By air
Kruger Mpumalanga (MQP) or Skukuza (SZK), or ~5 h by road from Johannesburg
South Africa
Kruger National Park, South Africa
The Big Five in the bushveld
Getting there
Best time to visit
May to September — the dry winter, animals at the waterholes
Don't miss
Skukuza
Satara
Lower Sabie
The Sabi Sand
Things to do
Game drives
Guided bush walks
Self-drive safaris
Where to eat
Sources: Photo: Nithin bolar k · CC BY-SA 3.0
What to pack
Neutral colours, binoculars; ask your doctor about malaria advice
A quieter corner
The northern Pafuri region, for birds
Questions travellers ask
When is the best time for a safari in Kruger?
May to September, the dry winter, when the animals gather at the waterholes.
How do I get to Kruger National Park?
Fly into Kruger Mpumalanga (MQP) or Skukuza (SZK), or come by road from Johannesburg in about 5 hours.
What should I pack for a Kruger safari?
Neutral colours and binoculars, and ask your doctor about malaria advice.
Which parts of Kruger should I explore?
Skukuza, Satara, Lower Sabie and the Sabi Sand, whether on game drives, guided bush walks or a self-drive safari. For birds, head to the northern Pafuri region.
About Kruger National Park
- Inland
Where it is
Kruger National Park is one of the largest game reserves in Africa, a vast stretch of lowveld bush in the Limpopo and Mpumalanga provinces of north-eastern South Africa, along the borders with Mozambique and Zimbabwe.
History
Paul Kruger's Transvaal Republic proclaimed the Sabi Game Reserve in 1898, and under its first warden, James Stevenson-Hamilton, it grew into South Africa's first national park in 1926. Stone Age sites and the Iron Age hilltop settlement of Thulamela in the north lie within its borders, and since 2002 it has formed part of the Great Limpopo Transfrontier Park with Mozambique and Zimbabwe.
People
The communities bordering the park are largely Tsonga, also called Shangaan, Northern Sotho, Venda and Swazi, and Xitsonga, Sepedi, Tshivenda and siSwati are spoken alongside English and Afrikaans. Many local people work as rangers, trackers and guides, and villages near the gates sell wood carvings and crafts.
Known for
- The Big Five on game drives
- Self-drive safaris between rest camps
- Guided bush walks
- Birdlife in the far-northern Pafuri region
- Private reserves such as the Sabi Sand
Did you know?
Local people nicknamed the park's first warden, James Stevenson-Hamilton, Skukuza, usually translated as he who sweeps clean, and Kruger's main rest camp is named after him.
We haven't written a guide for this place yet — you can still plan a trip here.