KrugerPark.com Reviews

Phalaborwa KNP Gate Art and Business Expo 14 - 21 December 2019

Huge and filled with African wildlife. Had a fantastic time!

A big question when visiting Kruger National Park is whether you should self-drive or just stay at a private reserve. We like both options!

Why do Self-Drive?
First and foremost, this is a significantly cheaper option, as accommodations usually come at much lower prices than those found in the private reserves. This quickly translates into much cost savings or being able to spend more days in the park.

Second, you have more flexibility about what to do, what time to get up in the morning, what roads to drive, where and when to eat, etc, potentially making this a better option for self-reliant travellers

The drawbacks are that you must compete with many other drivers and vehicles on the narrow paved roads within KNP, during the holidays and peak-times, this can potentially mean traffic jams if wildlife sightings are found, particularly near the rest camps. You are not allowed off-road to chase down an elusive leopard or see that rhino obscured from view, behind a tree 80 meters away. Also, you are responsible for the vehicle. Something happens to your rental car, for example, you're probably going to have to pay up for the damages!

Lastly, your accommodations will not likely be as nice and you might need to prepare/cook your own meals compared to staying at a private reserve lodge.

Why stay at a Private Reserve?
By staying at a private reserve lodge, you are able to avail of the generally nicer accommodations, have meals provided, often next to a campfire as you are able to share stories about what game viewing took place during the day. Some private reserves even come with spa options.

The real benefit of the private reserve option, however, is the safari experience. In the private reserves, you are usually led by professional/ experienced trackers and drivers, using off-road capable jeeps. Thus, you will more likely be able to spend quality time, up close with wildlife compared to self-drive trips, where you are restricted to driving on the designated roads within the national park. This is an important difference as certain wildlife are shy, elusive and spend much more time away from the main roads. Being able to track, follow and pursue them off-road, can be the difference between spending 20 minutes watching a leopard with its kill up in a tree and not even seeing the leopard altogether. While is very possible you will see all members of the Big Five and many other animals in the national parks from the main roads and viewing areas, opportunities for spending quality time with wildlife are simply better with the private reserves.

There are drawbacks to the private reserve lodges as well. First, you are trading the decision making flexibility of the self-drive option for the more fixed schedule of the private reserve schedule/itinerary. Also and most importantly, are costs. Private reserves are not a cheap option. Instead, they can easily cost 3,5 or even 10 times what you might spend on a self-drive experience. This means you do have to pony-up in order stay at a private reserve lodge and you might need to consider staying fewer days compared to a self-drive trip.

So which to choose?
To each his own when it comes to making the decision about whether to self-drive in KNP or opt to stay at a private reserve lodge in Greater KNP. If costs are an important consideration, a self-drive experience should be highly considered. Also, for those who prefer self-reliant style travel or simply want the freedom and flexibility of driving on their own, the self-drive experience might be more preferred. For those with limited time and the budget to work with, the private reserve lodge experience is worth considering. Also, for those who prefer a step up in the comforts, services side of travel and/or those who want to maximize their wildlife viewing opportunities, the private reserve experience is probably the better way to go.

A third option is to consider a bit of both, allowing you to experience a bit of both and allowing you to decide which is better and preferred for your future trips to KNP and/or Greater KNP.

Out of this world. You sense the danger with heavy police and security checking all cars looking for poachers etc.. as we drove In found cheetah..plenty impala giraffe and wildebees. Had some beautiful photo shots with elephant. Also some scary encounters with aggressive Male bulls!! It is hot so make sure plenty refreshments. But also plan to be near lower sabie as these are the only toilets in the south park and it takes a while to get there with speed limits of 50km/h lol ;-)

Woke up one morning and shot an Elephant in my pajamas!! How he got into my pajamas, I'll never know.

The best place to watch the interactions between animals and their environment...good for relaxing

Biggest park in SA lots of game. I it is getting a little bushy around numbi otherwise very nice

It's been the most amazing time ever. our should go.
And be there when the park opens.

Is fantastic, April is nice weather to go. For foreigners entry cost not friendly but worth it.

Excellent game viewing and game drives. Great accomodation in Lower Sabie. Restaurants were excellent

I love the Kruger Park it's very relaxing and bring a calmness over you.

Major wildlife park; better visit one of the numerous private parks for a closer encounter with real nature

I enjoyed no wonder people fro. All over the world visit the place everyday....

Morning coffee with rusks, breakfast on a skottle at a picnic site and stopping at Satara for some ice-cream is mandatory.

