SANParks.org Forums

Good morning everyone.

BB, when you drive out of the airport, you will come to a T junction. Turn right. A few hundred meters from here there will be a 4 way stop. Turn left. Drive all the way until you get to the T junction at the main road between Nelspruit and White River, turn right here going uphill. Drive into White River (approx 12 - 15km's) passing a few traffic lights until you get the signboard that says Hazyview, Krugar National Park, R40. Turn left at this sign. You are now on the R40 between Hazyview andWhite River. Do not at any point turn of this road, keep on going until you are in Hazyview. (41km's). at the T junction turn right and drive into Hazyview. You will pass 2 stop streets, 1 at a Total garage, 1 at the Hazyview hotel/Rendevois centre. After this will be 2 traffic lights, 1 where you will see a Engen garage on you right. Pass this one. Just before the second traffic light, there is a pedestrian bridge over the road. On the right side you will see a KFC and shopping centre. This is where you turn right. From here you will drive 41km to the Kruger Gate.

3 Things of importance. As noted before, stop in Hazyview to get all your supplies before going into Kruger, ther is shops in Kruger but it's better to get your stuff in Hazyview. Secondly, keep to the speed limits at all times. Before any traffic officer give you a ticket, you will get a lesson on why you should keep to the speed limits here. Oh, speed limit in the park is 50km/h. Traffic officials are active here so be careful please.

Last and most important to me, on the Kruger Gate Road between Hazyview and Kruger Gate, always be aware for stray animals. Cows and goats roam these roads daily.

If you know the roads, the trip will take you 1.5 hrs, if you don't 2 hrs at most. Total ditance is about 90 - 95km.

Enjoy.

Welcome to the forum, and beware of addiction!

There is a bus from the airport itself to Nelspruit (google Citybug) where you can hire a car. Driving from there to Kruger is not a problem for a single female - I do it all the time! The shuttle mentioned is a small mini-bus and as far as I know the only direct one. Others would require you to get into Jhb or Pretoria first - more time and probably less safe.

Another alternative is to fly from Jhb to Nelspruit (or Hoedspruit or Phalaborwa depending on where in Kruger you stay).

You really need to have a vehicle in Kruger as there is no way of getting to the camps without one - unless you join an organised tour group. Doing activities from the camps is a good idea - but going out on your own is safe, and you will enjoy it. Google for carhire in SA - you will have lots of options!

I have had many clients that did the fly-in just as many drove or took a shuttle. Without a doubt the flying:

1) Does not come cheap
2) Saves you a lot of time
3) You feel a heck of a lot better when you've reached Nelspruit.
4) You have rental cars available

I personally would fly in if my budget allowed it.

Not all camps are self catering, but for me part of the fun is not sitting at a restaurant but around my own little fire at the unit. If you book a unit with a kitchenette you do not have to bring crockery or cutlery with.

Welcome to the forum - and beware of addiction!

I am not totally sure about signposts to Kruger/Orpen gate, but watch for signs to the R40 to White River and follow those. It should be a left turn at a stop street as you get to Hoedspruit from the airport.

A short distance down that road on the left is a shopping centre where you can stop and get cool drinks and any groceries you may want.

You then go past a number of signs to reserves etc and eventually come to a T junction where you keep left. The road to Orpen is then well signposted.

The road is safe, and not bad. BUT watch for people and animals on the road, especially once you turn on to the Orpen road. Keep the speed down to be safe.

Hi

We come from Uk too, and usually drive up to Croc Bridge area on first day.

I agree with what every one has said,BUT, this all depends on what time your plane arrives!! If you get in at 7.30 to 8.30 ish then all will be OK. If you are arriving any later then you will not make it up there comfortably before the gates close, and I agree that the first night at Malelane might be a good idea or even Nelspruit area. You can arrange ahead for late entrance at CB & Malelane as it right on the approach road, but I am not sure about BnD. Forumites here will know.

We have arrived twice on the Emirates flights which are usually late, and get in at about 11am. By the time we have picked up the hire car, stop a couple of times for petrol etc, it is 7pm before we get to near Croc Bridge. Also the sun starts going down at 5pm and it is dark at 6 prompt. Driving in the dark is not fun over long distances if you got off a plane from UK that morning, especially if its atwo sector journey. Other forumites may disagree, but if you are on a late arriving plane I promise this is accurate! We once drove to Kruger Gate Hotel off a late plane.............never again! It really does take about 6 hours.

I would rather get to Nelspruit or Hazy view, stay over night in a hotel, have a nice meal etc, and a good sleep, and be nice and fresh at the park gates the following morning than wake up exhausted in the park. ( Dont forget the two hour time difference does make a difference in terms of getting up in the morning even if it doesnt give you jet lag! South Africas 5am is UK's 3am) Then you can drive peacefully and game spot all the way to your camp, check in at 12, have a nice rest, and be fresh for an afternoon drive.

Having said that ,the journey to CB I find easy, its basically N4, left to komatipoort, all the way through komatipoort and left again to CB. Nothing tricky at all. But still 5.5 to 6 hours inc stops. They have a little shop which is quite good and it is a friendly kind of place. We stay at Ngwenya and not CB , but I love the atmosphere there and we have had a good night game drive there.

