SANParks.org Forums

We are all individuals and each of us has our own preferences.

Some of us prefer to drive at 10 km/h, others at 30 km/h and others prefer driving, legally, at 40 km/h on the gravel roads and 50 km/h on the tar roads.

If I’m driving at 10 km/h surely I have to accept the fact that I will be tail-gated sooner or later and I can’t blame a tail-gater for tail-gating me. All I do is to move more to the left for the tail-gater to pass me.

Some of us prefers to be “big five chasers”. As long as such a big five chase is done according to the rules its fine with me as well. I for one prefer to search and find one of the big five and while searching for the big 5 I may just spot a Pel's fishing owl, Narina Trogon, Brown Hyena or Caracal!

You should spend just a short while walking in a camp and keep a look out in the lower branches of bushes , you will be surprised at how many LBJ's are more colourfull than what you expect . From there on birdwatching could become much more interesting , and perhaps animal watching as well .
The 50 km/h limit is too high to avoid animal collisions in my opinion , 65km/h limit is to save time .

Thanks ndloti I'll start checking out camp birds more - definitely an excellent place to learn!
I agree with speed limits being too high to avoid animal collisions. We were doing 30 km/h on a Kruger dirt road once, and a running kudu couldn't veer out of the way, so leapt entirely over the bonnet!! Just as well, or my heart would have been very sore.

One must also remember that, when the speed limit is 50, you're going to find people doing 10-20 kkm/h more, just because they think they can!

We just got back from Kruger and and we had wonderfull sightings .I find driving at 35km/h(on the gps)you have a good chance have great sightings.

I'm usually a slow driver (less than, or equal to, 20 km/h on average), which has a triple advantage: you can check virtually every gap for game, which means seeing much more;
you can avoid intercepting the paths of rushing, startled animals; and you don't get so tired, being able to savour the entire atmosphere around you.
35 km/h is also good in certain areas (like parts around Satara), but I find it a little fast for me. Glad you saw wonderful things, though!

My 2c worth..... I'm a firm believer that you have to put in the hours to get the results - the more ground you cover the better chance you have of seeing the big5 - saying that, I don't say travel fast - I'm saying travel long... we do about 25kph BUT we leave when the gate opens and only get back 5 mins before it closes (it does take some planning and calculation - but I'm a sucker for maths - so part of the fun is calculating just how far I can go without being late - I've never exceeded the speed limit and have never been late either).

Pietie, must agree it does get tiresome, we go for 5 days max at a time and also travel @ 25-30kph unless we are on a mission, but then do not exceed the limit. I must admit I have been lucky though as I see atleast 4 of the big 5 in the first morning or day. Also pack a picnic the night befor and the fridge in the car and the stop at a water hole and have lunch there, can then view the few game that drink and birds at the waterhole.

I found my "pace" in the Park years ago, and used this trip to validate it.
I always see more, and effectively soak up the atmosphere around me, when I travel between 20-25 km/h! 20 km/h is ideal for game viewing - I don't know how anyone can generally see more than a few metres into the bush at 40-50 km/h.
It's even easy to miss an elephant 10m into the bush when speeding, and many people missed elephants, giraffe, and impala while rushing past.
No, 20 does it for me.

OWN

20 does it for me too

I have also noticed that even many seasone kruger oers are only after the big 5 and often when you talk to people to ask what they have seen they only mention big 5 game, what about the AWC, rare antelope, honey badger or pangolin they may have seen every sightings is special

Totally agree OWN. 25 was max for me. Also the so called Big 5 has no place. Just a very "nice to have". I get a kick out of seeing anything at all including impala lilies minding their own business in the middle of nowhere.

Jane

This last trip I confined my speed to 15-20 km/h and it was intensely magical: even if one was not viewing some exciting sighting, the all-encompassing surreal atmosphere of the veridian-green, lush Park was an oasis of joy. There was no strain, nor stress, to seek more than we were - all happened in its own time and perfectly as it should have! I have never sped, and I believe I will always reap the rewards of doing so.

I believe the more kilometres you do on a game drive the better your chances are of seeing more game than someone who drives very slow. I travel at 20km per hour on roads where the bush is very thick eg. Lower timbavati, 40km on roads through mopani type veld and 50 km on roads where I feel you would waste time if you travelled too slowly eg. between satara and olifants

Oddesy if I think of what I have seen over the past 25 years in kruger I would have to attribute this success to the fact that I try to cover as many kms as I can when I go on a game drive. You do have a valid point that if a leopard, lion, etc. was sitting at the side of the road and you went past at a higher speed you could miss the opportunity of a better sighting. But on the other hand if you travelled too slow or stopped for every impala you could also miss a sighting like we did on new year,s day when we missed a leopard which was lying in the tar road a minute before we arrived at that spot

Oddesy ... exquisitely explained and elucidated!
I have tried the quicker method and, though you cover more kilometres, the extent of bush that you can effectively and accurately observe is much diminished. If you look in any well-researched books of game-driving, the recommendation is always to drive slowly, scan at every opportunity, and involve as many senses as possible. There have been several times I have stopped for a suspicious impala snort, or an elephant's trumpet, or even a rapid rustle of the grass verge, and been rewarded with great, or at least interesting, sightings.

I would love to challenge those who think speed in game parks yield more sightings to a one-on-one competition: the "speedsters" (40-50 km/h regulars) and the "appreciators" (<30km/h regulars) teams go to Kruger for 7 days, and at the end of this time period, we total the number of (special) sightings to see who would be more correct.

Well, it's obviously working for you! Each to his OWN . I prefer the exciting atmosphere that I engender by driving slower, and for me this is half the power of the bush. I'm glad to hear that, despite travelling a little quicker than some others of us, you're still seeing top-quality sightings! We're all in this together and I'm always happy when other mites see good things. Please post your stats - always an interesting read.
I have spent many years chasing after "other-people's" sightings, only to have a low success rate with this. So, I now drive at a relaxed speed that allows me to look into all the gaps, and wait for nature to provide her magic! On parts of the S100, I often take it up to 30-35 as one can see so far there; but I would be quite stressed and disappointed if I did this on a regular basis.
Thanks for the comparisons, garrow; it's always good to get other people's views on a subject.

WE'D APPRECIATE IT IF OTHERS STATE THEIR OWN VIEWS AND EXPERIENCES ON THIS SUBJECT HERE!