A second Kruger National Park design is added to the range of unique art prints that recall vintage travel posters of a bygone era . . .

The Kruger National Park is one of the world’s largest and most famous wildlife sanctuaries and South Africa’s greatest tourist attraction.

In this latest design in my African Journey Collection of art prints that recall the travel posters of a bygone era (and echo the style of Herge’s Tintin adventures) I’ve tried to capture the unique feeling of the Kruger’s restcamps. Many South African’s have a strong emotional link to Kruger – it is such a popular family holiday destination with romantic and nostalgic connotations for those who first visited as a child. For most, a trip to the Kruger National Park is more than an opportunity to see and photograph wildlife, it is an entry into a largely undisturbed landscape and an escape from the pressures of modern life.

Although the Kruger National Park has a compicated political history, it is becoming an increasingly popular destination for all South Africans and the economic benefits – including the ‘Greater Kruger’ area that incorporates the private wildlife reserves of the Sabi-Sand, Timbavati and others to the west – are massive. More importantly, the 20,000 km2 reserve – and its extensions – conserves a spectrum of biodiversity and wild landscapes for their own sake – and of inestimable value to future generations of human beings.

In this illustration, a row of traditional thatched rondavels are surrounded by a variety of familiar ‘restcamp birds’ feeding on the ground or in the branches of a leafless Marula tree. It is the end of winter, with a Sacred Coral Tree in flower against a cloudless sky and an Aloe chabaudii in bloom. The ten bird species depicted are Crested Francolin, Southern Red-billed Hornbill, Southern Yellow-billed Hornbill, Greater Blue-eared Starling, Crested Barbet, Black-collared Barbet, Bennett’s Woodpecker, Chin-spot Batis, Red-headed Weaver and an African Scops Owl. A Bateleur eagle glides low overhead.

Duncan Butchart, February 2021

NOTE: The African Journey Collection are not mass produced posters, but signed art prints using premium paper and digital inks. You can view the whole range and shop here: dbnatureworks.com