Car Hire or guided Tour
Consider the following if you are thinking of hiring a car.
If you are from one of the countries that drive on the Right hand side of the road self-driving could be a problem for you. Think of the person who has to do the driving for the duration of your journey. Are they able to sit back and relax and enjoy the amazing views and landscapes that South Africa has to offer? Or are they worried about getting lost or your safety in some areas?
The cost of hiring a car looks fantastic on the internet BUT please don’t forget that for most of your journey there will be many toll gates that you will have to budget for as well as fuel costs, which at the moment is R25.49 cents a litre and make sure that you are not limited to the amount of Km that you can drive. Also, make sure you take out Waiver, Glass & Tyre Waiver, and Hail Damage as most roads in the areas that you will be travelling to have many potholes as well as heavy trucks that sometimes flick up stones that will chip your windscreen. For this you are looking at about R780.00 per day if there is only 1 driver and if you want to share the driving you will need to add on a driver for about R450.00. The average fuel from Johannesburg to the Kruger with toll fees is about R1400.00. Also some vehicle hire companies may also require an international driver's license.
GPS: most GPS and navigation will get you lost so make sure you get the correct directions to where you are going.
The next thing you need to think of when self-driving is will your accommodation be self-catering. If so you will now need to find shops to do grocery shopping as well as a cooler box as it gets very hot in Kruger.
The advantage of having a guided tour is that you don’t have to worry about anything. If you do your homework correctly and take everything you will be spending a guided tour does not cost that much more and you are helping with job creation in a country that has a 41% unemployment rate that is 7,9 million people that do not have jobs.
Kruger – self-drive or safari?
So, most people in social media groups that you are asking for advice form are locals and have years of experience in Kruger and spend up to 2-3 weeks in the park. They have been there many times and know the park well; THIS IS NOT YOU
YOU do not know the park and are not sure which areas you will find certain types of animals as this does change during the year depending on weather and the amount of rain the park has had over the seasons.
The amount of time you have in the park will determine how much of the park you can cover. Kruger is 22000 square km 2.2 million hectares or 35 485 square miles, 543 6318 acres. There are 40 countries in the world that are smaller than the park.
Your knowledge of animals is not extensive and doing a self-drive, you have no one to ask besides books or the internet, oh wait you will not have internet in most of the Kruger. Your eyes will take a day or two to adjust to spotting the difficult animals. So, for this you think no problem I will join one of the sighting apps, keeping in mind that but the time the person posting that sighting gets a signal to post it the animal has moved and is no longer there.
You will not be familiar with the rules and regulations of the park, and this can cause frustration at busy sightings. When finding an animal, you are not sure of how it will behave and where the best position is for you to stop so that you can get good photos. Sadly, to say most tourists end up chasing the animal off due to a lack of knowledge in this regard.
You have also hired a car with an average head height of only 1.5m, and depending on the area and season the grass in Kruger is an average height of 1.5m tall this hinders your view.
The advantage of booking a safari is the freedom to relax and enjoy. A guide knows the park in and out and knows which areas to go to for the best possibility of finding certain animals. The guide this there to give you information and answer any questions you might have.
A safari vehicle with an average head height of 2.1m allows you to have the best view of the animals as well as the feeling of being out in the bush.
But when booking a safari, you need to ask yourself a few questions
How much time do I have?
If you are on a short holiday and have only allocated 1 or even 2 days for Kruger then it is suggested you book with a reputable safari company.
A 3 - 5 hour game drive will not give you the experience or the quality that you deserve. It is best to book a full-day tour that starts at the gate open and finishes at least 16:00 if you can get a company that offers longer like until the gate close this will be the best. This is especially important if you are staying outside the park as a 3-hour drive will actually only give you 1 ½ hours in before you have to turn around to go out in this time frame the chances of seeing many animals are very low again all depending on the area you are staying.
3-5 days is still better to book with a tour operator/ safari specialist that is based on the border or Kruger and not a travel agent the reason for this is that a safari company in Kruger works there almost every day and knows what is happing, where as a travel agent or tour operator/ safari specialist that is not based on the border or Kruger is not really up to date with things happening on the ground at all times.
6 days and longer here you have the choice to drive your self or book with a tour operator/ safari specialist that is based on the border or Kruger. This length of say will definitely be for people who are birding or would like to see as much of Kruger as possible. My advice here is to do a North to South tour /trip as this will give you the best of all that Kruger has to offer.
Where to stay?
Again this is all depending on your preferences, budget, how much time you have and what YOU would like to get out of your safari.
Accommodation inside Kruger.
A wide range of accommodation is available, but you need to book this long in advance. There are many places to stay, ranging from camp sites to 5-star lodges on private concessions.
All accommodation in the “rest camps” within Kruger are all self-catering and the majority of them only have single beds. Most main camps have restaurants and a shop to buy food. The smaller camps have no restaurant or shop facilities so make sure when booking.
4- & 5-star lodges on private concessions as well as lodges in the greater Kruger area will only allow you to self drive to the lodge and all game drives are conducted by their guides in their vehicles.
Accommodation outside Kruger.
A wide range of accommodation is available in small towns that border the Kruger like Hotels, resorts, guesthouses, Bed & Breakfasts, and self-catering holiday homes. Again, it is important to find out the distance to the gate and the conditions of the roads to get there if you are self-driving.
What is the difference between rest camps and private lodges?
Accommodation at rest camps is self-catering and you can come and go with in Kruger from gate open to gate close.
Private lodges will only allow you to self-drive to the lodge and all game drives are conducted by their guides in their vehicles. These drives are always 3 hours in the morning and 3 hours in the evening. During the day you are at the lodge.