0. Map of SA Showing Kruger National Park

Intro: The entire area around Johannesburg and the capital Pretoria has become the province of Gauteng in the new South Africa. It is the economic stronghold of the country. The area east of it is called Mpumalanga and to the north lies the Northern Province, which borders on Botswana and Zimbabwe, across the Limpopo River. The three new provinces comprise the area of the old Transvaal.

The Kruger National Park established in 1898 to protect the wildlife of the South African Lowveld, this national park of nearly 2 million hectares, is unrivalled in the diversity of its life forms and a world leader in advanced environmental management techniques and policies. Truly the flagship of the South African national parks, Kruger is home to an impressive number of species: 336 trees, 49 fish, 34 amphibians, 114 reptiles, 507 birds and 147 mammals.

A drive from Johannesburg to the park through the western Drakensberg region reveals to the visitor the scenic beauty of South Africa, the highlight being the Panorama Route and the Blyde River Canyon in Mpumalanga.