Arnoud Quanjer Wildlife Photography

Moving around in the park

The Kruger National Park is easily accessible. All the roads are kept in excellent condition and are accessible in a normal family car so a 4x4 vehicle is not needed in the park. The main roads connecting the restcamps and the gates are all tarred while the secundary roads are all gravel roads. The maximum speed on tar roads is 50km/h while the maximum speed on gravel roads is 40km/h. I've found that over a day the average speed you do is around 25 km/h.
The average distance between restcamps using the tar roads is around 40 to 50km depening on what area of the park you're traveling in. This means that a drive from one restcamp to another will take you around two hours. If you use the dirt roads to travel from one camp to the next then the will usually be much longer. At all the gates and restcamps of Kruger you can buy a roadmap which shows you all the road in the park and the distances. Buy this map when you enter Kruger! Without it you'll get lost for sure. The map is available in Afrikaans and English (and German I think).

SANParks have increased the number of speed traps over the last year. The fines you get for speeding are stiff and you stand the chance of being banned from entering the park again if you're caught speeding so keep to the maximum speed limit. In my experience most of the speeding in the park is done by staff members, safari tour operators and tourists who are rushing to the gates at the end of the day. All of the speed traps I've seen in Kruger were positioned on main roads near exit gates. I think SANParks should also consider placing some speed traps on dirt roads because especially some of the safari tour operators drive like madmen there.

Best time to visit the Kruger National Park

A lot of people ask me what the best time is to visit Kruger. I can't really answer that question because it all depends on what you're looking for (and there really isn't a bad time to visit Kruger). Game viewing is easier in the dry winter months (June - August) because the grass is low and the bushes aren't as dense as in summer. For wildlife photography these are prime months. The downside of these months is that it can get cold(ish) in Kruger. Temparatues may drop to 4 C at nights and will go up to about 24 C in the daytime. I've found that October is an excellent month to go to Kruger. The vegatation is still not very dense and the temperatures are warming up nicely. You can get the occasional shower though because it's the start of the rainy season. During the summer months (September-April), the Park experiences sporadic rainfall in the form of quick thunder showers. April through August represent the winter months in Southern Africa which in turn means very little rain.
If you don't like the heat then don't go to Kruger from November till January because it can get really hot in summer. Be prepared for average temparatures of 32 C and be aware that the maximum temperature can reach 47 C in summer. If you decide you can handle those temparatures though then you might be rewarded by seeing the birth of the Impala and Wildebeest young. In March and April you can see the rutting (fighting) of Impala and Wildebeest.

Daily gate quotas

Most people going to the Kruger National Park will probably have a reservation to stay overnight in on of the camps in the park. If you're on of those people then read no further, if you're a day visitor to Kruger then make sure that you read on....

The Kruger National Park has nine gates through which you can enter and exit the park. All of these nine of the entrance gates have day visitor quotas, which are filled on a first-come-first-served basis and, when the daily quota has been reached, the gate effectively closes to anyone without a booking. Each and every gate has its limited number of day visitors that can be allowed per day, small gates such as Pafuri allows 300 people per day and large gates such as Paul Kruger allows 750 people per day. This procedure is applied to prevent overcrowding and excessive footprints in the park in line with the available infrastructure for day visitors.

Anyone entering the gate with either an accommodation booking, or a day visitor’s booking, will still be allowed into the gate. Wild Card holders also need to book to avoid disappointment. Especially during the summer holidays some of the gates will stop allowing people in due to the day visitor quota system. Either make sure that you are at the gate early, or make a booking for your day trip through Central Reservations (+27 (0)12 428 9111) to avoid disappointment.

On the SANP forum the following post was made by someone who did not get into the park during Easter weekend in 2008:

When we tried to get into Crocodile Bridge gate on the long weekend in beginning of May we got up at 4 am got to the gate at 5am and we were number 167 car in the que....we did not get in.. The person at the gate told us to rather be there at 4 am just to get in...

Gates like Crocodile Bridge and Malelane are very popular as they are close to a lot of holiday places adjacent to the Kruger and they are close to the highway. If you want to enter through those gates, be sure to be there between 4:30 am and 5am. Numbi and Phabeni gate are also located close to the town of Nelspruit  which has a lot of resorts and holiday homes so I can imagine that they'll also be busy over school holidays.

Day visitors who will pre-book their visit will be expected to pay a non-refundable deposit of R24 per adult and R12 per child entering the park which is meant to ensure that their space is secured. Day visitors with advanced bookings are also expected to arrive at the booked gate by not later than 13:00 on the date of the booking - after which the booking lapses. 

Requesting specific accommodation in camps

If you'd like to stay in a specific bungalow or chalet, or if you want to have a specific camping spot then you can put in a request with the camp that you'll be staying in. The best option that I find works is find the phone number for the camp that you are staying and give them a call about a month before you actually go to the park. You then tell them that you'd like to stay in a specific unit and then they hopefully they book it for you.Generally speaking staff will try to help you with your request, however, they can't leave, say, rondavel #60, empty for several days just so it will be free on the day you arrive. It all depends on overal availability.

