Cheetah Adventure – Kragga Kamma Game Park, Port Elizabeth

One of my favorite things about South Africa is the opportunity to see “exotic” wildlife up close and personal. And they may be exotic to me but they are “common” in South Africa…

One sunny afternoon BG, her mom, and I hopped in the car and drove a few short miles (ok, kilometers) to Kragga Kamma Game Park, just outside Port Elizabeth. It is a wonderful place to spend the day and I would love to spend the night in one of their cabins.

We decided to go at the last minute so our plan was to take the self drive. After entering the gate we drove a short way and immediately spotted some springboks. Further views yielded zebras, an ostrich, giraffes, and lots of other animals that I needed to look up in the book. They give you a viewing list and it is pretty extensive.

One sight I will never forget was seeing a ranger bakkie (pick up truck for us Americans) with a person in the back holding some type of vegetable and calling out “come, come, come”. Just down the “pasture” (hey, I’m from Texas!) three rhinos were trotting along like a group of hungry puppies stomping after the bakkie. I guess they were moving them to another part of the range. Quite a sight – something else you don’t get to see in the U.S….

But the highpoint of the day was driving through the cheetah enclosure. We drove into a double gate electrified pen and proceeded slowly along the dirt road. The terrain was very hilly and thick trees and shrubs surrounded the road. Suddenly a cheetah appeared right in front of us. It paid no attention to us as it trotted down the road and passed our car, close enough to touch (but of course, we didn’t!). Then another cheetah appeared and repeated the process – and then another!

We were thrilled and I immediately turned the car around and tried to follow them. They stayed on the road and headed to the electrified gate. Then they sat and stood by the gate, looking out! They are very intelligent animals and I assume they were scheming on how they will get out of their restricted area to check out the springboks when we left. We definitely kept a close watch when we exited the double gates…

I love the game parks in South Africa and am learning a bit about the experience. BG took me to the “big” game reserves the first time I travelled to South Africa (more to come about them in later articles!). They were great because I truly felt like I was in Africa. The reserves were huge and you had to travel with a guide to see the animals. It was a challenge to see them in such a large area and spotting them was always a thrill.

Yet the smaller reserves such as Kragga Kamma are great in their own way. You do not have the “safari” experience of traveling for hours to see a smaller number of creatures. But you do see the animals “up close and personal” due to it’s relatively small size (still huge compared to the U.S. zoos I am used to).

If you travel to South Africa for the first time I recommend that you do the “big” game reserves first to get the “safari experience”. Then check out the smaller game parks to get a very different perspective – and experience things you will remember for a lifetime!

What do you think? Please click on the above title to add your comments (“Cheetah Adventure”)…

Raymond Pechacek lives in the U.S. and is married to a wonderful South African lady (BG!). He writes about the people, customs, wildlife, and places of South Africa, runs a consulting firm to help companies improve their global trade processes, and imports products into the U.S. - with an emphasis on supporting South Africa!