10 Day Kruger Self Drive from North to South

On the first day your clients will arrive in the country’s capital, Johannesburg, where they will be met by one of our representatives, who will brief them and take them to their accommodation for the night. They will stay in a hotel close to the airport.

Your clients’ rental car will be dropped off at the hotel in the morning and after their breakfast they will be heading northwards to the town of Tzaneen in the Limpopo Province. They will pass through the mining and farming regions of the highlands, before descending to the hotter Lowveld.  Tzaneen is surrounded by low hills, which slope up to the towering peaks of the Northern Drakensberg. The town has beautiful trees and gardens and the high rainfall and warmth of the Lowveld ensure the perfect condition for the wide range of fruit grown in this area, such as mangos, bananas, oranges, tomatoes and avocados. Pine and eucalyptus plantations are also a common sight in the area around the town. There are several ideas as to the origin of the name Tzaneen, the most likely of which is that it has its roots in the Sotho word tsaneng (gathering place) or the word tsana (basket of hills).

Your clients start their safari in the north of the Kruger National Park, in the Punda Maria region. This is a great place to see the shy nyala antelope and the region offers some of the best birding in the park. While on game drives in the northern section of the park, keep a look out for Africa’s largest antelope, eland, as well as lion, leopard, elephant and buffalo. This evening your clients will cook their dinner over an open fire out under the stars.

There is no better way to explore the Kruger National Park than by breathing in the crisp bushveld air and by joining an experienced game ranger on a morning game drive. The game ranger will share interesting facts about all that lives and breathes in the Bushveld with your clients.

After the game drive, your clients travel southwards through the Kruger National Park. Whilst travelling slowly on the Park roads, they will enjoy game viewing from their own vehicle and may even spot endangered species like the roan antelope, the most beautiful antelope – the sable, and the tsessebe. Tsessebe are one of the fastest antelopes in Africa and can run at speeds up to 90 km/h. The Shingwedzi flood plains have been shaped by millions of years of flooding and deep layers of rich soil have been deposited on the underlying basalts. These support the huge riverine trees that Shingwedzi is famed for – the Natal mahoganies, ebony jackal-berries, weeping boer-beans and sausage trees. The flood plains have good grazing, which means the area is rich with game compared to the surrounding mopaneveld. The riverine bush has elephant, buffalo, nyala, kudu, duiker, monkeys and baboons and the shy Sharpe’s grysbok. The main predators of the Shingwedzi flood plains are leopard, lion and hyaena. Packs of wild dogs are occasionally spotted. In the afternoon your clients will enjoy a guided bush walk, accompanied by an armed ranger. The guide will teach them how to track animals and tell them stories about life in the bush.

Today your clients continue southwards to Letaba Rest Camp, located along the Letaba River in the north-central region of the Kruger National Park. The name comes from the Sesotho word for “river of sand”, because of the wide, generally shallow river. Letaba Rest Camp has a small museum dedicated to elephants, the Elephant Hall. It includes sections about elephant biology, behaviour, ecology and evolution. The primary exhibit is the display of the tusks and skulls of the Magnificent Seven, a set of enormous tuskers (elephant bulls with very large tusks).  Visitors need not even have to leave the camp to view animals. The camp itself hosts a healthy population of bushbuck, who have become very tame and wander freely amongst the bungalows. Other camp residents include tree squirrels, fruit bats and vervet monkeys. Letaba is in a fairly dark area of the park, making stargazing an ideal nighttime activity.

Today your clients’ destination is the Satara Rest Camp. Satara is situated in an excellent game viewing area, with the bush relatively open and the animals plentiful and diverse. Your clients will likely see giraffe, wildebeest and warthogs. Warthogs are members of the Swine family. These herbivores have peculiar habits. They often kneel to eat lower grasses or to slurp up a bug. They can run up to 30 mph (48 km/h) which helps them outrun predators. They zoom right to their dens and enter rear first, with their tusks sticking out of the entrance for added security. Your clients will be thrilled to know that this region is home to a large lion population and prides are often seen lounging in the road.

Your clients will spend the next two days in Skukuza Rest Camp. Skukuza is the Park’s largest camp and is situated on the southern banks of the Sabie River, in the heart of Big Five territory. Lion prides are often spotted in the region around Skukuza as well as black and white rhino. There is also a population of the endangered African wild dogs which inhabit the area. Wild dogs live in packs, love running in the road and aren’t intimidated by humans as they are very curious. They are highly mobile however, so even though they often use roads, they only do so for a short period of time before disappearing off into the thickets again. It’s no surprise that only a handful of people end up in the right place at the right time to see them.  In Kruger, wild dogs den during the winter (May to August). Because they generally stay close to the den sites during this period, it’s worth checking the camp sightings boards for wild dog sightings in these months. If a pack was spotted in a specific area, there’s a good chance that they’ll be seen there again.

In the afternoon your clients will enjoy another guided walk which will present a great opportunity to see the region’s smaller creatures. They can relax on the deck overlooking the river and may see animals coming to drink or they may choose to delve into the fascinating history of the park at the Stevenson Hamilton Memorial library.

Your clients will likely spend the day heading out on self-guided game drives in search of the famous wildlife of the Kruger National Park. In the afternoon they can relax or go to a very special place, the Lake Panic Bird Hide, located approximately 7 km outside the camp. Here your clients can watch the very busy comings and goings of a huge range of bird species, plus a good helping of mammals and reptiles that also depend on the reliable waters of the lake. In the evenings (except Sundays) Wildlife films are shown in the amphitheater of the camp.

Today your clients will be driving to Berg en Dal Rest Camp. The camp is located on the bank of the Matjulu Spruit and is surrounded by beautiful, rocky hillsides. It has been built with care and preservation for the surrounding area. Original San rock paintings are still clearly visible from the hill shelters along the Bushman trail. The area around Berg en Dal rest camp is good for viewing leopard, lion, elephant, white rhino, and many different birds. Owls are often seen in the camp at night.  The Matjulu dam and viewing spot are close to the reception and the restaurant, allowing guests an opportunity to sit and watch elephant and other animals coming down to drink. There is an open-air auditorium where Wildlife films are shown and the Rhino Hall museum, next to the reception, offers a world of information about both the White and Black Rhino.

This is the last morning of the “Kruger Park from North to South” holiday package. There is time for one last early morning game drive before your clients depart for the Kruger Mpumalanga International Airport to fly home. Alternative options can be arranged, should your clients wish to extend their trip.