While planning a trip to the Kruger National Park, Jared caught a glimpse of The Outpost Lodge in a glossy brochure and was instantly spellbound, knowing he had to visit the unique place. Three months later, he arrived; and, despite the pictures having brought him here, he found that they had hardly did the lodge and its surroundings justice. In the equation of travel, distance often equals reward, and this journey was no exception. Jared had travelled to the ends of the country to find the beginnings of peace.
South Africa‘s Kruger National Park is a well-known favourite for both local and international travellers. Most visitors, however, visit the Southern and Central regions of the park and don’t get to travel to the far North. Pafuri is both the northern-most section of the park but also the country, where you’ll find a confluence of countries (here South Africa shares borders with Zimbabwe and Mocambique).
In this section of the Kruger National Park the scenery changes, and to make sense of this one has to remember that the park span an impressive length of over 360 kilometres, covering a size greater than that of Wales.
Travelling north the flatter plains of the South and central sections begin to give way to hills, and later dramatic ravines. Lanner Gorge is one such ravine where elephants and other animals can be safely watched from above. Looking more like swollen ants wandering the river bed tens of meters below.
The landscape also becomes punctuated with Africa’s most legendary trees – the thousands of years old Baobabs. These ancient sentries have witnessed millennia of life unfold before them, with their twisted and gnarled trunks visibly adding to the intrigue. Nearby forests of elegant Fever trees invite you to meander among their yellow-trunked passages.
It is in this beautifully broken up landscape where the fourteen strikingly-modern architectural masterpieces that adorn a clifftop, each offering generous vistas afforded by their height and design.
Imagine a space where, almost magically, at the touch of a button, all barriers between you and the wilderness are removed…
In this instance, it’s effortlessly achieved by the touch of a button: the canvased sides lift offering startling views of the ravine below. The result of locale and technology is astounding: an environment where valleys are explored by wild animals and bush guarded by ancient baobabs take center stage.
In this space, the African sun slowly begins to sink into the distant mountains, weary after a hard day’s toil, but guaranteed to rise again tomorrow to greet a thousand landscapes and a hundredfold more people who call the continent home.
Thank you to Jared Ruttenberg from @JAREDINCPT for permission to share the photograph.If you have a really special photograph you would like to share with A Luxury Travel Blog‘s readers, please contact us.
Paul Johnson is Editor of A Luxury Travel Blog and has worked in the travel industry for more than 30 years. He is Winner of the Innovations in Travel ‘Best Travel Influencer’ Award from WIRED magazine. In addition to other awards, the blog has also been voted “one of the world’s best travel blogs” and “best for luxury” by The Daily Telegraph.
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12 Comments
Amazing how many of these photos feature sunset. Is it because its most peoples favourite time of day?
Haha, that’s actually pretty funny. It certainly is my favorite time of day! When you capture it just right, the lighting for the frame gives everything a little bit of a magical quality.
Agreed! The lighting makes for etheral landscapes, and also slows down the soul to the magic that is around!
People moan a lot about digital manipulation and airbrushing of images etc but if you stay in a place for a few days you often find, as Jared did, that the images don’t do justice to a place. To make a living most photographers rush in, shoot off a few hundred pictures, and then dash onto the next job. Rarely do they have the time to get a feel for the soul of a place.
Phil, such an astute obervation. In a very rushed editorial life, there isn’t often the time to do that. To be able to capture the essence of a location. Which is why I never accept writing jobs that are a one night stay.
I’ve come across this push-button technology a few times now. It really does seem a decadent luxury when you can lie in bed, push a button to open blinds, curtains, shutters or whatever and see an amazing view. If you’ve not been lucky enough to have that experience yet it is highly recommended. Kruger would be a good place to start.
It’s a simple and decadent luxury indeed – and best enjoyed when such sumptious views are on offer!
I always learn something when reading posts on here. I had to look up the area of South Africa where Kruger National park resides. It was interesting you mentioned the sections of the park and how they’re different. I couldn’t pick a better spot to visit Africa, in the north of the park. Maybe I could one day pair that with visiting Mozambique and Zimbabwe.
Thanks for taking the time to look them up Andrew. Indeed there are differences thanks to the sheer size of the park. Mozambique offers a lovely ocean-alternative to the Kruger.
I’m a little envious of Jared. The whole ‘travelling to the ends of the country to find peace’ is often how many travel the world in search of greater meaning in a process of ‘finding themselves’. It’s no wonder there are movies based on precisely this concept. There’s something so breathtaking and grounding when you get a view like this, that really hits home and makes you see life in a new way. Amazing photograph and such an awe-inspiring landscape, so tranquil and peaceful. I bet Jared won’t forget that one anytime soon!
Thanks Becky – hardly a day goes by without remembering that view so you’re one hundred percent correct!
This reminds me of that line in a song “We’ll be looking at the same star, looking at the same moon” when you’re wishing that you can be in a place too far away. Too beautiful not to enjoy or even dream of witnessing in real life.
South Africa‘s Kruger National Park is a well-known favourite for both local and international travellers. Most visitors, however, visit the Southern and Central regions of the park and don’t get to travel to the far North. Pafuri is both the northern-most section of the park but also the country, where you’ll find a confluence of countries (here South Africa shares borders with Zimbabwe and Mocambique).
In this section of the Kruger National Park the scenery changes, and to make sense of this one has to remember that the park span an impressive length of over 360 kilometres, covering a size greater than that of Wales.
