invisible

Clear. No wildcard then.

StartinSanDiego

Just booked my flight for mid-May! I'll be booking the lodging just as soon as I have a head count. I see that availability is still wide open, with only 2 nights of the trip booked out/unavailable at my preferred accommodation. My plans are flexible, so I will just go on a different day.
Johan was kind enough a couple of years ago to give me some amazing recommendations, and I may just duplicate the trip we took then, but include Oliphants or one of the more middle or northern camps.

Happy

Yes. Daily Conservation Fee is applied. Some SANParks have slightly lower fee for the Day Trip folks but nonetheless you would need to pay a not insignificant conservation fee.

$100 for 2 persons is AWFULLY Tight even for camps run by SANParks in Kruger. You can manage that in Addo or Mountain Zebra for example, but not in Kruger which is too popular.

You can find the fee schedules on SANParks.org.

If you are planning a trip to Kruger, you SHOULD visit that site AND the community forum to gain knowledge.

TripAdvisor also has a very active Kruger forum.

What I learn from folks there is HOW TO choose a Rest Camp, AND the type of lodging options.

Calling to book offers a vast advantage over booking online because calling in to book you do not need to pay immediately. You have a lengthy time (forgot how long) to pay the 1/2 deposit. Then pay the remaining 1/2 a month before arrival - this allows you to change plan, rebook different camps / type of accommodation much much easier because you always owe money instead of trying to use a credit - which would be the case if you book online - 100% payment is required at booking.

The more popular Rest Camps in the Southern part of Kruger do fill up very quickly in the first month booking opens up (12 months ahead). That makes the method of calling to book a much preferred option.

Given your lengthy time of visit you may want to do a calculation on whether a Wild Card would save you money versus paying the daily conservation fee.

On our trip last year our calculation showed that we would slightly below breakeven buying a Wild Card versus paying daily conservation fee - BUT, since we plan to return the next year (this year), carefully plan for the timing of the visits in last year and this year, means we dont have to pay conservation fee this year with the Wild Card bought last year when we arrived Kruger. You can biy the Wild Card at any of the main rest camps - we bought it at Lower Sabie when we went there for lunch despite our first night was at Satara. This ensures the maximum life of the Wild Card we could use this year. No need to buy Wild Card ahead of time.

Happy

Consider Letaba, especially the perimeter units. It is north of Oliphants. We like it a lot. We had lunch at Oliphants on our way to Letaba. While the view is amazing from the restaurant, we prefer Letaba over Oliphants.

On upcoming trip in late August we will just stay at Protea Kruger Gate for 3 nights and do daily drives in the Mid and Southern portions of the park. For example, enter the park at Malelane gate in the morning and leave Kruger gate to stay at Protea for the night...

Happy

Garden Route between Mossel Bay and Port Elizabeth has a lot of places along the route to explore. If for driving alone it can be done in 3 days with time to spare but then you would miss a lot of places to explore along the route.

SANParks has combined the 3 main sections of the route to under Garden Route National Park - the Tsitsikama section (Storms River and Natures Valley) probably is the most famous but around Wilderness there are some very nice coastal areas to spend time.

We did a East to West direction on Garden Route in 2015. This August we will do a West to East direction and will spend time to really explore.

In 2016 we started from JNB to Kruger. Then flew from JNB to CPT where we spent 6 nights before flying to HKG.

This year originally we planned to drive all the way from Cape Town to Durban, then visit Hluluwe Umfolozia in KZN, then to Kruger and return to JNB to fly to HKG. However after doing some research on KZN I found out this is NOT a safe drive between East London to Durban - both road conditions and other issues - this is the Transkei region of the Eastern Cape.
If you do not know Transkei just google it. Once you learn more you would eliminate the idea of doing a road trip on that part of the country and just fly the PLZ-DUR or vice versa instead!

invisible

In this document

https://www.sanparks.org/docs/touris...ime=1500455107

I see number of of bungalow in 1000-1200R range for two people. Are not these prices correct, or there are additional fees on top?

