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Did Olifants - Lower Sabie once
Stopped for brekkie at Satara
Tshokwane for lunch
Took me 8 hours
With a few stops on the way

hi Gunner,
long drive but very doable we did biyamiti to olifants last oct took most of the day.along the way we had plenty of sightings stopped at Mlondozi picnic spot for breakfast also called in at Satara for a snack and to stock up at the shop.have a great time hope your GF enjoys makes it so much easier to go back : lol: hope this helps.

We have done that trip before and altho its a long drive we arrived in plenty of time and still had some nice sightings along the way.

Thanks for all the advice guys
Really looking forward to it

Hi I am new to the site,can anyone help me if with roads between Croc Bridge and Berg en Dal
How long to allow for traveling .
I have a booking for Croc bridges for 3 nights.
Would like to leave the park at Malelane gate ( if possible)

If you take the S25 from CB to Malelane you will comfortably make it. The S25 is a very good road for big 5 sightings and also cheetah and wild dog if you take it early in the morning.

Depending on sightings it will take 2 to 3 hours.

The S25 is a great road.
You should have 2 hours of great sightings

Thanks for all the help,will do so cant wait .

Easily do-able.

I did Boulders to Berg n Dal.
wouldnt recommend this to anyone. In fact, i wonder if there are forumites who could top this insane distance??

Just make sure you leave when gates open and you dont loiter around average sightings - thereby giving you more time at great sightings and lookout point and camp stops.

gunner

This is a long but pleasant trip, its june so it wont be too hot and its a gorgeous drive! You know you have to get there, so its just a matter of being disciplined.


We did it in reverse last year and I loved it! We left Olifants at gate open, and arrived croc bridge about 5.30 even having had time to do a quick drive on the lower sabie -skukuza road as well.

I suggest....

Leave at gate open. Take tar all the way. Take breakfast with you and sop at lower sabie, dont order food here, it will busy and it will be slow! You could get something from the shop if you cant take anything. Check the board for sightings.....if a really good sighting is just off the tar it will be worth a look. Our rule last year was no more than 15 minutes off the tar!

Stop at Tshokwane for a longer break and lunch. If you feel you have fallen behind schedule then get a takeaway sheba roll from the ladies......yummy! Thats what we did last year. Stop again at Satara for the ablutions and a drink etc, then press on to Olifants bridge, stretch your legs and gasp at the view. On to the camp, get on your deck for your sundowners! Remember the shop closes an hour after gate close, or there is the restaurant! Relax!

Check the boards all along the way, we had a brilliant lion pride sighting ten minutes off the tar , and it didnt affect our journey.

You may have to travel at max speed ( dont be tempted to break the limit!) sometimes , but otherwise you will be fine!

Have fun

GA

Hello everyone,

My wife and I plan to arrive to Kruger Park on june 19 driving from Pretoria.
We should arrive around 2pm and stay the night at Skukuza Park.
Since we only found accommodation at Letaba camp.. we plan to drive from Skukuza to Letaba on june 20th. We plan Leaving early morning to arrive Letaba before camp close.
We plan to stay the night of june 20th and 21st at Letaba and then depart early on june 22nd and drive to Rustenburg for a soccer game at 4:00 pm.

We have never been to RSA or go to a safari park before so we are kind of nervous about the timing.

Any suggestions you may have regarding our plans would be highly appreciated.

I am especially concern about the drive from Skukuza to Letaba on a single day and the drive from Letaba back to Rustengurg.

Thanks for your time.

Gerardo.

Welcome!

You are going to have a great time! Please do ask, we will gladly assist you with information you may need.

Driving from Skukuza to Letaba is

It is 162km and driving at game viewing speed should take you approx. 6 and a half hours. You can do your lunch at Satara or Timbavati picnic spot. Timbavati is self catering so do pack your lunch if you head there. Get away as early as possible, and enjoy the game viewing driving through a beautiful area with plenty of game.

Driving from Letaba to Rustenburg.

That is going to be a bit of a rush. You will be able to do it, but it is a long distance to travel. You will have to leave at gate opening time and exit at Phalaborwa gate. The roads are fine, you need not worry about that. Head for Tzaneen and then Polokwane and the take the N1 highway to Pretoria. I am not sure about the short cuts from the N1 to Rustenburg, and would think that it may be the best to travel all the way to Pretoria and from there take the N4 highway to Rustenburg. Maybe some other forumites may have other advise on this.

On our recent trip in Kruger we did that exact trip, from Skukuza to Letaba. You don't have to rush, just drive slowly and you will find the wonders that Kruger has to show. Have a great time.

Hi Gerardo,
I agree that travelling Skukuza-Letaba in a day poses no problems, and we have done it on numerous occasions. We live in Nelspruit and sometimes get a quick booking fairly high up, so we just do it, beggars cant be choosers they say. We have also done Nelspruit- Shingwedzi on more than one occasion, but I must emphasise that we dont like to rush our visits, preferring to travel about 150 Km maximum between camps. And Gerardo, sometimes a herd of several hundred buffalo crossing the road seems very indifferent to our haste, also a couple of petulant or mischievous elephant bulls frollicking in the middle of the road doesnt seem to know about gate-closig times.
Have a wonderfull visit.
Sneeugans.

I agree with all of you that the trip can be done in a day. My opinion is that it might not be the best advice for the second day of a new visitor. Keep in mind that the gameviewing pattern af a seasoned visitor is drastically different than that of a first time visitor.

There are many "hidden treasures" on the smaller dirt roads. Visits to Vutomi, the Stevenson Hamilton memorial, some time spend at Lake panic, a detour to Nkuhlu, the Lugmagdam, the remoteness of Nhlanguleni (to mention a few) will not be experienced if you travel this distance, and i am now not even at the halfway-mark of the trip.

If you spend about forty five minutes each for two meals, you need to travel at a constant 17km/h without stops to make the trip. No further loo breaks, no sitting at a waterhole, nothing else, just the drive.

No two people are alike, but I prefer to let my guests experience Kruger. We wait in excitement to see if a herd of buffalo is followed by lion, we sit at a waterhole to see if the nearing warthog could be the next meal of the sleeping lion, we have lunch at picnic sites and spend time looking at the birds, squirrels and other small animals. All of this takes time. We seldom travel more than 100km during a full day drive, and usually barely make the gate closing in time.