Plan to spend time in Kruger this year, but it's been so long since I've been in that part of the RSA that I'm unsure of the status of facilities, roads and crowds there. Grateful for an update from a recent visitor or knowledgeable. Might be there as long as 10-12 days.
Regards, Tim

It's been about 9 months now since we were there, but I presume not much has changed since that time. Roads are great and facilities are better than any other park we've been to. In fact, you could basically live there forever, since fuel and a large variety of food is available at the shops within the park (at inflated prices of course!). However, we personally found Kruger to be a little crowded for our taste. Perhaps this is because we were spoiled in east african parks where we were as good as alone most of the time, and you camp in the bush without fences surrounding you like in Kruger camps. On the other hand, Krugers prices are much lower than say the Serengeti, and enable you to spend more time without going broke! One strange thing that suprised us was how sour, and unhelpfull many of the Kruger staff were in general. If it had been only one or two, we wouldn't have thought twice about it, but it was the majority... I've heard the same from others, both tourists and locals who visit the park. Seems to have started not many years ago after what appears to be a lot of "politically connected" people getting jobs they perhaps shouldn't have gotten... It definatly is quite differant to when I visited it the first time in 1988.



If I were you, in addition to Kruger, I'd take a few day to go to Swaziland and visit a park named: Mkhaya Game Reserve. It's only a half days drive from the southernmost gate. You can walk in the bush and get closer to White Rhinos (on foot!) than probably anywhere else. I'm talking about only a few meters away. People in Swaziland are also incredably friendly and helpfull.







This picture is taken about 3-4 meters from this male. On foot. They have Black Rhino too, but these are of course much more aggresive and are obviously not approached this close on the ground.



Erik D.

I spend quite a lot of time there with my hunters each year before or after the hunts. I have not been there yet this season but will be in a few days.

Last year in July and August I spent nearly 7 weeks straight in the park with tours. The cabins are "OK" quite clean but showing age and wear, also the lack of funding to keep them in top condition. The menus at the further north camps are frequently out of food on many items. The roads are fine and very well patrolled, Make sure you're into the camp before 5:30 each evening or there is a fine.

If possible start at the North End Punda Maria camp and work your way south. The further South you go the better accomadations get as they are more frequently used. The further north camps don't see anywhere near the resident tourist trafic that the southern camps do.

Over all the park is very nice but certainly not what it was about 11 years ago. I am also pleased to say there was no theft, or uneasy feelings anyplace in the park. The game density was also good throughout the northern 1/2 of the park.

A great park with all modern facilities. Only complaints...
-Make you get back to camp by 6, then pay extra for night drives.
-Can be a bit congested from June-August as school kids/families are there too.
I think I hold the distinction of being the only person here to have been in a car accident IN the park! Thank God I wasn't in the drivers seat...

My wife and I toured Kruger for three days last year, and wished we had more time. We will rectify that situation next year. My impressions in March were that the park facilities were clean, relatively inexpensive, and safe. While it is true that the housing is not brand new, it was more than adequate for our needs. If one is going to RSA for the first time and has never toured Kruger, it should be on the list of things to do. My only complaint was that we had a bit of trouble getting to sleep one night with the leopard roaring just outside the fence. I was not confident the fence would keep it out there.

I live and hunt in Phalaborwa, a small town bordering the Kruger National Park. There are good hunting opportunities around here and you will find an excellent and affordable accommodation at the Hans Merensky Golf Club, that I strongly recommend to use as a base camp to explore the Kruger and the surrounding area, including the Blyde River Canyon and the Ivory Route. For more informations feel free to contact me direcly.

Tim,

We spent 1 1/2 days in the southern portion of Kruger last March. We were limited on time and would have spent more and gone north if we could. It was a great tour and we saw all but the Leopard of the "Big 5".

We stayed outside the park at the Protea Kruger Gate Hotel. Which is just outside the Kruger Gate entrance, in Mpumalanga near Hazyview. We flew into Nelspruit, but there are regular shuttles from Johannesburg as well. The hotel was very nice, great staff and our travel agent was able to get a deal including room, meals, transfers and tours. we were quite lucky as no one else was on our "group "tour so it was private for us, with a FANTASTIC Game Guide, who knew everything and loved her job! [ We also had a 1/2 day tour with a german speaking guide who, as there were other german tourists in that "group", did not spend much time speaking english.]
It did not seem crowded at all but the areas around the "camps" did seem busy and looked kind of well used.

I'll go again, and even stay there again, and recommend it to others!

Les

Many thanks to all. Clearly Kruger remains a good destination. Regards, Tim

It's a good idea to stay in the bush camps rather than the main camps as they're so much nicer. Or if you have the extra to spend go to one of the private safari camps that are on the edge of the KNP where you'll probably have better game sightings.......