Kruger National Park Things to Do Tips by diver-x

We stayed at the rest camps inside the park and they all offer early morning and evening game drives. You are taken out in a small, open-air bus and drive around for 3 hours looking for animals. The morning drives leave before sunrise, at 5:30 AM and the evening drives leave just before sunset at 5:00 PM.

We were there in May, and even though it was comfortably warm during most of the day, the morning drives were COLD! The evening drives weren't much warmer. If you're there in the cooler months, you'll need several layers to stay warm. Bring a hat, sweatshirt, windbreaker and long pants!

I have to say, there wasn't much that we saw on the game drives that we didn't see driving around on our own. We saw a rhino, some jackals and a hyena, which we didn't see on our own. But all of the rest, (lions, elephants, buffalo, etc.) we did see on our own and in higher concentrations. So you don't HAVE to get up early to see good stuff, but you never know what you might miss if you don't!

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Address: All of the rest camps
Directions: Check at the reservations desk for more information. For morning drives you'll need to book by the night before. For evening drives, we had no trouble booking just before the drive, but we were there off-season.
Website: http://www.sanparks.org/parks/kruger/

At Lower Sabie rest camp, we opted for an organized morning walk rather than a game drive. We figured we'd stay warmer by walking rather than sitting on the open bus in the chilly breeze. Well, before we started walking, they loaded us onto an open-air bus to take us to the walk site. So again we froze for 30 minutes until we unloaded onto the open bush.

Unfortunately, we were engulfed in a thick fog. Our armed guides asked us to wait for a while until the fog cleared. The idea was that they needed to be able to see anything we might be approaching or anything that might be approaching us. However, the fog only got thicker as we waited. So the guides suggested that we drive for a while and hope the fog cleared. After another 45 minutes or so of chilly driving, it finally did.

It was interesting to actually walk out in the bush, rather than drive by it. But we didn't actually see anything extraordinary. We saw a few elephants, but the guides understandably kept us a very safe distance away (as in far away). And of course we saw impala, waterbuck and some giraffe. They fed us some snacks, which you don't get on the drives and I think you get more opportunity to talk to your fellow travelers on the walk than you might on the drive.

So if you're not sure if you want to drive or walk, I say try both. Each have their own rewards.

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Address: Available at all rest camps
Directions: Check at the reservations desk for more information. For morning walks you'll need to book by the night before.
Website: http://www.sanparks.org/parks/kruger/

You are allowed to drive around on your own in Kruger and that's what we did the most of. I enjoyed that the most. I love exploring, turning down a road on a whim just to see what's around the corner. In Kruger, chances are what's around the corner is something you've never seen before in your life!

It is STRONGLY recommended that you stay in your car at all times, except at designated rest stops. But I have to admit that we did break the rules a few times to get some photos of small creatures and to move a turtle out of the road. We figured that the small critters and impala would know exactly when there's anything dangerous about, so when they looked relaxed, we felt comfortable outside - within a few yards of the car, that is.

I'm not sure how wise that really was and I'm sure some people will call me foolhardy, but it seemed to make sense at the time. . . But for the most part, and certainly when there were any big animals around, we stayed in the car.

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Directions: There are paved and dirt roads all throughout the park.
Website: http://www.sanparks.org/parks/kruger/