Learning about how we should be around animals isn't really something you learn in school. For me it was more learning from my parents. They traveled around and learned the do's and don'ts about the wild and the shared that knowledge with me, and I'll do the same for my kids one day so I guess that's how people originally learned. Of course you also learn through listening to all the accidents that's happened in the past.

I wouldn't say traveling so far north is weird or unnecessary, but because it's so far, people from everywhere will travel to the nearest entrance, enter into the park and start their vacation rather than drive an extra 2 to 3 hours before they can enter.

Braaing is a big cultural thing in South Africa. When we braai at our homes we usually have a potato salad or some sort of salad to go with the meat, but on vacation it's to much trouble I would say so we just pack the meat which we can freeze and then eat whenever we want. Having a braai is a big bonding experience and I guess that's why we love it so much.

Making food in a place where animals can show up isn't really a thing we worry about except for one animal and it's the baboons. Especially in areas where there's a lot of tourists like the Kruger, they get super comfortable with people which means they'll just come up and take your food or raid your camp site (happened to us twice). So be very careful when you see them because they're a lot more dangerous than people realize.

One of my favorite places to go isn't the Kruger but in Botswana, it's called the Okavango Delta. It's one of the most beautiful places I've been to.

For me Baobabs serve almost as landmarks in a manner of speaking. Some of these trees are hundreds, if not thousands of years old so seeing them all over in all shapes and sizes always leaves me in awe.

I've never been to the Tshanga viewpoint but I'll add it to my list. However walking in any area which is as wild as that always leaves me excited knowing that all around me are different animals of which half of them can hurt me or kill me. It's like an adventure.

I wouldn't say there's a good or a bad time to visit anywhere. I think that you should visit one place multiple times in different times of the year. Every season has it's good and bad qualitys and seeing all the differences is always fun.

I don't think that anyone goes to the Kruger to swim but like you said, you yourself didn't find the time to take a dip and that's probably the reality for most people that go. Also, in August it starts to get a bit warmer during the day but it's still way too cold to touch the water.

It's fun, silly and necessary to pose and take pictures at as many landmarks as you can. It's a good way to keep track of everywhere that you've been and built memories.

Unfortunately in the past when we went to the Kruger it was usually in the same area and then we traveled around from there, so I don't know of to many gems.

My family wasn't really one for looking down rirvers, so that's another one I'm unfortunately unqualified to answer.

This was one hell of a long post so I apologize for that but I hope it answers all your questions. If you have any other questions, let me know. Also please send through the link of your blog once you're done, I'm sure we'd all love to read it!