Great park, absolute must! The Crocodile Bridge as the best entrance has proven itself several times. Here are just more animals to see than above. Both a day safari (booked through Kruger African Safari) and the Sunrise Safari (booked directly at the entrance to the reception) are highly recommended.
Driving in alone (23 euros per person) is also great, you see on the safaris but significantly more. Lower Sabie is a great place for breakfast and lunch.

Fantastic experience! Amount of animals impressive.

very cool with a cool river view nice place to be , rooms so nice ,swimming pool superp

Wonderful experience - saw so much Game . Luck was on our side

The camps are well equipt. The tarifs for pensionars are 40% of during non peak time. Go to their website and make your booking online. South Africa National Parks. Make your choice of camp. Check for availability during the time you want to visit the park. Confirm your booking and pay with your bank card

Awesome, all the big 5 are here in their natural habitat. Wide variety of lodges to stay as long you like...make sure you carry sun screen.

If you are courteous on the road and considerste of others then Krugerpark is a real pleasure. Too many gung ho drivers blocking traffic because they cannot or wont wait

We did self drive and unexpectedly we saw a lot of animals, the directions and park employees have been very helpful.

A wonderful experience. we stayed in Berg en dal which has a water hole down by the restaurant so you get to see lots of animals while relaxing. Lots of animals to see in the park. Highly recommend a guided night drive as you get to see different animals.

We were fortunate to have incredible sightings !!! Buffalo taken down by lioness pride
Leopard and it's impala in tree - all just beyond Lower Sabie.
Traffic jams are bad problem. Lions couldn't even get over road because of vehicles !!! We managed to manoeuvre away - maybe others got a chance .. plus too much to see and hear

A wonderful place to visit. Great atmosphere, wonderful people and beautiful animals

We saw lots of wildlife and had a great stay at Pretoriuskop

probably best managed national park in Southern Africa, if not Africa!

One of South Africa's beautiful national parks. You can get guided tours or you can self-drive. I prefer self-drive as then you are on your own time and free to to where you want to go.
Im giving this 4 stars as not enough is being done to curb speeding on the roads. People forget this is a nature area and animals dont look left and right before crossing roads. People should be cautious when driving through the park as animals can cross your path at any given time.
Sightings are in abundance and the likelihood of you seeing the big 5 in one day is great.
I prefer visiting this park in winter as the grass is then shorter and easier to spot animals.
The only drawback about this place is when there is a sighting, then cars cram the poor animals and even block them in.
Please read through the rules and obey them. Rules are normally given in the paperwork when you check in.

Incredible sightings fostered by the extremely dry vegetation. Best company to find the animals : Kurt Safaris, the way to go! My advice : wake up very early, some animals never show up on the afternoon when the sun burns.Take a morning safari rather than a full day.

Nice dat at Kruger National Park on this day of reconciliation

Watch out for the crocodile and the elephants! The warthog is rather nice ... By cons there are too much dimpala

Amazing place to do safari on your own, it is very exciting to go looking for the animals on your own and see them free in their habitat. The accommodations are quite good for the price they have. Essential visit in South Africa.

Excellent game viewing spot but at times too much traffic at big cats sightings

A world famous park, not to be missed under any circumstances. You will travel freely on most roads, others are accessible only with guides. You will see all the animals you can dream of.

One of the most incredible National Parks anywhere in the world. A must for safari enthusiasts visiting Southern Africa.

The clerk ignored me for 5 minutes whilst typing on his pc. He eventually looked up and told me to go check in at the gate. Why the wait? ??

It's always a Great Experience to come to the Park and watch Nature at its best with so much to see as one never knows what's around the Corner . The Nights are as good as the day with the Sky full of Stars and the Milky way is Visible with such a wonder that one is astonished to see as no where else the Sky is so clear in the World .In my 20 years of coming to the Park once a year I have seen a lot but still I Love to come again and again.

Love the Park. There is a big improvement in customer service and the food industry...but can still improve!
There is never enough time to see everything, but we treasure each moment ;-)

The park is wonderfully natural! I didn't want to leave!

You can see the real wild life, go early morning or in evening to see majority of animals

It's beautiful! You must to go very early to be able to see the lions, you should arrive around 6 am because it's the time that they drink. I wasent able to see one because I arrived at 10 am.

Love it but maby security at the gate can get some more training in regards to people skills and politeness

There is no better place to view untouched wildlife in RSA. A MUST DO when visiting, please support or pride of south Africa