Kruger National Park

Visited: Oct. 2022 Reviewed: Apr. 07, 2023 Submitted in:

This was our second time to travel to south Africa for the safari, We travel with my office Team for this adventure and research reason ,This National Park did not disappoint, Most of the wildlife where very very close to find . The security in this Park is great. I will definitely organize more safari to my clients for this Park.

Visited: Jul. 2022 Reviewed: Aug. 15, 2022 Submitted in:

We visited this park. It was 45 mins drive. Great place where you can see Animals, lake, green fields Plenty of Flamingo can be found too We spent a full day here during our safari; towards the end of our visit. the animal were really impressive. Unfortunately we didn’t manage to catch a glimpse of the elusive rhino, but we still saw plenty including lions, elephant, hippo, buffalo, hyena, jackal, and the larger ground birds - ostrich, kori bustard and crowned cranes. We even got to watch a couple of impala clashing in a fight which was exciting to watch.

Even though Kruger National Park Orpen Gate is only about a third of the way up the park, it’s a convenient entry point for the central region and close to a number of rest camps. In fact, Orpen Gate is right on the doorstep of the very pleasant and peaceful Orpen Rest Camp. It’s a lovely place to stay at and very convenient if you’re arriving at the park later in the day. As you’re heading towards Kruger Park, you might have already seen some wildlife. This is because there are some private game reserves which adjoin the western side of Kruger National Park here and you drive along their boundaries. When you arrive at Orpen Gate, you’ll need to pay the Kruger Park entry fees. You’ll know when you get to the gate. Each of the Kruger National Park gates have different designs and Orpen has some thatched huts surrounded by a forest of wooden poles. The Gate is 467km (290 miles) from Johannesburg. It takes 6 hours to travel this distance by car.

Kruger National Park is one of the most famous game parks and offers a variety of accommodation and wildlife and is a Big 5 game reserve. I have visited this park many times. The game viewing never fails to disappoint. I also suggest entering down south by the Malelane gate and taking a drive to the middle of the park to the main camp called Skukuza. There is a spa here where you can have a meal at the main restaurant which has a lovely deck where you can sit and enjoy sundowners and see lots of animals at the river. In September we saw a Cheetah from the deck and lots of giraffe and elephant.

My first safari was this past October at the Skukuza Rest Camp operated by Outlook Safaris. My daughter and I simply loved it beginning with the transfer from/to Johannesburg from our hotel to our accommodation and actual daily tours led by truly professional and knowledgeable guides.

I visit this park often and really enjoy nature at its best with the park and camps that blend in with nature. The park management look after this park quite well and you can read about it in various media magazines, Facebook pages and other media. Although the old traditional restaurants have fallen away, they have been finally replaced with Mug & Bean, Cattle Barron and others. Not bad food at all. The camps do manage the accommodation well and my guests do not have many complaints. I will be visiting this park again later in the year with my senior citizen groups and I am really looking forward to this.

South Africa's Kruger National Park is arguably the most affordable and most accessible major African game park. Because of this and because of the consistently good all-year game viewing, it is also one of the most popular game reserves in Africa. There are basically three ways to "do" Kruger: 1) You can go on your own and self-drive. 2) You can go with a tour operator on a guided safari. 3) You can stay at a private safari lodge. Option 1 (self-drive) is the cheapest option and preferred by many locals, who come every year on their annual family holiday. For this reason, school holidays are busy and the main camps and roads (especially in the south of the park) can get quite crowded. To avoid the crowds, head for the lesser known dirt roads or go to the north of the park. I've personally visited Kruger like this many times. Option 2 (a guided open vehicle safari) is also an affordable option and preferred by many first time visitors, because of the benefit of having an experienced guide who can help you not only to spot the animals, but interpret their behaviour and explain many interesting things about the bush. Also, being able to enjoy game drives from an open safari vehicle (rather than a small, closed, regular car) definitely enhances the game viewing experience and offers better visibility. The quality of this option depends on your choice of tour operator and the quality and experience of the guide who leads your safari. This is my favourite way of visiting Kruger. Option 3 (a private safari lodge) is the most expensive option but these lodges normally include all meals and game drives, and the accommodation is more luxurious than the typical Sanparks bungalows found in Kruger's public camps. Here you also have the benefit of a qualified safari guide and open safari vehicles for game drives, but each lodge will have their own concession area and a limited traversing area for game drives. There are many different safari lodges in different price brackets, many situated in concession areas within Kruger, and many situated in the private game reserves adjacent to Kruger. I've been to both types of lodges and they are both great. For first time visitors, a good choice is to combine option 2 with option 3 - explore Kruger in the company of an expert guide, and then spend 2 or 3 nights at a private safari lodge as well. For those on a very tight budget, option 1 is perhaps the best option. For me the best thing about Kruger is that it is much less seasonal than other major game parks in Africa. It is possible to have excellent game viewing all year round, even during the rainy season from December to March.

