
kill their
prey, they are often totally out of breath for awhile, and since they are the
weakest of all the animals of prey, a bigger
predator can easily snatch their
prey away from them.
Cheetahs are often confused with leopards, but there are some clear distinctive
markings, such as the typical tear stripes in
the cheetah's face, the longer
legs and the darker spots in its fur. In contrast to leopards, cheetahs are
quite social beings who
usually live as couples or in small groups. They are not
very aggressive and it is relatively easy to tame them.
Buffalo
Population in
To avoid the heat, they
prefer to graze in the cool hours of the morning or
evening and even at night. They very much like to
wallow in the mud and so build
up a protective layer against mosquitoes and other insects on their skin.
Zebras
in the
The striking pattern of stripes in savannah zebras
is different in each animal. Therefore the members of a family can recognize
each other by their stripes. Although the stripes are extremely visible at close
range, they make a good camouflage from far away
and provide protection against
predators. Lions in particular like to prey on zebras.
The group behaviour of zebras is fascinating. They live in small family units of
up to 20 members, lead by a stallion.
The families stay together for many years.
If an animal gets lost, the group can spend days looking for it
Birdlife
in Kruger
The
minute nectar birds like the Collared Sunbird (centre left), colorful Redbreasted Robins like the Green Twinspot (top right), roller
birds like the
Lilac-Breasted Roller (bottom, 2nd from left), innumerable birds of prey like
the Martial Eagle (bottom, 3rd from left),
exotic cranes like the Crowned Crane
(centre right) and rhino birds like the Yellow-Beak Toko (bottom left).
Many species
of ice birds are also represented here, including the nimble Kingfisher (top
left).
This tiny bird can often be found sitting in the reeds waiting for a fish
to show up beneath it in the water. Then it will shoot
downwards like an arrow,
dive and pick up the fish with its dagger like beak. It will reappear immediately
at the surface and
propel itself out of the water. The whole action is
over in two seconds.
Antelopes
in the
their horns lifelong. In most of the species
only the male has horns, in some they are common to both genders. Of the
gracious impalas alone, the most widely spread species, there are 90,000
individuals in the Kruger
also watch kudus which can jump over 2.50 m high
fences. There is the waterbuck , the meat of which acquires
a rancid taste
once they are older than three months, which is quite a good
protection from predators.
Even the rare red hartebeest with its oddly shaped horns can be found in the
park.
The spotted hyena is often scorned as a carrion eater, although it
actually makes a valuable contribution to the ecological
balance in the nature
parks. Hyenas have the strongest teeth and jaws of all the animal species and
can even crack the
bones of the biggest prey. When they turn up in a pack, they
don't confine themselves to the removal of animal corpses,
but also go hunting
for living animals. Antelopes are their favorite prey. However, they can become
dangerous to man as well.
Giraffes
in
Giraffes can be seen all over in the nature parks of
South Africa, and it is always nice to
see these big animals wandering
through the bush with their gracefully swinging
stride.
Giraffes are the tallest of all land animals. 
Grown-up
bulls reach a height of almost six meters with a shoulde
height of over three meters. They are tree browsers and spend almost all day tearing twigs and leaves
off the trees. Their
food of choice is the foliage of thorn acacias. To drink
water, giraffes have to spread their front legs wide apart. In this position
they often become the prey of lions, while in a normal upright position they can
defend themselves against them quite well by
kicking with their long legs.
Warthogs
in the
Warthogs belong to the boar family. In contrast to their European
relatives with a fur growing all over, they only have spots of
dense fur on the
throat and on the back. They look proud, however, at least the males with their
powerful tusks. Warthogs are
day animals and spend most of their time looking
for food. They mainly feed on grass and roots. While grazing, they kneel on
their front legs and even move around on their knees, which gives them a comical
look.
The
Hippopotamus Population in
Kruger
Park
The
hippo can reach a length of over 4 meters and can weigh more than 3 tons. It can
be found in riverline areas and
swamps within the
Hippos watch strictly over their territories and threaten anybody invading it by
what looks like yawning. If the invader
does not withdraw immediately, they
usually attack without any further hesitation. Smaller boats are particularly at
risk,
because a hippo can easily topple it over, and as their front teeth are as
sharp as razorblades, chances of survival are slim.
Crocodiles in the
The number of crocodiles in
the
the Nile crocodile, which can grow up to a
length of six meters, being the most prevalent one. The reptiles have a strong
tail to propel themselves forward in the water. On land they use their equally
strong legs to move their massive bodies as
fast as arrows through the mud of
the riverbank.
Crocodiles usually go hunting in the shelter of the evening twilight. While they
are small, they live mainly on worms,
beetles and crabs. Later they add fish, water birds
and medium sized mammals to the list of their prey.
There are not too many rhinoceros in the
should perhaps rather visit the Umfolozi Game Reserve
in Natal
where they have succeeded in
breeding this endangered species.
Rhinos are still threatened by extinction in the whole of
Poachers usually get into the
and manage to keep on shooting rhinos. Conservationists have, as a desperate
resort, taken to anaesthetizing the animals
and cutting their horns off to make
them unattractive to the poachers. It is the horn which fetches a high price on
the black
market, since Asian men believe in taking it - in a pulverized form -
as a potency remedy.
The rhinoceros is a vegetarian and mainly feeds on foliage and twigs. It can
weigh up to three tons and reach the age of forty.
It does not have a good
eyesight, but its senses of hearing and especially smell are well developed. Its
only enemy is man.
The name "White Rhino" goes back to a translation error. It was
supposed to be "wide", referring to the broad shape of
its mouth and
not to the coloring.
Right:
Black Rhinos.
Left: White Rhinos.