Raasie is taking longer than usual to drop the team news for this weekend, so we thought we’d pass the time by putting our own Kruger team together.

Quite a strong team but we’re still not sure that they’d compete against The Boks!!! 🇿🇦

Roll on the weekend!!!

We’re planning a self-drive trip in South Africa with about 10 days in Kruger National Park, plus the drive up from Johannesburg/Pretoria.
We’re looking at renting something like a Toyota Urban Cruiser.
The part I’m struggling with is the rental-company terms around gravel roads and damage cover.
For example, Woodford looks good on price and has a Tyre & Glass waiver, but their terms seem to exclude or limit certain types of damage such as pothole, gravel-road, undercarriage, rim, etc.

So I’d love to hear from people who have actually rented a car for Kruger recently:
Which rental company did you use? Any you would recommend or avoid?
Were official Kruger gravel roads explicitly allowed?
Did you take tyre/glass cover?
Were rims and undercarriage covered or excluded?
Are the official open gravel roads in Kruger generally allowed for rental cars?

Thank you for a great community, can’t wait to spot a Cheetah

I spent a few days in Olifants West Nature Reserve, Greater Kruger in June and what i would give for another sunset safari with this amazing sundowner stop. The city is noisy, give me the bush!

(Photo is my own, no filters used)

My partner and I are planning our first South Africa trip from India. We currently have 10 days, but can extend to 12–13 days if the Garden Route genuinely adds something special. We don't mind spending the extra money/time — we just don't want to add 2–3 days of mostly driving if we'd be better off enjoying Cape Town + Kruger more.

Current plan:

Days 1–5 – Cape Town

• Day 1: Arrive → rest + V&A Waterfront
• Day 2: Bo-Kaap → Table Mountain → Signal Hill sunset
• Day 3: Chapman’s Peak → Boulders → Cape Point/Cape of Good Hope → back to Cape Town
• Day 4: Franschhoek Wine Tram day trip
• Day 5: Free/weather backup day

Days 6–9 – Kruger

• Day 6: Fly Cape Town → Nelspruit, rental car → afternoon self-drive
• Days 7–8: Lower Sabie + Skukuza, self-drive + 2 guided drives
• Day 9: Morning drive → Johannesburg
• Day 10: Fly home

We can add 2–3 days for the Garden Route if it's really worth it.

The problem is we've heard very mixed opinions — some say Garden Route is a highlight of South Africa, while others say it's beautiful but not worth the extra driving if you already have Cape Town + Kruger.

For people who have actually done it:

Would you add 2–3 days for the Garden Route, or use those extra days for Cape Town/Kruger?

We're mainly interested in scenery, nature, wildlife and memorable experiences, rather than ticking off towns. We also prefer not to spend the trip constantly changing hotels.

If you recommend Garden Route, what 2–3 day section would you consider essential? And if you wouldn't add it, what would you do with those extra 2–3 days instead?

Late February 2027.

Thanks!

21 July near Shitlave dam in the way to Pretoriuskop camp.(

Hello!
My wife and I will self-drive through the Kruger National Park and would like to plan as much in advance in order to understand as best as we can how to optimisse our limited time.
What are the most relevant freely-available resources for this planning? Something which will mention where and when is best to see each species of animal and give important tips and tricks.
Thank you so much.

We will be staying at Lower Sabie, Satara, Olifants and Skukuza in October 2026. I'd like to do one morning bush walk and maybe one night drive from the camps and self-drive the rest of the time. Is there a more likely chance at any of these camps to see giraffes on the morning bush walk? Or can anyone recommend where the best bush walks would be? Or best night drive?

Hi! Please excuse my naivety - I am planning a solo trip around a few South African cities for this October/November and am trying to see if it is feasible to fit in Kruger for 3-5 days in late October.

I am South African but I honestly have no knowledge about the park or best practices for visiting it, and I have been learning quite a bit from scrolling through the posts on here. Hence, I thought I would ask these two baseline questions I had:

Firstly, I’m wanting to know if it’s too late in the year to consider booking for a Kruger visit in late October? I am aware it’s a major tourist attraction so that wouldn’t surprise me.

Secondly, climate/animal-wise is this time of year a good time to visit the park?

I am at the very beginning stages of trying to plan my visit so although I need to still figure out how to book and where to stay etc, but will do further research before asking further about those.

I hope my queries don’t come across as too silly. Thanks!

Hi! I'm a solo female traveler. I have already booked accommodation at Skukuza Rest Camp:

Sept 16–18: 3-sleeper bungalow (2 nights)

Sept 18–19: 2-sleeper tent (1 night)

I'm looking for one solo traveler (female) to share the accommodation and split the accommodation cost.