There are very few things in life that compare to the thrill of a close encounter with wildlife, and the Kruger is one of the very best places in the world to experience this. It’s the Big Five that most people are seeking, the five species once most feared and treasured by hunters and now equally enthralling to safari-goers: lion, leopard, elephant, buffalo and rhino. The Kruger boasts all of these, along with a huge array of other game within its enormous boundaries: at 19,000 square kilometres, it really is vast. Visitors have a choice between staying in the national park itself, or in one of the private reserves that share unfenced borders with the Kruger. The national parks board accommodation is significantly cheaper, and also allows you the choice of guided safari drives or self-drive safari, whilst the private reserves offer unbelievable levels of luxury in the bush, and guided safari drives that can go off-road in pursuit of game, something not permitted in the national park itself. The western edge of the Kruger, in particular the Sabi Sand private reserve, is a dense riverine environment, ideal territory for leopards, traditionally the most elusive of the Big Five, but a near-guaranteed sighting in this part of the world. It makes it arguable the best place in the whole of Africa to see the Big Five in the wild.