To find numbers of specific bungalows, chalets or camp sites check the maps for the camps and you can find the phone numbers for the camps in the articles about the camps (in the menu on the left).

Nightdrives

In all the restcamps in the Kruger National Park you can book nightdrives (price is around ZAR140). A nightdrive is basically a safari that usually starts half an hour before the camp gate closes (and the sun goes down) and depending on the camp you booked the nightdrive in it will last between two and four hours. The nightdrive starts when it's still light outside and it ends after sunset, usually around 20:30pm.

Where to sit in the nightdrive vehicle

It would be my recommendation to try to get a spot on the first bench from the front of the truck. The first row of the vehicle is usually the best spot because people tend to stand up in the car when an animal is spotted, and if you're in the front seat then nobody can block your view. Another reason to sit in the front is that most of the wildlife that you're going to see will be directly in front of the car. The reasons for this are that for one the tar road that you drive on has been heated by the sun all day and it will remain nice and warm for some time after sunset. The animals really like these natural heaters and are drawn to the tar roads during the first hours after sunset. Another reason is that you'll drive around in the dark, and the most powerful lights on the vehicle will be it's headlights. The area in front of the car will be well lit, and it'll be easy to spot wildlife there.

What to bring on a nightdrive

When going on a nightdrive don't forget to take something to drink. The rangers will allow everything on the truck including beer and hard liquor. If you're a smoker than remember to smoke before the drive starts because smoking is not allowed on the truck. Most nightdrives will make one or two stops where you can alight from the truck to smoke and stretch your legs (at your own risk of course). Also remember to check if you will be back in time to eat at the restaurant because most of the restaurants in the camps close at 21:00. If you think that you won't be back in the camp before the restaurant closes then you should probably buy some food in the camps store. These stores sell frozen meat, bread, butter, braai (BBQ) wood, charcoal etc.

Photography during a nightdrive

If you plan to make pictures try to take a powerful flash and a zoom lens (>=200mm). Most of the animals you'll see on the nightdrive will be nocturnal animals and will probably be at least 5 to 10 meters away from the truck. These nocturnal animals like civets, jeanets, porcupines, night owls, bushbabies etc. are small animals so you'll need the zoom lens and you'll need a flash that can cover a distance of 5 to 10 meters. Use a 400, 800 or even 1600 ISO.

Places to stay outside the park

If you're going to the Kruger National Park and for some reason either can't get accomodation inside the park or can't get to any accomodation in the park before the gates close then you'll need to stay outside the park. In this section you'll find places to stay which are close to the various Kruger gates. I've not stayed at all these accomodations myself, I've used the recommendations of other travellers as well as my own. If you feel that any particular place to stay should either be added or removed then please send me an e-mail containing the name of the place to stay, a description of the accomodation and a motivation of why the particular accomodation should be added or removed.

Near to Pafuri Gate

If you'd like to stay outside of the park near to Pafuri gate then you basically have one option and that's Pafuri rivercamp.  This camp can accommodate a maximum of 26 people. Sites are arranged to suit groups from 2 to 8 people. Linen, towels and toiletries are supplied. Each site has a fully equipped kitchen, toilet, shower, braai area and private access to the Mutale river. There is no electricity in camp. The fridges run on gas and at night light is provided by paraffin lamps. The camp does not have cell phone reception. There is a central lapa where bushcamp meals are served (book in advance) and a small pub next to the pool sells ice cold drinks.  

I stayed in this camp in December 2005 and loved it. The camp is very quiet and literally five minutes away from Pafuri gate. It's very affordable and good value for money. If you decide to stay there then make sure that you ask if the boomslang still lives in the tree that stands in the middle of the lapa. That boomslang is probably the best chance you'll ever get of getting a close look at a wild boomslang.

Near to Phalaborwa gate

If you'd like to stay near to Phalaborwa gate then you have several options as the town of Phalaborwa is right next to the gate. One of the bed and breakfasts that I can recommend is Bakkers B&B. The B&B offers a swimming pool, TV and air-conditioning in all the rooms, en-suite bathroom and private parking. The accomodation is very affordable and extremely good value for money. Please be aware that there are no credit card facilities available.

Veterinary Restrictions

The Kruger National Park is also home to the Office of the State Veterinarian. Please assist them by obeying these rules:

• No live animal (domestic or wild) may be brought into, or removed from the Kruger National Park. That is why NO PETS ARE ALLOWED here.
• No raw, wild-animal derived products such as meat, bones, organs and hides may be brought into or removed from the Kruger National Park.
• Raw meat and diary products may be brought into the Kruger National Park for your own consumption. However, no raw products from cloven hoofed animals (milk or meat) will be allowed to leave the Kruger National Park through any of the official South African entrance gates unless it is still packaged in a sealed container identifiably market to confirm its South African origin, source or distributor.
• Commercially packaged fish and poultry are exempt from these restrictions.
• Fully processed curios are exempt from these restrictions.

Should you be unclear on any of these regulations or want more information, please contact:

The Office of the State Veterinarian at P O Box 12, Skukuza, 1350.You can also phone (013) 735 5641 or fax (013) 735 5155 during office hours.