South Africa Safari Tour – Kruger National Park

Kruger National Park is situated between the Limpopo and Mpumalanga provinces in the northeast of South Africa. The park merges with Gonarezhou National Park in Zimbabwe to the north and Limpopo National Park in Mozambique to the east. With its history, ecosystem, and diverse wildlife, Kruger National Park stands out as one of the most beautiful and largest safari destinations in the world.

Kruger National Park: How to Get There?

In addition to several small airstrips near this unique and vast park, there are three proper airports. The first two are Skukuza Airport and Nelspruit Airport, located in the southern region. The third is Hoedspruit Airport in the northern region. You can find direct or connecting flights to all three airports from Cape Town and Johannesburg. We flew with Airlink Airlines, connecting from Cape Town to Skukuza Airport.

Another option to reach the region is to fly to Johannesburg and then rent a car. However, this option takes at least 5-6 hours, depending on the location of your hotel, and the roads can be challenging. Therefore, my recommendation is to fly to the region. Most hotels offer paid or free shuttle services from the airport, ensuring a convenient and safe arrival.

Kruger National Park: Regions

The most challenging part of this trip for me was choosing where to stay and in which region. Kruger National Park covers an area of approximately 20,000 square kilometers, roughly twice the size of Cyprus. Therefore, there are many regions and numerous places to explore in such a vast area.

Private safari areas surround Kruger National Park, known as ‘Game Reserves,’ owned by private businesses. The map below greatly helped me understand the Kruger regions and game reserve areas.

Entry and exit to Kruger National Park are allowed between 6 AM and 6 PM. If you are not staying at a hotel inside the park, you must exit by 6 PM. However, if you are staying at a hotel within the park, you can enter earlier and leave later.

Kruger National Park: Accommodation

First and foremost, I want to emphasize that the most crucial aspect of a safari vacation is choosing the right hotel and its facilities. Questions like whether your hotel offers safari tours, how many times a day, which areas it covers for safaris, the number of people in safari vehicles, the quality of meals, and the security of the hotel area are essential.

We decided to stay three nights at Kruger Shalati, located within the Sabi Game Reserve, after extensive research and reading reviews. The hotel has two parts: the train section on the bridge and the main section on the mainland. Railway on the bridge, used since 1910 until 1973, was finally converted into a hotel in 2020.

The bridge is situated over a large river, attracting animals day and night to fulfill their water needs. We could observe many animals from our vantage point throughout the day. Kruger Shalati offered a perfect experience with its service, meals, and safari tour, a solid 10 out of 10. It might be a bit more expensive than some other hotel options, but it is absolutely worth every penny. You can find details about our hotel here and other accommodation options in the Skukuza region here.

Kruger National Park: When to Go?

The best time to visit Kruger is between May and October. During these months, the daytime temperature stays below 30 degrees, and the animals are very active, making it an excellent time for safaris. We traveled to the Kruger region in September for this reason. Although September might not be the most beautiful time for Cape Town, for us, it was crucial to see Kruger at its best. We planned our entire South Africa trip around Kruger. The Kruger region can be quite hot between November and April. During this period, we learned that animals tend to be lazy, resting in the shade. Therefore, this period is not ideal for safaris and observing animals.

Kruger National Park: Food and Drink & Dining

Our hotel operated on an all-inclusive basis, offering different lunch and dinner menus each day. The meals were so meticulously prepared and delicious that we felt like we were dining at a fine-dining restaurant every meal. In addition to the main meals, the snacks by the pool in the afternoon and snacks before the morning safari were also delightful. Honestly, not having to think about what to eat on such a trip made us very happy. My recommendation is to choose a place where you won’t worry too much about dining. Some hotels may charge extra even for water. Avoiding thinking about dining is the last thing you’d want to do in such a place, so be sure to ask about all the details before booking your hotel.

In conclusion, you are in a natural national park. Apart from safari tours, you cannot leave your hotel. Therefore, you have to eat your meals at the hotel. Before making a reservation, be sure to check the restaurant prices at your hotel, as this will give you a good idea in terms of costs.