Travelling north the flatter plains of the South and central sections begin to give way to hills, and later dramatic ravines. Lanner Gorge is one such ravine where elephants and other animals can be safely watched from above. Looking more like swollen ants wandering the river bed tens of meters below.
The landscape also becomes punctuated with Africa’s most legendary trees – the thousands of years old Baobabs. These ancient sentries have witnessed millennia of life unfold before them, with their twisted and gnarled trunks visibly adding to the intrigue. Nearby forests of elegant Fever trees invite you to meander among their yellow-trunked passages.
It is in this beautifully broken up landscape where the fourteen strikingly-modern architectural masterpieces that adorn a clifftop, each offering generous vistas afforded by their height and design.
Imagine a space where, almost magically, at the touch of a button, all barriers between you and the wilderness are removed…
In this instance, it’s effortlessly achieved by the touch of a button: the canvased sides lift offering startling views of the ravine below. The result of locale and technology is astounding: an environment where valleys are explored by wild animals and bush guarded by ancient baobabs take center stage.
In this space, the African sun slowly begins to sink into the distant mountains, weary after a hard day’s toil, but guaranteed to rise again tomorrow to greet a thousand landscapes and a hundredfold more people who call the continent home.
Thank you to Jared Ruttenberg from @JAREDINCPT for permission to share the photograph.
If you have a really special photograph you would like to share with A Luxury Travel Blog‘s readers, please contact us.
South Africa‘s Kruger National Park is a well-known favourite for both local and international travellers. Most visitors, however, visit the Southern and Central regions of the park and don’t get to travel to the far North. Pafuri is both the northern-most section of the park but also the country, where you’ll find a confluence of countries (here South Africa shares borders with Zimbabwe and Mocambique).
In this section of the Kruger National Park the scenery changes, and to make sense of this one has to remember that the park span an impressive length of over 360 kilometres, covering a size greater than that of Wales.
Travelling north the flatter plains of the South and central sections begin to give way to hills, and later dramatic ravines. Lanner Gorge is one such ravine where elephants and other animals can be safely watched from above. Looking more like swollen ants wandering the river bed tens of meters below.
The landscape also becomes punctuated with Africa’s most legendary trees – the thousands of years old Baobabs. These ancient sentries have witnessed millennia of life unfold before them, with their twisted and gnarled trunks visibly adding to the intrigue. Nearby forests of elegant Fever trees invite you to meander among their yellow-trunked passages.
It is in this beautifully broken up landscape where the fourteen strikingly-modern architectural masterpieces that adorn a clifftop, each offering generous vistas afforded by their height and design.
Imagine a space where, almost magically, at the touch of a button, all barriers between you and the wilderness are removed…
In this instance, it’s effortlessly achieved by the touch of a button: the canvased sides lift offering startling views of the ravine below. The result of locale and technology is astounding: an environment where valleys are explored by wild animals and bush guarded by ancient baobabs take center stage.
In this space, the African sun slowly begins to sink into the distant mountains, weary after a hard day’s toil, but guaranteed to rise again tomorrow to greet a thousand landscapes and a hundredfold more people who call the continent home.
Thank you to Jared Ruttenberg from @JAREDINCPT for permission to share the photograph.
If you have a really special photograph you would like to share with A Luxury Travel Blog‘s readers, please contact us.
Amazing how many of these photos feature sunset. Is it because its most peoples favourite time of day?
Haha, that’s actually pretty funny. It certainly is my favorite time of day! When you capture it just right, the lighting for the frame gives everything a little bit of a magical quality.
Agreed! The lighting makes for etheral landscapes, and also slows down the soul to the magic that is around!
People moan a lot about digital manipulation and airbrushing of images etc but if you stay in a place for a few days you often find, as Jared did, that the images don’t do justice to a place. To make a living most photographers rush in, shoot off a few hundred pictures, and then dash onto the next job. Rarely do they have the time to get a feel for the soul of a place.
Phil, such an astute obervation. In a very rushed editorial life, there isn’t often the time to do that. To be able to capture the essence of a location. Which is why I never accept writing jobs that are a one night stay.
I’ve come across this push-button technology a few times now. It really does seem a decadent luxury when you can lie in bed, push a button to open blinds, curtains, shutters or whatever and see an amazing view. If you’ve not been lucky enough to have that experience yet it is highly recommended. Kruger would be a good place to start.
It’s a simple and decadent luxury indeed – and best enjoyed when such sumptious views are on offer!
I always learn something when reading posts on here. I had to look up the area of South Africa where Kruger National park resides. It was interesting you mentioned the sections of the park and how they’re different. I couldn’t pick a better spot to visit Africa, in the north of the park. Maybe I could one day pair that with visiting Mozambique and Zimbabwe.
Thanks for taking the time to look them up Andrew. Indeed there are differences thanks to the sheer size of the park. Mozambique offers a lovely ocean-alternative to the Kruger.
I’m a little envious of Jared. The whole ‘travelling to the ends of the country to find peace’ is often how many travel the world in search of greater meaning in a process of ‘finding themselves’. It’s no wonder there are movies based on precisely this concept. There’s something so breathtaking and grounding when you get a view like this, that really hits home and makes you see life in a new way. Amazing photograph and such an awe-inspiring landscape, so tranquil and peaceful. I bet Jared won’t forget that one anytime soon!
Thanks Becky – hardly a day goes by without remembering that view so you’re one hundred percent correct!
This reminds me of that line in a song “We’ll be looking at the same star, looking at the same moon” when you’re wishing that you can be in a place too far away. Too beautiful not to enjoy or even dream of witnessing in real life.