Kruger National Park Travel Forum

I haven't been to Kruger in 10 years, and only visited in the winter. Want to take my son, we can go Oct - Feb. I was thinking I wanted to see it when everything was green and lush, perhaps when the young are born in Dec. But what is the weather like? Is it generally constant rain? I want to get good pictures.

And second, has anyone tried to take large camera lenses on long flights? I have an 800mm I'd like to bring...

It's even longer since I was in Kruger - in fact we postponed our trip a day to watch Charles-Diana wedding on tv! So we went mid-winter, which I understand is the best time to grow. I am told that in the summer the vegetation is so high and thick that it is not easy to see anything. Except perhaps the heads of giraffes.

I went to Kruger National Park in Oct 2006 just before rain season. We only got to spend one day there, but in 11 hours we saw every animal we possible wanted to plus more. The other group in our camp went the next day and saw only a handful of elephants and giraffes. I guess its just pot luck, but October I found was a great time to go.

As for the lense we are taking one to egypt in 20 days, so when I get back I will let you know the verdict ;)

Thanks for the feedback. I'll shoot for as early Oct as possible...still some decent tickets. Gotta go practice shooting with the big lens from the car too...not easy at 800mm. I'm looking forward to hearing how the Lens handles the ride to Egypt :)

I went the first week in November and it was hot and very dry. I saw just about everything, but some areas of the park are very dry and you don't see that much. Just speak to the staff and they can keep you in the right areas. Its approaching summer then of course.

There is some information on rainfall here:

http://www.kruger2canyons.com/learningcentre/kruger_climate.php

The rain tends to be short and dry up fairly quickly.

Have a great time.

I have been to Kruger many times over the years, and am going again in January 2009!! :)

Something to remember when visiting the park in summer... when it is greener and lusher... is that the animals are harder to spot then. We have had some of our best sightings in winter, when they are easier to see.

The best place to view animals in the summer time is near the water, they congregate near the watering holes early morning and late afternoon, when it is a bit cooler. Midday is far too hot to be about, so they lie in the shade and coolness of the trees and shrub.. which makes you seeing them a near impossibility. This is a good time for you too to have a rest, swim, eat lunch etc.

In summer it also gets very hot in your car (unbearably so), and you shouldn't drive with your window open... so make sure you have air conditioning. You might very likely get rain during summer - although I doubt constant, winters are very dry in this region.

We do most of our viewing early morning and late afternoon.

I don't think that lens will be a problem, no!

with all this global warming thing, the weather situation will be hard to predict. When i went in the middle of september last year, it was still very dry and hot inside in Kruger, while the surrounding farms outside it was already green due to plantings. You can even see where Kruger ends and plantations starts, beacause of the color of the foliage. October last year was very dry with hot weather spring time. The following month it was cloudy, mostly dry and cold with early morning temps reaching 6 c in joburg. 2006 was another totally different situation also. But generally October is still at the tail end of the spring winter, so kruger will still be dry and naked in terms of foliage.

photo opportunities in Kruger is very dynamic, good today, bad tommrow . While I was there in lower sabie, a lion took down an impala right across the river bank where the restaurant was located at noon. Your 800 mm lens would have been in good use that time.

bong