Kruger Park
The Big Five from your own car, on partly tarred roads: Kruger is the world's most accessible independent safari.
Suggested stay — 3 to 4 nights
As big as a country (350 km north to south), Kruger works exactly like Etosha: you sleep in fenced camps (Sanparks), you drive out between gate hours, you go slowly and stop for a long time. The south's animal density (Skukuza, Lower Sabie, Satara sectors) makes it the queen zone of first visits: lions, leopards, elephants, buffalo and rhinos are seen routinely.
Three to four nights in the park make for a complete experience, changing camp most nights. The camps' guided night drives complement the daytime self-drive perfectly — the only legal way to see the park after gate closing.
Don't miss
- The Skukuza–Lower Sabie river road (H4-1), considered one of Africa's best leopard drives
- The lion plains of the Satara sector
- A waterhole sit at dawn, engine off (Sunset Dam, Transport Dam…)
- A guided night drive from your camp
Our tips on the ground
- Book the Sanparks camps very early (bookings open 11 months ahead) for school holidays and the dry season.
- Enter the park at gate opening: the first two hours of the day are worth all the rest.
- Malaria zone: prophylaxis to discuss with your doctor, especially November to April.
Our flagship guide — €44
Guide available“South Africa on Your Own”, the complete edition, is out
10 chapters: day-by-day itineraries, driving and transport, a costed budget and checklists — the same method as our Namibia guide.
The guide is currently written in French — an English edition is in the works.
Before you go
Readers' questions about Kruger Park
Do you need a 4x4 for Kruger?
No: the main roads are tarred and the secondary tracks well graded — an ordinary sedan is perfectly adequate. A slightly taller vehicle (SUV) improves viewing comfort in the grass, without being essential.
Kruger or a private reserve?
Self-drive Kruger costs 3 to 10 times less and delivers the pride of your own sightings; the adjacent private reserves (Sabi Sands…) all but guarantee the leopard, off-road driving and guides included, at €400 to €1,500+ per night. Our advice: the public park first, one blow-out private night if the budget allows.