Most of us experience a safari for a handful of days, then spend the flight home wishing we understood more of what we’d just seen. Wildest Kruger Stories is the podcast that fills in the gaps — the long, unhurried conversation you wish you could have with your guide after the engine switches off and the sundowners come out.
Hosted by South African safari guide Craig Reid and Swedish wildlife photographer Karolina Norée — an engaged couple, partners both on and off the mic — the show has quietly become one of the most listenable corners of the African bush. It isn’t slick, it isn’t scripted, and that’s exactly the point.
What the podcast actually is
Launched in 2022, Wildest Kruger Stories now runs to more than 70 episodes, released roughly once a month. The format is simple: Craig and Karolina trade stories from a life spent in and around the Greater Kruger, often joined by a guest from the safari or photography world.
Episodes drift between funny disasters, jaw-dropping sightings, the realities of guiding for a living, and genuinely useful advice for anyone planning a trip or picking up a camera. One week it’s a deep dive on which camera body a beginner should actually buy; the next it’s the truth about what a safari “experience” really looks like from the driver’s seat — the early starts, the no-shows, the management of expectations no brochure mentions.
It sits comfortably in the Science, Nature and Leisure categories, but the tone is closer to two partners who happen to know an enormous amount about the bush than to anything academic.
Meet the hosts
Craig Reid is the safari side of the partnership. A wildlife photographer and professional guide with years in the field, he runs Wildest Kruger Safaris, the photographic safari company he co-owns with Karolina, leading trips through the Greater Kruger and beyond. On the podcast he’s the voice of the industry insider — equally happy explaining how a private concession differs from the national park or recounting a lion that walked a little too close to camp.
Karolina Norée brings the photographer’s eye and a remarkable backstory. Born and raised in Sweden, she first visited South Africa in 2016, fell hard for the wildlife, and relocated permanently in 2018 to chase a full-time career in wildlife photography. She built a huge following on Instagram — one behind-the-scenes reel reportedly pulled in 2.3 million views — and has since become a Sony ambassador, a photographic guide, and an educator with her own editing course, e-book and print store at karolinanoree.com.
Together they make an unusually balanced pair: one who grew up immersed in the bush, one who arrived as a wide-eyed visitor and stayed. That dynamic is a big part of why the show works. Karolina often asks the questions a newcomer would; Craig answers them with the shorthand of someone who’s lived it.
The podcast isn’t a side project, either — it grows directly out of their day jobs. Both Craig and Karolina work as guides, leading private tours and photographic safaris through the Greater Kruger and further afield. So the stories you hear aren’t recycled anecdotes; they’re this week’s drives, this season’s sightings, and the real, ongoing business of showing people the bush and helping them photograph it well. That’s also where listeners can take the next step: the same people behind the microphone are the ones who’ll be in the driver’s seat if you choose to travel with them.
What people are saying
The reception has been warm — and consistent. Across Apple Podcasts the show holds a 5.0-star rating from more than 100 reviews, and it has charted in the Science & Nature category in Australia, the UK, Canada, Germany and Italy.
The reviews tend to circle the same praise. Listeners value the candour about guiding life and conservation, the unscripted banter that feels authentic rather than produced, and the practical photography tips threaded through the stories. As one reviewer put it, the hosts “bring you behind the scenes of the safari industry,” and for anyone who’s never been on safari, they “do a great job breaking down the different areas in Africa… and how everything works.”
The audience is genuinely global. Recent reviews have come from a conservation worker in New Zealand, listeners across the United States and the United Kingdom, and plenty of South Africans who recognise the world being described. The handful of critical notes are gentle and affectionate — an early request to even out the audio levels, a recurring wish that the show would also appear as video on YouTube, and, most of all, a steady chorus of listeners simply asking for more regular episodes.
Episodes worth starting with
If you’re new, a few episodes show the range:
- “Mistakes Made as a Young Guide” — Craig at his most honest about learning the job the hard way.
- “Your Questions Answered” — practical listener Q&As covering gear, timing and where to go.
- The guest “Bush Chats” episodes — conversations with photographers and guides such as Pusetso Whittle of Pangolin Photo Safaris, tracing how people actually build careers in this world.
- Recent travel reviews — Karolina photographing Bengal tigers in India, and Craig tracking the famous black leopard of Laikipia in Kenya — proof the show now reaches well beyond the Kruger fence line.
Who it’s for
This is a podcast for the safari-curious and the safari-obsessed alike. If you’re planning a first trip and drowning in lodge websites, Craig and Karolina cut through the hype and help you work out what’s right for you. If you’re a photographer, you’ll come away with concrete advice. And if you’ve already been and caught the bug, it’s simply a way to keep one foot in the bush between trips.
It’s a long-form listen — most episodes run over an hour — so it rewards a road trip or a slow morning rather than a quick commute. But that length is the gift. Few things capture the rhythm of the bush better than two knowledgeable people with nowhere they need to be.
Where to listen
Wildest Kruger Stories is available on every major podcast app. Listen on Spotify or Apple Podcasts. You can follow the hosts on Instagram at @craig_reid_wildlife, @karolinanoreewild and @wildestkrugersafaris, and explore Karolina’s photography and courses at karolinanoree.com.
Have a listen and let us know your favourite episode in the comments.
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