Kruger National Park

Serene, immersed in natural life

August is a prime time to go, as the animals come out in search of water. We saw lions on five different occasions, including right next to our car, twice! It is mating season for the primates, we saw a lot of monkeys and baboons - very cute and beautiful to see the similarity in behaviour, with humans. Many different buck/antelopes, so beautiful. Giraffes, zebras, hyenas eating, rhinos on the road, huge herds of elephants right beside us, so many hippos, crocodiles, buffalo and we even saw a wildebeest crossing of about 500-1000, all to ourselves on a side road! On the very last day, we were very lucky in seeing a leopard right next to our car, on the side of the road - they are extremely rare to see, elusive, and travel alone - so it was a spectacular and rare experience! We saw many birds too - stalks, eagles, hawks, etc... as well as smaller, prettier, colourful birds. The scenery is magical, a surreal environment, it is so utterly beautiful, you can feel that you're alive, connected to nature, a part of this natural space. You rise with sun, and sleep when it sets. The trees are like lightening, naked branches bolting in all directions. It is a truly beautiful place. The weather is a little windy/cold in August, but a fleece will do, not much else necessary, especially when driving with the sun shining down throughout the day. Accommodation options vary - there are camps situated throughout the park, as well as the Protea Hotel just outside one of the gates. Satara, Skakuza and Lower Sabie are three of the big camps, with nice bungalows - all always clean. Malalane is the most primitive of the camps, with only a few bungalows, and the rest camping. I found it the most beautiful camp, situated on the border of the park, with a view of local farming and mountains. Most camps now have restaurants and almost all have shops, which is partly a shame, as commercialisation is not really in line with what is meant to be an untouched, natural environment - this is especially in reference to all the mug & bean franchises that are there. Having said this, we still found food options to be pretty basic, especially if you're not planning on eating at restaurants for every meal. The shops (including at the main, big camps) have very little healthy food options. We found only a couple cucumbers, capsicums and tomatos in the fridge at Satara, which is a main camp. Protein options were also very minimal. I suggest taking your own food with you, if you are driving, unless you don't mind living off of packaged food. We rented a car through avis, which we picked up at Skakuza airport.

Must visit in South Africa

I had a fantastic time during my trip to the Kruger and would fully recommend the park to anyone. Definitely a must do when you're in South Africa.

This is an exceptional large South African Park to take at your own pace.

Spending a week in Kruger National Park earlier this year, having last visited as a child, was an awesome experience. The park is large so at no time is there a "canned" experience. As we used our own vehicle we were able to go at our own pace. I am a keen photographer so the ability to shoot from your own car (with a bean bag) is pleasure as being on the back of a truck can bring its own challenges. Less then two minutes into the park we saw lion! However, just being in a typical South Africa bush brings me joy and Kruger Park delivered this same experience whether the more unusual animals were around or not. We had fantastic beautiful, still, warm weather and spent every day and evening in shorts. We stayed at Lower Sabi in the tented accommodations and then in chalets at Berg en Dal. The tented accommodation (wooden structures with canvas sides) at Lower Sabi is on the river and couldn't have been more beautifully situated. The only small complaint was that neither of the camps were well equipped but that was a small price to pay. Baboons tore their way into our tent at Lower Sabi when we were out one day and the staff immediately apologised and cleared the huge mess they had made. The staff couldn't have been more accommodating in this regard and the camp does its best to keep baboons away. One of the things that makes the park so good is that the roads follow the river as much as they can, allowing good viewing.

Very nice scenery, a lot of wildlife, good guides, knowledge of the guide, nice people

Something everyone should try to experience at least once in your lifetime.

Having lived in SA since 1975 it was high time that I visited the Kruger National Park. This was a good time of the year as it was not so hot, and the grass is quite low making it easier to spot the game. One of the great experiences was going on a night drive, during which we were lucky to see 3 male lions at very close range, as well as a pack of hyenas. Another highlight was hearing the lions roaring at night close to our camp.
My only disappointment was that there aren't any hides from which I could take close-up photos of the animals.

Experience of a life time

We visited both Balule Nature Reserve and Kruger National Park proper. We stayed a private lodges, Toro Yaka Bush Lodge and Grand Kruger Lodge close to the Crocodile Bridge Gate. Toro Yaka Lodge is simply outstanding. It was our second visit there and just as wonderful the second time as the first time. The safari drives were exciting, because the tracker and driver can go cross country we had the chance to view animals from up close. Because of their expertise in animal behavior, we were able to observe lions hunting and making an impala kill and the witnessed the ferocious scene of the lions' feeding frenzy. We saw leopards resting and hunting, and were up close and personal with a black rhino and her 350 lb. baby. Some of the elephants appeared to be curious about our Land Rover and came to observe us, another elephant, on the other hand, seemed annoyed and knocked a tree into our vehicle's path.
On our self drive in Kruger National Park we saw the "big five" within an hour in the Skukuza area. The most thrilling adventure was observing a leopard ambushing and killing an impala at a water hole and a giraffe challenging the leopard as it was dragging the dead impala off into the bush.

The Animal Kingdom Equivalent of the Grand Canyon

What an incredible place! Words are inadequate to convey the beauty and wonder of the wildlife of Kruger. To me, it was the equivalent of seeing the Grand Canyon for the first time - an awe inspiring display by nature that will move you. Within the first hour of entering Kruger we saw the "Big Five" - elephant, rhino, Cape Buffalo, leopard and lion - and it just got better after that. On the single day in the park, we also saw hyena, cheetah, zebra, giraffe, kudu, impala, warthogs, crocodiles (including one massive guy), wildebeest, hippos and ostrich. While these may be common sights for folks in Africa, for an American it was like seeing a children's book come alive.

