Kruger National Park

About Kruger National Park

Kruger National Park is South Africa's largest national park: close to two million hectares of Lowveld bush in the north-east of the country, running about 360 km from north to south along the Mozambique border. People go for the Big Five on a road network you can drive yourself, and for sheer variety, with 147 mammal species recorded. Protection began in 1898 with the Sabie Game Reserve, and in 1926 it became South Africa's first national park. The dry winter months, May to September, give the easiest game viewing. The grass dies back, the bush thins and animals keep close to the rivers and waterholes, so you see more from the vehicle. Early mornings are cold in an open car, so bring a warm layer. The summer rains, roughly November to March, turn the park green and hot. The bush is thicker and cats take more finding, but impala drop their lambs at the start of the rains and migrant birds arrive, which suits birders and photographers. Most visitors fly in. There are daily flights from Johannesburg to Skukuza Airport inside the park, and to Kruger Mpumalanga International Airport near Mbombela, Hoedspruit and Phalaborwa; Skukuza also has direct flights from Cape Town. By road, Johannesburg to the southern gates is about four and a half to five hours on the N4. Allow at least three nights. Sightings come down to time in the field, and two or three full days of morning and afternoon drives give you a fair chance at most of the big species. With four or five nights you can split the stay between the national park and a private reserve next door, such as the Timbavati or the Sabi Sand. We usually pair Kruger with the Panorama Route on the escarpment to the west, and Cape Town or Victoria Falls can follow by air. A day in the national park follows the gates. Camps open around first light and close at sunset, with times that shift by month and are printed on your entry permit, and you must be inside a camp or out of the park by closing. Driving off the tar and gravel roads is not allowed, so the skill lies in route choice: rivers early, waterholes in the heat of the day. The rest camps run guided sunset drives of about three hours and night drives of about two, the only way to look for hyena, genet and owls after dark inside the park. Where you sleep shapes the trip. Inside the park, Satara Restcamp sits in the central grassland and Letaba Rest Camp overlooks the Letaba River, both run by SANParks. Umlani Bush Camp, in the private Timbavati, has no mains electricity: reed huts are lit by lanterns and dinner is often out in the riverbed. Outside the park at Hazyview, Hippo Hollow Country Estate and Perrys Bridge Hollow are handy for the southern gates and the Panorama Route.