Kruger National Park Travel Forum

Hi,

I will be travelling by myself in South Africa next May and I want to visit Kruger. Since I will be alone I only want to spend one day in the park. What is the best and most economic way of doing this. Are there one day tours I could join or should I rent a car? I intend staying in Nelspruit. Would I get a good deal from there?

I don't know about tours but you will easily find a carhire in Nelspruit. Look for Avis or Budget. It might be cheaper to hire a car. The tours can be expensive if there are any.

I visited KNP in August 2005, rented a car from the Nelspruit airport from Avis and drove to the park entering the Lower Sabie gate. The trip to Nelspruit to this gate is about 2 hours. I planned the whole safari on www.sanparks.org and each different rest camp have different accomadations such as camping spots, safari tents, huts, bungalows and so on. The prices were very reasonable in my opinion.

If you decide to stay at a rest camp in KNP and not a private lodge my favorite camp that was not to 'deep' into the park was Lower Sabie. Satara was way to crowded and commercial. We also did self drives and took one guided tour (the rest camps offer them)....it was a morning drive that last about 4 hours.

Also you will be traveling there in May and I believe that is Winter, so you will not have many day light hours to visit the park. You can not drive the park in the dark and there are opening and closing times, the sanparks website clarify the gate closings. Also I wouldn't want to drive the roads from KNP and Nelspruit by myself during the night.

Once you enter the park you will want to stay longer than a day!