By: PujaPosted on

This Kruger National Park travel guide sets out the best things to do in Kruger, along some useful tips to help you plan your itinerary and enjoy your visit to this beautiful wildlife region. Kruger National Park is a home to many different species of animals, birds and reptiles including The Big Five (lion, elephant, buffalo, rhino and leopard). If you are planning to visit South Africa you can’t return back home without visiting Kruger National Park. Need detailed guide for Kruger National Park, South Africa? You are at the right place. Follow to know about Kruger National Park Accommodation and Lodges.

guide for Kruger National Park, South Africa | Kruger National Park Guide | Kruger National Park Accommodation and Lodges

We reside in Nairobi, Kenya which is also a nation for variety of National parks small or big. The geography of Kruger National Park covers an area of 19,485 km2, making it the largest national park in South Africa, bordering Mozambique in the east and Zimbabwe in the north.

How to reach Kruger National Park?

We started our road trip from Cape town following the garden route and ended at Port Elizabeth from where we boarded our flight(1hour) to Jo’burg. On arrival rented a car and drove till Kruger which almost took 6 hours. There are multiple flights available daily from Cape Town to Joburg, and alternatively you can also fly from Joburg to Kruger which has three airports, namely Phalaborwa, Hoedspruit Eastgate and Kruger Mpumalanga International Airport which is the nearest one.

Best time to visit Kruger National Park? : Guide for Kruger National Park

While Kruger National Park is an excellent destination to visit all year-round, its best during dry season (April-September) when the wildlife gather around the waterholes to quench their thirst making it the perfect time to spot maximum animals. If you get lucky you may even spot all the big five. We went in the month of August while the park was very hot and humid and during the daytime temperatures raised from 20-40 degrees, while at the night it dropped drastically to single figure.

How many days you need inside Kruger National Park? : Guide for Kruger National Park

We could only be there for 2 nights and 3 days, but it would be great if you can plan for 5-7 nights if time allows, to travel through the park and look for wildlife in different areas.

Entry charges for Kruger National Park? : Guide for Kruger National Park

Kruger National Park comes under SanPark, the entry fee for non wild card holders are 422R per adult and 212R for kids. While entry is free for all wild card holders. Click here to get your Wild Card.

Where to stay in Kruger National Park? : Guide for Kruger National Park

We stayed at Crocodile Bridge Safari Lodge which is right outside the crocodile bridge entry gate. We would definitely recommend this stay if you are looking for something in budget. An elderly couple manages this property and they both were such a lovely host. The lady cooks amazing meals, and the gentleman would take care of everything you would ask for a comfortable stay, even you would be invited for communal bonfire and brai in the evening. It was so much fun being their guest.

There are more than 50 luxury lodges, guest houses and cottages inside Kruger park and outside the gates as well, so you can check out some of the best we know.

1.Skukuza Camp

2. Inyati Safari Lodge

3.Jock Safari Lodge

NOTE: There are 9 main entry gates namely( Crocodile bridge gate, Malelane gate, Numbi gate, Phabeni gate, Paul kruger gate, Orpen gate, Phalaborwa gate, Punda Maria gate and Pafuri gate) from where you can enter the Kruger National Park. So choose your stay mindfully which are closer to the gates or airport.

Where to eat and rest inside Kruger National Park?

You can carry some eatables from the hotels where you have checked in. Every hotels and camps have full board and half board options which you can choose according to your convenience. While you can pack some eatables and drinks and have it on wheels as well.

There are visitors who prefers going for game drives for the entire day, and there are some who visits for couple of hours during the day time and later in the evening. But not to worry there are almost 13 main camps where some of them even have amazing food courts and restaurants(we mostly packed our meals from Skukuza Camp). They also have toilets and other communal facilities where you can stretch your legs and chill.

Is there any petrol stations inside Kruger National Park?

You would find petrol and gas stations at all the main camps, just make sure you carry ready cash.

Is Kruger National Park worth visiting?

Definitely yes! There can be nothing more exciting and fascinating to be surrounded by the wild animals. Definitely an experience of its kind. The roads inside the park are so well maintained with good signposts and maps making it a very comfortable game drive experience.

Do you need a guide inside Kruger National Park?

We went for multiple game drives across East Africa and every time we go for a game drive this question definitely hits our mind whether we would need a guide or not, and most importantly how we will be able to spot animals on our own? So if you have booked your safari game drive with any tour company its likely that the driver would be your best guide. But here inside Kruger National Park we noticed things are slightly different from other national Parks if you choose to self drive as we did.

The very important thing here is to get hold of a map beforehand and plan your driveways where the spotting zones are marked. You will definitely loose mobile signals and no GPS would work inside the park. Trust us you won’t need a guide here to spot any animals, just keep your eyes wide open watching out for wildlife in the bush, in trees, and on the water holes. Where ever there are any major spotting(big cats) you would see crazy number of cars driving to that location and gathering on the side of the road, and you just need to follow those trails -simple.

While driving you would see many animals crossing roads, gazing at you, running away from you and lot more. The thrill of searching for animals just to have a glimpse of them in itself is so adventurous and exciting. It was crazy that we drove for almost 24 hours inside the park just in 2 days.

Which car to drive inside Kruger National Park?

