Let me state right at the outset, than planning a trip to Kruger National park is rather expensive (comes to approx INR 9000 per day per person) and you should do it only if you are a genuine wildlife enthusiast. If you do not care too much for wildlife, then you are better off skipping a visit to Kruger National Park as you will not get your money’s worth and may even find it a bit boring driving around the park for a full day. However if you are a Nature and Wildlife Lover and you have an hi-tech SLR camera and binoculars at hand, then you will have a gala time.
To experience Kruger National Park, it is better to fly down to Nelspruit Airport in Mpumalanga province and drive down to the Paul Kruger Gate of the Kruger National Park. As soon as you enter the Paul Kruger Gate you have the Skukuza Base camp at about 6 miles distance and it is best you make a booking here for your stay at Kruger National Park. I stayed at the Protea Hotel Kruger Gate which would be a more expensive option, but very convenient as the Protea Hotel Kruger Gate is located barely 100 metres from the Paul Kruger Gate of Kruger National Park. I also did not want to let go of the luxuries of a regular hotel.
As we had a car with us we had an option of driving into Kruger National Park or being a part of the Hotel organized Tour (organized via Echo Safaris). I would recommend an organized Open jeep tour with a driver guide due to the following reasons.
(1) The driver guides know which are the specific spots to find the animals in Kruger National Park. Our driver knew exactly in which part of the park we would see elephants and this is something I would not know if I was driving down
(2) The drivers are connected to other drivers via the car intercom / walkie talkie system, hence if one of the drivers spots a rare animal such as a lion or a leopard, he announces the same on the Intercom and other drivers immediately drive to that area. This is another useful feature of the organized safaris which the individual drivers will miss out on
(3) If you need to use the loo at short notice then the drivers know where the tourist stand alone loos are located – you may face a problem with this when you are on your own
However do note that the organized packaged tours are expensive and cost ZAR 750 per person, so you will end up shelling out quite a bit if you are in a big group – but do take it, as it is an experience in itself. You are taken in an open air jeep which is usually a 6 seater and it is very comfortable.
(2) The drivers are connected to other drivers via the car intercom / walkie talkie system, hence if one of the drivers spots a rare animal such as a lion or a leopard, he announces the same on the Intercom and other drivers immediately drive to that area. This is another useful feature of the organized safaris which the individual drivers will miss out on
(3) If you need to use the loo at short notice then the drivers know where the tourist stand alone loos are located – you may face a problem with this when you are on your own
However do note that the organized packaged tours are expensive and cost ZAR 750 per person, so you will end up shelling out quite a bit if you are in a big group – but do take it, as it is an experience in itself. You are taken in an open air jeep which is usually a 6 seater and it is very comfortable.
You must always start your drive / tour of the Kruger National Park as early as possible preferably before 6:00 AM so that you can see the sunrise which is magnificent and also it is easier to spot the rare animals such as the Lion and the leopards earlier in the morning when it is very cool. The chances of spotting a lion / leopard reduces drastically after 10:00 AM when it starts becoming very hot. Elephants, Giraffes, imphalas, kudu, deer and hippos are all easy to find while lion, leopards and rhinos are difficult to spot.
The gates of Kruger park close at 6:00 PM so please make sure you come out before that. There are several stops and restaurants at Skukuza Base Camp and you can make that your stop for lunch and tea.
Do have a nice trip.
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