Kruger National Park: Safari Tour Preparations

At Kruger Shalati, there were two game drives per day, one from 4 AM to 7 AM and the other from 4 PM to 8 PM. These hours are when the animals are most active, hungry, and looking for food, making it the perfect time for safaris. As mentioned earlier, the park opens at 6 AM, and if you are not staying at a hotel in the park, you must exit by 6 PM. However, since we stayed at a Game Reserve within Kruger National Park, we could enter earlier and stay longer.

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*During morning safaris, the weather was cold in the early hours, and it was also chilly on the return journey in the late afternoon. Therefore, we made sure to bring jackets and coats. To ensure we didn’t get cold during morning safaris, our guide placed warm bags on the seats where we would be sitting. It was a very thoughtful gesture.

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*We always wore long-legged clothing for safaris. At the same time, since the weather can be very hot and sunny, we wore hats and applied sunscreen. In addition to these, we brought binoculars to see the animals better, and we always had our safari book, Game Drive, with us to look at the details of the animals we saw and help them stick in our minds.

*Since eating during the safari is strictly prohibited, we had snacks at the hotel before going on morning and afternoon safaris.

Kruger National Park: Safari Tour (Game Drive) General Observations

Kruger is an extremely vast area, and seeing a particular animal depends entirely on luck, no matter how many animals are in the park. We participated in all game drives over three days, with sometimes 4, sometimes 6 people in the vehicle. For example, we saw the leopard, which many people return without seeing, in the first hour of our first safari. However, the rhinoceros, which many people see multiple times, we could only see on our last day after extensive searches. You can find details about Africa’s Big Five in my article here.

In short, we need to be happy with everything we see without fixating on a specific animal. We were fortunate and saw all the animals we wanted to see and were curious about. Honestly, all the animals, from the largest to the smallest, were fantastic. As someone who hates zoos, seeing animals in their natural habitats and witnessing their natural lives was an excellent experience.

Our tour guide was extremely knowledgeable about animals. He explained everything to us in detail, from predicting which animal passed by looking at footprints on the dirt roads to how baboons scream when they get close to large predator animals, and even identifying which animal’s dung belongs to whom. Learning all these things and being able to practice them immediately was very, very enjoyable.

South Africa Kruger National Park: Safari Tour (Game Drive)

During morning safaris, we set out at 4 AM and saw animals having breakfast. Observing animals in the pre-dawn darkness, starting to hear the chirping of birds with the first rays of the sun, and witnessing the awakening of nature was enchanting. Truly, just for this experience alone, a safari tour is worth taking. Mornings were a bit cool, so we took coffee breaks. Normally, getting out of the vehicle during a safari, even standing up in the vehicle, is strictly prohibited. However, we had coffee breaks in safe areas where our guide assured us there were no known dangerous animals. Our Amarula-flavored coffee and local cookies provided us with energy for the start of the day.

The second game drive of the day took place in the late afternoon from 4 PM to 8 PM. As the sun set, the animals became more active, and our hungry friends began their quest for dinner. We had the chance to observe all these hunting and food-seeking processes. Every moment we watched them was perfect; I really wanted to stop time.

Kruger National Park Safari: Africa’s Big Five

The term ‘Big Five’ is used to describe the most challenging five predator animals to hunt. This group specific to the African continent consists of the largest and most dangerous animals. You can find details about Africa’s Big Five in my article here.

Kruger National Park Safari: Tips & Notes & Closing

• If you have any doubts or fears about going on a safari, erase them immediately. In my opinion, a safari is an experience you will never regret and will remember for a lifetime.
• Although the most popular and sought-after animals are usually the Big Five, give other animals a chance too. They are all beautiful and exciting in their natural environments.
• The place you stay is crucial; research the facilities of your hotel well. Some decisions you make to go economically on such a trip may disappoint you a bit when you get there. Make your evaluations wisely.
• The Game Drive book we bought from the bookstore in Franschhoek was very useful during the safari. We read about all the characteristics of the animals we saw in this book and learned a lot about them. I recommend having such a book with you. You can read about my trip to Franschhoek here.
• You can read my articles about South Africa here.