You don’t need a 4*4 wheel drive inside Kruger if you don’t have one, we drove Toyota hatchback car which was equally comfortable. The roads are fully concrete and even the off roads inside the park are decent for driving small sedans, SUVs and other regular cars. Its would be a great idea if you can self drive inside the park instead opting for safari vehicles. You can just go around the park at your own pace, freedom and flexibility which is also much more affordable we believe.

However if you don’t wish to self drive you can also hire guided game drive safaris operated by tour companies. You can either book it for private or in group depending on your budget. These safari vehicles operates inside the park on daily basis with designated time for pick up and drop off (they are very punctual with time, so don’t be late).

You can also choose from various options they provide such as full day or half day game drives which comes with different rate chart. It is very easy to walk in and book a safari vehicle from the main office, located near all the entry gates.

What is the driving speed limit inside Kruger National Park?

Maintain your speed limit to 50kph. The roads inside are so great and it really feels irritating to drive at that speed but we would suggest to maintain the speeding protocol to avoid any road killings and unwanted patrol charges.

What to expect inside Kruger National Park?

After a long drive from Joburg we reached Kruger by late afternoon. The park opening and closing timings varies from month to month.

  • Nov-Feb- 05h30- 18h30
  • March- 05h30- 18h00
  • April- 06h00-18h00
  • May-July- 06h00-17h30
  • Aug- Sept- 06h00-18h00
  • 0ct- 05h30-18h00

We reached the park by 4pm and collected our entry pass from the main gate going through the security process. In less than 20min we met with the herd of elephants blocking our way. Please try not to overtake the elephants, if they are on your way as they might act violent or even chase you at times.

Later in the evening we saw Red Hartebeest, Burchell’s Zebras, Giraffes and lots of Gazelles. It was already closing hour by than and we could not follow the trail for too long, so decided to reach the exit gate as early we could. The very next morning we entered the main gate by 6am. We would recommend try to enter the gate as early as possible as sunrise and sunset hours are the best for spotting animals. We witnessed the beautiful sunrise while a lioness intertwined the way along with its 5-7 cubs. Early morning inside the park was calmer with less cars around and more animals surrounding.

This park covers almost 2million hectares and is a home to more than 200,000 mammals and variety of birds and reptiles, so be mentally prepared of not seeing anything for hours and that’s the fun part you know, like being in anticipation what you gonna see next. We spotted(buffalo’s, giraffes, scrubhare, warthogs, bushbacks, elephants etc) all around who came outside near the pathways.

We had wonderful sightings during the day spotting multiple leopards, pride of lions, buffalo’s, cheetahs, hyenas etc and many unique birds. We were so desperate on seeing some wild dogs but really had hard time finding any. If you are lucky you can also see some Nile crocodiles and big cats basking in the sun near the waterholes. Even after 24 hours of driving inside the park in two days, still feel that we just covered the bare minimum of the park honestly, it is that massive!

Night game drive inside Kruger National Park?

This is really the fun part, “night game drives” the word in itself is so thrilling, isn’t it?

Game parks after the sunset is a whole new world and one has to be really lucky to witness the African wilderness in the dark. On our last day we decided to go for night game drive, while we went for multiple in Kenya, hence wanted to experience it here too. If you are interested for night game drives make sure to book your reservation the previous day from the office itself right near the main gates.

We were supposed to be picked up by 7pm from the entry gate, again going through security check at the check point. The night game drives here are mostly conducted for 2 hours (7-9pm and 9-11pm) so you can choose the time slots according to your wish. We choose going between 7-9pm as animals are most active during those hours. We were welcomed by our guide who handed us spot lights to spot the animals in that silence and darkness. Also we opted going for a group tour to make it economical, hence shared the safari ranger car with 6 other co-travellers. However you cannot self drive inside the park after the closing hours so it has to be a guide tour. It would cost around 285R per adult and 150R per child.

During the night temperatures might drop drastically so make sure you pack decent woolens. In this vast region we really found it difficult to spot many animals, while we could see some hippos and nocturnal. However we were hoped to see the big5, but went through hard luck. To our experience we would definitely recommend going for game drives during the night. One really needs to experience it, to know how amazing the forest looks while its pitch dark hearing the howls.

Day game drives are very common where we see animals strolling around, it’s different fun altogether we agree! While night safaris can be a little tricky and really needs patience & endurance. It gives an opportunity to spot some unusual sightings of nocturnal birds and animals which are not easily seen at the daylight. Most of the animals are pro-active while they hunt at night which could be a rare sight.

Writing about it still gives goosebumps thinking about the whole adventure. Trust us we felt like we were in a complete dark desired and silenced world only with a spot light in hand. The surroundings were seriously scary and could observe the raw nature from so close, loved it! The overall experience was absolutely amazing and mind blowing soaking up the atmosphere during the day and in the night too. We would definitely love to be back soon in this South Africa’s most famous park.

Envisioning the lovely end to this amazing time at “Kruger National Park” and now we would head towards our next destination Johannesburg. So guys hope you find this blog helpful planning yours, and if you have any queries please write it down in the comment section below. We would try to help with the best of our knowledge.

Thanks

Continue Reading

Categories: South Africa

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *