Krugar Park advice required

Kruger Park advice required

Hey

Ok its a choice of flying into Jboro and then upto Neslpruit and doing trips to Krugar

or

Staying in Jboro at an airport hotel and do Krugar from there

Which is better ?

Got the below quote

Does this look good pricewise etc ?

Anyone got any recommendations ?

Ta

4 Day Accommodated Kruger National Park - R3250 - Joburg to Joburg - departing 6 Feb 2006:

DAY 1 - HIGHLIGHT: CULTURAL VILLAGE (Lunch, Dinner)
Leaving behind Johannesburg, the city of gold, we head through the province of Mpumalanga. Along the way we will stop at a cultural village and will have the chance to do some shopping for local crafts and curios.
Optional Activities: Caving by Candle Light, Night Waterfall Drive, etc.

DAY 2 HIGHLIGHT: KRUGER NP (Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner)
We get up early and enter Kruger NP. The next two days are spent exploring the southern part of this vast reserve and we stand a good chance of sighting elephant, lion, rhino, leopard and buffalo - Africa's famed “Big Five”.

DAY 3 HIGHLIGHT: KRUGER NP (Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner)
Our game drives continue and an early start usually rewards us with some great sightings. Keep your eyes open for the diverse bird life and the more elusive animals. Tonight we stay in another delightful rest camp. There is the option of a night game drive – an excellent opportunity to see many of the secretive nocturnal animals.
Optional Activities: Night Game Drive and Dawn Game Walk

DAY 4 HIGHLIGHT: WILDLIFE REHABILITATION CENTRE/PANORAMA ROUTE (Breakfast, Lunch)
We complete our Kruger Park experience with an early morning game drive and visit a Wildlife rehabilitation centre for an educational experience before we head back towards Gauteng through the subtropical Lowveld and some breathtaking vistas of the area. Blyde River Canyon, God’s Window and Bourke’s Luck Potholes will be some of today’s highlights on the famous Panorama route.

Accommodation is in double rooms in chalets and bungalow

Re: Krugar Park advise required

Hi IrishGunner

Did that trip in 2001 and we flew into Joburg and drove from there to Kruger and back. The trip up is a long one but we took our time and stayed in different places along the way to sightsee etc. The drive back seemed a LOT longer cos we didnt stop anywhere and it was a good 7-8 hours at a good speed cos the roads are pretty good.
the accommodation in the camps inside Kruger was extremely cheap and good and we drove around the park ourselves during the day. Then since we werent allowed to drive in the park after 6pm (was getting dark then) we went on game drives which were excellent.
which way you do it depends on yourself - whether you want the handiness of being driven or whether you want to have a DIY holiday.
if you do DIY you need to have the camps in the park prebooked before you get there.

The trip you have described seems to do an awful lot of stuff in a short period of time so there could be a lot of driving. Id check out a map of SA just to see what distances are involved. (We spent three days in Kruger alone)

Re: Krugar Park advise required

The price seems reasonable for what you're getting. You're looking at a little over €400 at the current exchange rate. You are going to be spending a significant part of that time in a vehicle. It's a fair drive from Joburg to KNP. It's quite a lot to be cramming into that time.

Re: Krugar Park advise required

Well we dont want to hire a car and drive to Krugar from Jboro
Yeah its a lot to cram in but hey

The other option is to get a flight to Nelspruit and do the trips from there
which maybe less rushed ???

Still Undecided

Re: Krugar Park advise required

You wouldn't really be saving yourself much by flying into Nelspruit. It's about 3 - 31/2 hours drive from JHB. That's for a local, it would probably be that much longer for a tourist. Consider the time for checking in, flying, and collecting luggage, and you're probably behind in comparison to driving it. I would suggest doing the trip out of JHB.

Krugar Park advise required

Was going to try and avoid staying in Jboro but this looks like the better option and just use it as a base
Then do a 3-4 day safari to Kruger which picks us up & drops us off at our hotel in Jboro Looking at tour groups at the mo who do them
Any recommendations ?
Land there early in the day so may just stay in an airport hotel

One thing the better half keeps asking me about the creepy crawlies, bugs etc in South Africa. She would not be one to go the camping route
What are the safaris like as I would sleep anywhere but then again there is nothing better than a cold shower and your own john
Most of these 3-4 safaris seem to be the camping option

You do not really want to use JHB as a base. You basically want to spend as little time there as possible. How long are you going to be in SA, and what do you want to do while you are there.

I would suggest you fly in and then aim to depart to Kruger the next morning. You need to contact the tour organiser to find out details of accommodation. The section you have from the brochure here states

Accommodation is in double rooms in chalets and bungalow

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. I dont know what other provides would be like, but I suggest the same. Having to provide tents is too much of a hassle. Even if you were camping, the ablution blocks are pretty good, and there's a good supply of hot water. At that time of year I suspect you'll probably be more interested in cold showers and the swimming pool. It's going to be seriously warm, and also quite humid.
I would strongly recommend you do the bush walk while you're there. The night drive was fairly good, but if you're going to pick one, do the walk. February's not really the best time to visit the game reserves. It's rainy season. This means that the grass is long, and there is a lot of water around, so the animals don't need to come to the permanent water holes. Game reserves come down to luck. You can be there for a week at the best time of year and see nothing, or you can be there on a day trip and see everything you could want. You should still have a good time, and hopefully see a fair amount.

Thats what we intend to do re Jboro. I meant as a base for Krugar. Fly in stay 1 night in airport hotel go on safari back to Jboro and then we are flying down to PE and drive to Capetown
The quote I got was from one company but checking others but have to assure girlfriend that bugs wont be a problem but I might be

Ta

I don''t recall ever seeing a cockroach larger than 15 cm out there. On a serious note, mosquitoes could be something of a nuisance at that time of year - mainly around adawn and dusk. Take insect repellent with you, and take your malaria tablets. Also make sure you keep the screen door of the chalet closed.

The airport is some way out of town, so you'll have absolutely nothing to do out there. You might prefer one of the hotels in Sandton or Rosebank so that you can at least escape from the hotel.

Yeah heard about the mosquitoes but was told to get the insect repellent over there as its stronger than the ones you get here
Have to check re the malaria tablets

Still undecided if staying in Jboro or fly up to Nelspruit. If the airport hotels are miles from everything then its just as cheap to fly up there and stay in a local hostel as flights are not that expensive ?

Are there any tour operators operating out of Nelspruit? If there are, it would mean that you'd have that much more time in KNP instead of on the road.

Seagull said:

Are there any tour operators operating out of Nelspruit? If there are, it would mean that you'd have that much more time in KNP instead of on the road.

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Yeah most of the hostels / hotels have their own so as you say it would give us more time in KNP rather than on the road
Got the lonely planet book and reading through that at the mo

I stayed in the Kruger park accommodation and it was all in chalets...wouldnt stay in a tent myself for the same reason as your missus! A friend of mine who lives in harare recommends taking Brewers Yeast tablets for a few weeks before heading to Africa. It appears that mosquitoes don’t like B vitamins, in particular thiamine (B1) so if you eat brown rice, brewers yeast, wheat germ, etc these will supply you with B vitamins. ...not a replacement for the malaria tablets but I took them and didnt get bitten once.

I could be wrong but when I travelled to South Africa the tropical medical bureau didn't recommend Malaria tablets. I'd already received shots for tetanus, polio, hep A and typhoid about 7 months earlier when I went to Namibia and I was told that this was sufficient.

Ah well have to check out re bugs etc and malaria tablets not to keen on the camping myself
got this quote from a backpacking place in Nelspruit, Od Vic
Best offer so far just have to see what the accom in the trips are like?

We have en-suite room over that period for you the cost will be 280.00 rand
per night for the room and includes a small breakfast.We can pick you up at
the airport in Nelspruit.Another way to get to Nelspruit is catch a shuttle
bus from Johannesburg airport to Nelspruit the cost will be 190.00 rand
each,all depends on when you land for transfer times.

We do Kruger tours ,a nice tour would be a two day one night Kruger and
Blyde Canyon Tour which includes a night drive in Kruger ,all
meals,accommodation in a house,entrance fees and a visit to the third
largest canyon in the world Blyde Canyon.The cost would be 1750.00 rand per
person.We also do day trips to Kruger the cost 850.00 per person.
thanks hope this answer your question.
Regards Dave and Bella
www.krugerandmore.co.za

Cahir said:

I could be wrong but when I travelled to South Africa the tropical medical bureau didn't recommend Malaria tablets. I'd already received shots for tetanus, polio, hep A and typhoid about 7 months earlier when I went to Namibia and I was told that this was sufficient.

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Where abouts in SA and Namibia were you travelling? Large parts of both countries are malaria free. KNP, however, is definitely in a malarial area.

Travelled all over Namibia - I thought the whole country was Malaria free. In South Africa I stayed mostly around the southern end. Didn't bother with Kruger as I'd been to safari parks in Namibia already so maybe that's why the tmb didn't recommend malaria tablets.

The northern end of Angola on the Angolan border is a malarial area. There are also occasional cases in the central and southern parts of the country. In SA, there is malaria in Mpumalanga and Northern province in the north east, and in KwaZulu/Natal on the east coast.

You need to take Malaria tablets once you go north of Durban. We took them once we hit Kruger, but they weren't required while we were in Capetown.

Also, the drive from JBurg to Nelspruit is very easy and straightforward and only takes 3.5 hours from JBurg airport (driving at 120kmph on great roads).
We actually drove to the Phalaborwa gate, but this was far too long (7 to 8 hours) and not really necessary as we didn't find much difference between the middle region of the park and the lower region.
Stayed in the safari tents/huts in the parks which were basic but comfortable and cheap. Safari tents provide your own bathroom. The huts are the same but you have to use a shared bathroom.

We lived in Swaziland for 3 years and went to Kruger on a number od occasions; you DEFINITELY need anti malaria tablets.
I would either fly from Jo'burg to Skukuza, which is the airstrip inside the Kruger, or fly to Nelspruit and stay in a B&B there, then drive to Kruger.
Anyone wishing to travel in South Africa ought to check out which has a number of "Collections" of accommodation for independent travellers. We used them all the time and never found a bad place to stay.
Their B&B collection has 9 B&B establishments ranging in price from £17 pppn B&B to £54 pppn for half board. The latter is an up-market private residential nature reserve bordering the Kruger. Check them out on www.needleslodge.com They also do big 5 game drives.

Their entry in Portfolio describes the accommodation as " airconditioned bedrooms under thatch have sliding doors that open onto the wooden deck and the bush". Place also has a pool.

Hope you enjoy your trip to the Rainbow Nation!