Kruger National Park in Mpumalanga, South Africa is an amazing place... That is if you know the secrets: 1: Time 2: Place 3: A bit of luck 4: Rainfall 5: Were to go 1: Timing Your timing to see some of Africa's top wildlife animals is best early morning when the gates open and about an hour before the gates closes. WHY? It's not that hot and being animals in the wild the only thing they are concerned about is survival, this means conserving energy during the hot parts of the day and making the best of the weather and day or night light they can. 2: Place do some research when you are going to the Kruger and look on the internet at the latest sightings people have seen, this will give you a 50% change of going to the right part of Kruger. Let's put it like this if you want to go and see the big five in one day - all the luck to you. It's very possible, but with help from a tour guide, radio's, facebook and many more factors. But if you want to have a holiday in nature just to be in a place were nature continues around you with or without you then Kruger is the Place for you. Try 2 to 5 days remember you came all this way from your home country and spend some time to make it worth it. 3: A bit of luck normally comes to those who wait don't just drive pass a waterhole. STOP, LOOK, INSPECT... Look in the shade of the bushes as a lioness or cheetah can be waiting for prey to come and drink and remember when you arrive you make noise with your vehicle all living things can hear you from a mile away so let them calm down and show themselves. Have a look in the trees on the branches if you can spot a leopard in the shade and listen to the birds if they make a lot of noise or suddenly fly up then something has disturbed the, might be a leopard or caracal if you lucky. 4: Look the park is beautiful in the rainy season, its lush, green and full of baby impalas but that about what you will see if you don't know were to go and make use of a guide. In the winter months just before summer rainfalls comes down again your changes is the best to view herds of animals at waterholes and rivers during the hot part of the day. 5: Please get a map and talk to other visitors in the camps and stop people on the road and ask them what they have seen and were did they come from so that you at least have a change of seeing something that they have seen. Remember not all visitors are interested in the same thing but lions are very high on the list so the bush telegraph as we call it will suite you well if you use it both ways. That's my story for now enjoy your game drives and good luck! Bernhard W Bekker Safari tour guide in Kruger Park

I have been coming to the Kruger National Park since I was a little girl. Our family holidays took place in the camps on the banks of the mighty Olifants River. I remember early mornings with coffee and rusks to get ready for game drives. Sunsets without television or telephones (this was before mobile phones and the Internet!), just whiskey for the mom, beer for the dad and some cool drinks for the kids. Kruger has grown up with me. It is no longer known as an enclave of the former apartheid regime. It is now a model of transformation with a number of sustainable community initiatives, land sharing and local management agreements. Conservation efforts are acclaimed around the world. It remains the country’s flagship game reserve and one of the best on the continent and in the world. From inexpensive chalets to luxurious camping and stunning tree-top wining and dining – it can all be had in Kruger. There are even the remains of a lost city in the far north of the park. If you tire of hunting the Big Five – hardly likely, I know – but still, take a drive to Thulamela near Punda Maria, where you will find the stone walls of this ancient city dating back to 16th century. Archaeologists have found the remains of two people they have named Queen Losha and King Ingwe. It is believed that once up to 2,000 people lived here. Not a lot of people know about Thulamela, which in a way is nice, as the area remains quiet and unspoilt, free of the tourist hordes of the southern parts of the park. But there is so much magic here. And if you close your eyes and listen carefully to the wind in the grass, you may hear the sound of the lost people of Thulamela, making deals, driving bargains and trading their goods where now there is only bush, the sound of crickets and occasionally, the growl of a lion.

We stayed at Mopani Camp on our first ever safari vacation. Bar/restaurant had excellent balcony overlooking a lake full of hippos, crocs and birds. Shop, cafeteria. Camp was full of savannah scrub and a big baobab, a micro-safari in itself. Chalet was spacious and well-appointed. Only complaint (also encountered elsewhere in SA) was lack of European norms of service when ordering/waiting for food. Went on a game walk, two night drives and a few self-guided drives, so saw plenty of birds and game, but failed to see some biggies such as rhinos, lions or leopards. Landscape is plains with some kopjes, not dramatic. At end of three days, I felt that less time spent box-ticking and more time spent watching the wildlife would have been more rewarding.