375630 4 Location 562851 <p>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;Denny and I reserved our bungalows inside the Kruger National Park in January, two months before&nbsp;our arrival, by calling the SANPARKS reservation line.&nbsp; We also purchased a One Year International Guest WILD CARD for 1395R ($200) which paid our conservation fees for all national parks and sites that we visited in our five week stay in South Africa.&nbsp; Conservation Fees are per person, per day so that turned out to be quite a savings for us as we toured the Cape Peninsula and other national parks along the Little Karoo/Oudtshoorn and Garden Route as well.&nbsp;</p><p>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;Leaving the airport at Johannesburg, we traveled northeast to Pilgrims Rest, enjoying the Blyde River Canyon and escarpment areas before&nbsp;moving on to&nbsp;Kruger entering at the Orpen Gate.&nbsp; We elected to stay our first two nights at Olifants, in the central part of the park, so that we could explore northward to Letaba before&nbsp;concentrating on the southern part of the park which is better known for animal sightings.</p><p>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;Olifants is one of the smaller and more scenic restcamps.&nbsp; It has a shop with a small grocery&nbsp;selection, a restaurant and a cafeteria, a laundromat, and gas.&nbsp; It does not have a caravan park or a swimming pool.&nbsp;Our bungalow at Olifants was situated on the bush perimeter of the camp with a distant view of the Olifants river from our veranda and within a short walk to the Lookout Point over the river.&nbsp; "NG2U (BUNGALOW): 1 bedroom with 2 single beds, Aircon, Communal Kitchen, Fridge, No utensils, Perimeter, Wc and shower" for 535R per night ($76).&nbsp; It was clean and comfortable with a lovely view of the bush from our veranda.&nbsp; Using our binoculars, we were able to watch both impala and elephants graze and then drink from the river.</p><p>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;The restaurant offered only a buffet dinner for 85R ($12) which was more food than we cared to consider so we either&nbsp;ate from&nbsp;the supplies which we had brought with us or ordered from the cafeteria and sat at the tables along the Overlook Point.&nbsp; The daily specials at the cafeteria (hake and chips, hot pots of stews, meat pies) were delicious, 30-36R ($4-5), and&nbsp;usually came with the greek-like salad that is so popular here, served with Feta cheese and olives.&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;</p><p>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;Each night before sunrise the camp's gates&nbsp;are shut and locked.&nbsp; One must be careful to return before the appointed time which fluctuates with the time of sunset.&nbsp; If you are late, there is a fine.&nbsp; Securing the people within the camps protects not only them but also guards the safety of the animals as well as makes the sunset and night safari drives more appealing -- you are out on the roads when others can not be.&nbsp; Gates are opened just after sunrise.&nbsp; Denny and I often chose to get up and be one of the first cars out of the gates and were rewarded for our efforts with great sightings.&nbsp;</p> 2007-03-24T02:43:14-07:00 249561213 2007-03-08T16:00:00-08:00 0 -9223372036854775790 250251 4074618 375630 0 236063 0.337319346559181 2007-03-06T16:00:00-08:00 Published 150.0 2007-03-24T05:07:48-07:00 87595 0