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Gavin Parsons: African photographic tour

See Gavin Parsons' article on diving Mozambique and South African safari which appeared in Diver magazine November 2007

Kruger National Park and Sabi Sand Game Reserve

The flagship wildlife reserve in South Africa, and probably the most famous, is Kruger National Park. It was the first national park to be established and now hosts more than one million visitors a year. Stretching 350km north to south along South Africa's eastern border with Mozambique, Kruger is roughly the size of Wales and is world renowned for its rich and diverse wildlife. It is a natural paradise offering wildlife enthusiasts encounters with 150 different mammals and over 500 species of birds and well as being iconic Big Five territory. Endangered wild dogs can be seen in the south, cheetah and zebra on the plains and giraffe in the wooded areas.

Adjacent to Kruger lies the Sabi Sands Game Reserve. Managed by a selection of private lodges the animals are free to roam between Kruger and Sabi Sands so you have the opportunity to see the big 5 and many other animals.

Madikwe Game Reserve

In the north of South Africa, bordering Botswana, lies the Madikwe Game Reserve. Madikwe is unique in that it is run in 3-way partnership between the state, local communities and the private sector: this means that the local communities benefit in terms of financial gain for a variety of community-based development projects as well as benefiting from jobs and business opportunities created within the park.  Madikwe is home to the Big 5 as well as the rare Wild Dog and numerous other predator, game and bird species.  Madikwe also benefits from being malaria-free and within 3 hours drive (or 1 hour flight) from Johannesburg.

Rhino & Lion Nature Reserve

Just an hour’s drive from Johannesburg, this small private reserve is located in the ‘cradle of humankind’ world heritage site. The reserve focuses on breeding programmes and also has a nursery where the cubs (once they are old enough) can be played with for a short time – an opportunity not to be missed!

Hluhluwe-Umfolozi Game Park

Hluhluwe-Umfolozi Game Park is the oldest game reserve in Africa, established in 1895, and is home to Africa's Big 5 as well as many other species of animals. Viewing hides overlook pans and waterholes enabling you to observe Africa’s wildlife at close range. Situated in the heart of Zululand, this game reserve is conveniently placed for divers to visit being between Durban (Protea Banks and Aliwal Shoal), and Sodwana Bay.

Tala Private Game Reserve

This small private reserve is a wildlife conservancy hidden in the hills of a quiet farming community not far from Durban in KwaZulu-Natal. The owners see themselves as “guardians of this precious piece of Africa” and feel responsible for passing on this sanctuary to future generations. Tala’s mix of Acacia thornveld, open grassland and wetland provides exceptional game watching and birding.

Oribi Gorge

Oribi Gorge is a natural paradise with an adrenaline twist: home to the Wild Five activities centre where abseiling, white water rafting, gorge swing, gorge slide and horse trails are organised. There are also hiking trails.

Cape Town: Cape Peninsular National Park incorporating the Table Mountain National Park, Agulhas National Park

In the south west point of South Africa is the country's only urban national park and one of just two in the world: the Cape Peninsula National Park. Incorporating various sections of the city of Cape Town as well as Table Mountain and the Cape of Good Hope, this unusual patchwork park protects the Cape floral kingdom, commonly known as fynbos. One of only six floral kingdoms in the world, the park is home to 2,285 different plants of which 90 occur nowhere else on earth. For botanists, this is paradise found. 

Further south-east you come to the Agulhas National Park which encompasses Agulhas Point, the southern-most tip of Africa. This area is off the main tourist route which has left it unspoiled, as nature intended.

Of particular note is the town of Hermanus, self-styled whale capital of the world. From September Southern right whales come into the bays, resting, mating and breaching. Visitors can view these gentle giants from the shore. Listen out for Wilson, the town's whale crier, heralding whale activity in the bay.

Jackass penguins can be seen at Boulders Beach, Simons Town.

Garden Route: Wilderness National Park, Knysna National Lake Area, Tsiksikamma National Park

In the heart of South Africa's famous Garden Route, a captivating world of lakes, rivers, estuaries and beaches gently unfolds against a backdrop of lush forest and lofty mountains – all elements that characterise the Wilderness National Park. Nature trails wind through densely wooded forest and along tranquil rivers, affording you the opportunity to encounter the brilliantly coloured Knysna lourie or one of the five kingfisher species that occur here.

Knysna nestles on the banks of a beautiful lagoon in the heart of the ‘Garden Route’. It is surrounded by a natural paradise of lush indigenous forests, tranquil lakes and golden beaches, making it a real natural wonderland. The exceptionally beautiful Knysna National Lake Area is home to the endangered Knysna seahorse and a large diversity of marine life. Sandbanks and salt marshes teem with life and in turn provide food to an immeasurable number of organisms.

Where the booming breakers of the Indian Ocean relentlessly pound rocky shores, where temperate high forest and fynbos roll down to the sea in an unspoilt verdant carpet, where ancient rivers carve their paths to the ocean down rocky ravines, this, "the place of much water", is the Tsitsikamma National Park. The heartland of the park stretches some 5 km to sea, protecting a wonderland of inter-tidal life, reef and deep-sea fish.

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