The Embraer 135 jet lands on a paved runway surrounded by impenetrable bush. It rolls for a few minutes and passengers disembark in the hot and humid climate of Skukuza Airport.

With immaculate decor, the check-in lounge, complete with immigration and security scanners, could be mistaken for a five-star safari camp, only that it’s one of the park’s entrance gates national Kruger in the province of Mpumalanga in South Africa. At 2 million acres, the park is arguably the largest conservation area on the continent.

Earlier that morning we had left Sandton, the upscale Johannesburg suburb that is South Africa’s financial and commercial hub, aptly known as ‘Africa’s richest square mile’.

For two days, the best honchos from the continent and beyond gathered for the Meetings Africa convention, a gathering intended to revive in-person business events in Africa after the two-year hiatus caused by the pandemic.

Like the stock trading floor, deals were struck, business cards changed hands and champagne popped. But you know what work and no play did to Jack, right? He forgot the wild side.

The drive to the lodge which shares the name with ‘bush airport’ took no more than 10 minutes. Skukuza Rest Camp is one of the biggest in the park, so big it includes a conference room that can accommodate 500 people, right in the middle of one of the wildest places in Africa!

Yet the camp is also intimate to accommodate a guest’s personal needs in complete privacy. A late meal of a medium-to-good steak accompanied by Corona Extra (yes, you read that right), a Mexican lager served at the camp’s Cattle Baron Grill and Bistro set the tone for a brief evening game drive.

Coming from a country famous for its wildlife and wide open spaces, Kruger called. At the very least, I needed to see if we could hold their own against the world famous park.

Size aside, Kruger is a park of superlatives. The main roads are paved, which makes driving, even on a low sedan, a unique experience. With clear road markers, Kruger operates much like a city, a wild city, perhaps only lacking traffic lights (known locally as robots) at road intersections.

As the sun set creating magical orange hues, we took the opportunity to head out for a bush dinner or braai featuring a rich mix of meats, salads and wines.

In the quiet dark night, Duane Botha, our affable guide became something of an astronomer as he pointed his laser light skyward and helped the team appreciate the pure beauty of the Milky Way, the constellation of ‘Orion and the Southern Cross.

As elsewhere in Africa, the nights in Kruger are magical, interspersed with hissing crickets and the intermittent call of a nightjar.

We were up at four in the morning, ready for another game drive in the vast desert. As we gathered in the hall, the laughter of a hyena just outside the camp startled everyone.

Hyenas are excellent hunters or opportunistic scavengers, depending on what is offered. Armed with flashlights, we scoured the bushes from the top of the safari truck in search of any match. A giraffe here and a kudu there. Kruger was slowly waking up.

With the first light of day, more life emerged from the undergrowth. A pack of wild dogs, 20 or more, started their wild antics on the road. Excellent hunters, the dogs panicked, as they usually do before a hunt. Like faithful sentinels clearing the way, they kept us company for more than an hour, stopping periodically to groom themselves.

However, their targets were a herd of impala feeding near a ravine near the road. In coordinated movements they surrounded the antelopes and all we could hear afterward was a commotion at the bottom of the ravine, a sign of success.

In many parts of Africa, including Kenya, wild dogs are in decline as their range shrinks due to human encroachment. But they thrive in Kruger, with 19,000 km2 of forage area!