At two million hectares (4.9 million acres) and over 300km (186 miles) long from north to south, the Kruger National Park is a savannah landscape with 147 mammal species, over 400 bird species and numerous reptiles, amphibians and insects.

In the extreme northernmost sector between the Limpopo and Luvuvhu Rivers lies the Makuleke Concession, with Mozambique and Zimbabwe to the east and north. Although this 24 000ha (59 000- acre) area comprises only fractionally more than 1% of the total area of the Kruger, 75% of all species in this region occur here, making it one of the Park’s biodiversity hotspots and a true contrast to the rest of Kruger.

Scenically, the area is stunning, with mountains, gorges, forests of fever trees, squat baobabs, mopane woodland, and open savannah. This range of habitat is home to large herds of elephant and buffalo, predators such as leopard and lion, the highest density of nyala in Kruger, and species difficult to find further south, such as eland and Sharpe’s grysbok.

The area is known as a birding Mecca, with some species found nowhere else in South Africa, such as Böhm’s spinetail, racket-tailed roller and three-banded courser. The biological significance of the Concession was recognised in its declaration as a Ramsar Site – a wetland of international importance.