For the first time ever we are flying up this year, I will miss the drive and the scenery, but not feeling shattered when we get there.


Have a good time

GA.

Just noticed , you get in at 7am. so you will be fine. But this info might be helpful to others.
l

Hi everyone,

I will be going to KNP in 5 weeks. Our flight lands at JNB on 30 August at 8:45AM. The plan is to get a rental car and drive all the way to Numbi gate and stay at Pretoriaskop rest camp that night. The website says its four or five hours for this trip, so I am thinking that the worst case scenario is we leave the airport at noon and arrive to Numbi at 5. Hopefully, we'll have time to stop at a supermarket or somewhere to get some snacks to eat in the car for the week.

Do you see anything wrong with this plan?

We plan on leaving through Phalaborwa gate on 5 Sept, from Mopani camp. The plan is to do the panoramic route and stay somewhere at the south end maybe Graskop, Sabie, Lyndenberg. Any recommendations on accomadations is appreciated!

Also, if you have any comments on my 'egress' plan, those are welcome too. I'm not sure how to allocate the time between a game drive while leaving the park then seeing the sights along the PR and finding a place to stay. The next day is our flight home at 6PM, so we'd need to be back at JNB around 2 or 3 PM. Not sure if there are a few things we could check out that morning either in the same area or on the way back to JNB.

Cheers!
BC

Hi All,

What is the best route to the N4 from Jhb. I will be leaving from the Wanderes/Corlett Drive area at about 6/6:30 am.

I usually joint the M1 at Corlett Drive, past Sandton & Midrand, then the N1 past Centrurion, and the N4 from there.

But I have seen a lot of people recommend the route past the airport and Boksburg and up to Witbank that way.

Bearing in mind the time of day, any possible roadsworks etc, what is the best route to take?

Thanks
Yoda

N3S from Modderfontein or Linksfield, R24/N12E, N12E to Witbank.
M2E (from M1S) that time of morning might be ok.
Leave earlier in the morning if you can.

Have never even thought of getting to the N4 via the N1N, am sure its quite a lot longer.

At 6.30 am you will be in peak hour traffic which ever way you go. However as Scipio says the N3 south to N12 Boksburg will get you clear of the traffic quicker. From Gillooleys interchange eastwards you are going in the opposite direction to the main traffic. Only hitch along the way is a very sharp "kink" due to roadworks between the R21 split and Atlas road offramp. Otherwise the roadworks are not too bad from Gillooleys to Benoni where they end. The simplest route (although there are quicker ways if you know the area well) is to take the M1 north, then the N3 south at Bucchleu interchange, then the airport R24/N12 east at Gilloleys moving right as soon as possible to take N12 east past Boksburg and Benoni. N12 east joins the N4 at Witbank (eMahlaleni)

There is no choice Yoda. The 2 highways simply merge . Very simple

@ Bert. Coming from JHB side it's easier to go straight onto the N12 just after Gilloleys interchange rather than go to the airport and then take the R21

Dear all,

I will be travelling to South Africa for the first time in November/December. We will fly to Johannesburg and from there I plan on driving a rental car to KNP, stay there for 3 nights, drive back to Johannesburg, take a train to Port Elizabeth, get another rental car, visit Addo NP for a few days before taking the Garden Route to Capetown and flying back home from there.

I would prefer to spend all 3 nights in KNP instead of the first one outside the gates and the next 2 in the park, even though that would probably be the safer option... We land in Johannesburg at 10.00 am. Can anyone tell me if that is early enough to make it to KNP in time? I read that it takes 6 hours to drive from Johannesburg to Skukuza. I was thinking about spending the first night at Berg en Dal or Lower Sabie. Should this be too risky: Does anyone know a decent place outside the park but close to one of the gates?

Who can give me advice on this? Any help would be greatly appreciated!

Thanks!

Nina

Hi Nina76 and welcome to the forum. Sure you will get all the info you need here from one of the mites. Looking at it from the airport to the Malelane gate is approximately 400km and sould not take more than about 5 hours to get there depending on stops ect. If you are staying at Berg-en-Dal I suggest entering at Malelane as it is the closest to the camp and given that the gates close at 18:30 the evening do not think it would be a problem getting to Kruger from the airport before they close, but lets see if one of the more experianced members can be mor helpful

Allow 5 hours for travelling to Malelane gate, stying at Berg & Dal the first evening is a good idea and then move to either SKUKUZA or LOWER SABIE or SATARA, the last mentioned camp is well placed and is ALWAYS rewarding.

I'd recommend staying for the first night in either Pretoriuskop, Berg-en-Dal, Malelane or CB. These camps are the closest to Jo'burg, require the least traveling time, and you can arrange a late entry if need be.

Hi Nina! Some good advice here ! We stay in Centurion, not far from Johannesburg, and often like to head to KNP for weekends. I must agree with the other mites - Berg-en-Dal is a very good option for the first night, and unless you get delayed with more than an hour or two, you should be in time. The other thing that is nice to remember - is that if you do run into trouble - you can always phone the camp - and arrange that you will come in late. They then wait for you at the gate - but charge an extra fee. So make sure you have Malelane/Berg-en-Dal's telephone numbers on you!