For Americans, the feel of the park is somewhat like Yellowstone. A grand, old park with lots of tourists driving around and stopping at every movement in the grass. Nonetheless, the wildlife are the real show and I saw a lot fewer tourists doing stupid things (like getting too close to wild animals) at Kruger than I've seen at Yellowstone. Kruger is fairly well-developed and you certainly aren't going to feel like you're roughing it in the bush, but it is a great way to see the animals that define Africa.

The area outside the park was pretty bleak, but once you enter the park that is all forgotten and you could spend days taking in the action just from the main roads. I would have loved the opportunity to get even closer, but time did not permit more adventurous outings.

The one dark spot on visiting Kruger was the hassle with South African immigration officers. I was traveling with my 17 year old son without my wife and S.A. had just instituted some new requirements that included carrying an original copy of his birth certificate (no abridged versions accepted) and a notarized letter from my wife saying it was OK for him to travel with me. Each time we went through passport control, there seemed to be some new requirement and threats to either detain us or refuse entry. Hopefully, those problems will sort themselves out as the new requirements get formalized, but for now I'd suggest you bring the original birth certificate, the notarized statement from the spouse and a notarized copy of the spouse's passport. Also, make sure all the names match exactly on each of those documents and be sure to circle the correct "I/We" statements on the South African official form of the permission letter (seriously, one of the immigration guys gave me grief about that).

Despite the sketchy experiences with immigration officers, it was the trip of a lifetime. I don't know what other parks or reserves are like, but I would return to Kruger in a heartbeat.

Once in a lifetime you have to go there. Stay away from the tar roads and do not go there in high season (!)

The real bush.

I have been to Kruger a good number of times now, but I still remember my first time in 2006. The main thing that stuck with me of that trip was a bit of disappointment. As a kid I always watched nature documenteries on Discovery channel because of that, I kind of expected Kruger to look more like the Serengeti plains, or the Okavango. This fault was purely my own due to a lack of preparation and I would tell this to first-timers. This initial thought might have been a bit negative but it was quickly turned around by all the wildlife we saw. Nothing beats the sense of awe of seeing your first elephant walking next to the car. It became addictive in a way and I have returned many times.
Kruger is the Bush. I have been to other parks but none of them had the same Bush vibe. It can get very crowded in the south of Kruger though. This means car pile-ups and sometimes fighting for a spot to see things. The positive of a lot of cars means a lot of eyes spotting for animals. I have seen many a lion that we probably would have missed if it was just our own car driving. If the south is too crowded, there is always the middle of Kruger. You can easily see the Big Five (hate that name) there in a day if you are lucky, with a few legendary 'cat' roads. Or go to the north, near Shingwedzi or Punda Maria. Beautiful landscape and if you spot an animal, it often is yours as there aren't many other cars around.
About the subject of self-drive tourists: this is definitely a positive to me. I like driving our own car, at our own pace, doing our own thing. Sure, in a gameviewer you are higher up, the drivers have radio communication for good sightings and they get to drive at times when regular tourists can't. It is more of a safari feel for sure, but as an amateur photographer, I prefer to have an own car. Early morning or at night, I won't be able to take good photos anyway. Don't get me wrong, it is fun and a great experience to drive in a gameviewer, but in the end, self-drive has my preference.
The accomodations in Kruger are great. From simple camping sites and tented camps to nice rondavel cottages, and high-end accomodation (which I have never used). There is something for everyone. All camps have some similarities but also their own vibe. There are (expensive) shops, which are great for souvenirs but food is expensive, so bring your own if you can.
Kruger National Park is a big park, and a great one. You can go there on a budget in your own car, with a small tent or you can go with your own decked-out SUV and stay at the luxury housings. You can go to the north for a bit of the 'old-Kruger' feel or go to the south with high densities of animals. Go wherever you want, whenever you want. Go for a quick weekend-trip when you happen to be in the area or stay there for a week, travelling from camp to camp. A holiday within a holiday. Go in the winter when everything is dry for easy viewing, especially at the waterholes, or go in early summer, when everything looks fresh and green, with lots of baby animals running around. Any time of year is a good time to be in Kruger, because you will be in Kruger.

A safari experience that will stay with me for a life time.

I visited Kruger National Park with a college group as part of a wildlife study tour. When I originally heard that we would be visiting the park I thought we would only be seeing animals from a distance. The first day at Kruger I was blown away with the scenery and the amount of different animal species that we got up close to. We had close encounters with elephants, giraffes, white rhino, buffalo, hyena, zebra and many others. The second day we where lucky enough to see a pride of lions and on the third day we saw a cheetah up close. Seeing these animals in there natural habitat was one of the things that made the experience surreal, nothing else will compare.

My experience at Kruger National Park was made complete by the raw beauty of the scenery. This was the first time I had visited South Africa so I didn't know what to truly expect, but what I saw I fell completely in love with. Ever though it was going into winter when I visited, the landscape was still stunning.

The accommodation we stayed at was amazing, complete with a pool and excellent food facilities. Around the fence of the accommodation wild animals could be seen, even hyenas in the early hours of the morning which was really exciting.

Overall I feel like I have left a little piece of my heart there and I hope to return soon.