So how many days would you put for the route itself instead?

I have 18 days max, 2 days are for VF. Then, 3 days for Cape Town, 6 days for the Garden route, 4 days for Kruger. 15 total and 3 days will be spent from moving from place to place.

Is above optimal allocation of days?

If we are flying to Kruger after Garden route, west to east is the only option for us.

Thanks for info. No intentions to go anywhere else at this moment.

invisible

At which camp did you stay?

konagirl2

Yes. Prices will be a little higher by November 2018 but not substantially. I apologise, I think I was confusing what you meant earlier in the thread by 'including taxes and fees'. A 2-bed ensuite bungalow will cost around ZAR1200, plus ZAR608 in conservation fees for 2; so I was adding to get ZAR1800 = US$140 for two people including everything in an ensuite bungalow. If you are counting conservation fees separately, then US$100 for 2 will get you the better accommodation with views.

invisible

Separate question.

Does it make sense to stay at Hazyview and do daily trips at Kruger?

Happy

No. Waste too much time on the drive to / from Park. Remember you must leave the park gate before it closes.

Look at the map.

Kruger Gate is where you want to stay outside park - there is a nice Protea as Cat 1 for the moment.

Else right outside the southern gates (Melelane and Croc River Bridge) there are lots of B&Bs but they are not cheap.

Have you budgeted for the flight from JNB to Skukuza or nearby airport when you mean flying to Kruger? Those small planes are quite expensive. Driving from JNB to Kruger on N4 is very easy and no more than 5 hours straight.

HGOLI

The photos were taken at Skukuza and Lower Sabie. The fridge on the deck was at Skukuza, and the kitchen inside was at Lower Sabie. I am staying at Satara too in November.

I also stayed for one night just outside the park, in Malelane, so that I could be at the park gate for opening time the following morning. I stayed at the Rio Vista in Malelane http://www.linoslodge.co.za/Rio.htm

It's only 10 mins to the gate, and right on the Crocodile River. Great for a 1 night stay to get you in the mood for your stay in the park.

invisible

With fees I meant additional accommodation fees, if any, park entrance fees are something one can't get away with, unfortunately.

Now looked at the doc more closely and see that there is separate fee for car entry:
Is this a one time fee?

invisible

Hey, thanks for tips. Seems there are plenty of affordable homes for rent on AirBnB with good reviews, like this:

https://www.airbnb.com/rooms/5997492
https://www.airbnb.com/rooms/13600283

Or is there something wrong with the location?

What was the accommodation rate? Seems their website has not been updated since 2006.

Considering that I so far have planned Cape Town -> Garden Route -> Kruger -> Victoria Falls I have to either fly from George or Port Elizabeth to Nelspruit and get car there or get car at JNB and drive and drop it off at MQP....

StartinSanDiego

What do you like better about Letaba?

Can you give me some idea of the drive times? The map I have, from my last visit, suggests a drive speed of 30Kh. At that rate of speed, I don't think we'll have enough time to go to Oliphants or Letaba. I'm thinking that we'll drive slowly, but not THAT slowly, if the road is clear. I recall a speed of more like 30-35mph, or roughly 50-60Kph. That would allow a visit to those camps.

We don't have a lot of time... just 9 nights total, and planned to include a luxury camp for a few nights.

johan rebel

The maximum speed is 40 kph on gravel and 50 on tar.

If you actually intend to stop to look and animals and stuff, it makes sense to base you plans on an average of 20 kph.

Every now and then I drive 400 km or more in a single day (Crocodile Bridge or Berg en Dal to Shingwedzi, say, or Orpen to Pafuri, including a bunch of detours), but I do not necessarily stop for things that are run-of-the-mill sightings in my book.

As for Letaba, the camp is nice enough, but I would only recommend it if you are a fan of Mopane shrubveld. I am not. Give me Olifants or Shingwedzi any day.

Johan