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The smaller camps would be perfect.

My personal choices would be:
Croc Bridge
Maroela

If you are into photography a night or two at Skuks is not a bad idea. Lake Panic seems to attract many keen photographers.

Maroel

Balule no elecricity
Tzendze no electricity

Punda

If you look at Mellory's thread on Sand River bush camp, they will be offering 3 nights of trail walking in May.

Unfortunately I can't do the link thing properly yet.

I know how to do copy and paste, so I will do that from my trip report.

viewtopic.php?f=27&t=56911

The reason I am mentioning it is because it is normaly impossible to get into this very rustic camp.

Hi there,

If you are into birding then Punda Maria is an incredible place for it. The mahonie loop is spectacular.

Personally, I prefer the park in the dry'er months, as animals must come and drink at permanent water. Also, it's easier in the car when it's not boiling hot, and you can avoid anti-malaria medication as there are fewer mosquitoes.

In the rainy season, the vegetation is high, and animals spread out, as they can drink from pools of water in the bush. However the birding is terrific as there are plenty of insects for them to eat. So birding , rainy season, anaimals , dry season, though being there is just excellent , regardless of the season. (I'm 49 and I've been going there since I was 6 )

Neil.

Thanks everyone! Husband is busy applying for jobs/post-docs so we will very much have to fit in with his schedule. I too would prefer winter (even if its cold) or early spring but that means (gasp!) we would have to wait a WHOLE YEAR!

I'm beginning to think that May would be good, after school hold but before it gets really cold (speaking as someone living in the EC does It get really cold in KNP? ). Otherwise did the job thing comes together we might be able to go as early as Jan or Feb!

Thanks for the link to your wonderful Long Road MM, what a treat! I will keep it in mind if we do get to pick and choose when we go.

Thanks too for the birding tips around Punda. There are anew mopane and miombo specials we've yet to see

Holding thumbs for you guys.

I am off to pick up my second rodent from Grahamstown soon. It seems that my offspring are very in tune with mouses and rodents and rats and parrots.

Good luck

Meandering Mouse wrote:

I have experienced a heat wave in November and a drop from 44 degrees to 15 degrees in 24 hours. It is only predictable in its unpredictability.

. That brings to mind an amazing temperature drop during September 2008. In and around Talamati we registered 44 degrees on the cars' thermometer. We drove down to Pretoriuskop the next day, started early with a fresh morning temp of 24. At noon it was 43/44. And as we drove into Pretoriuskop at about 5:30, we were registering 2 degrees!!!!!

I put on every stitch of clothing I had and it still wasn't enough

Then the next afternoon we were swimming in the Pretoriuskop pool

How bizarre! The hottest I've ever ever been in an SA park was in KTP. Camping. Not enough shade. No air on. Eventually I put on my long sleeve top, a sarong and a big floppy hat and literally sat in the pool over lunchtime. I think it was 48C or something stupid.
The other time wasn't in SA but the SO and I drank over 5L of water each without needing a potty break. We just sweated it all out!!

My first trip was in May and really enjoyed that time.
Last two times were in late Sept, early Oct
Really disappointing and that goes for the whole park as we were in the north and south
Lots of burned areas so not many animals
I don't know if that much burning is typical or not, but I don't intend to find out.

Hi everyone, so were planning our honeymoon (yay) for early next year. We still haven't nailed down dates (we are thinking of early February at this stage...yes hot I know but sadly Life may preclude any other dates!) but this is our proposed itinerary;

Malelane x 1 night (arrival night)
Balule x 3
Sable Hide x 1
Tsendze x 3
Shipandani Hide x1
Punda x3
Tsendze x1
Maroela x1
Malelane x1 (exit night)

Total of 15 nights.
We are driving from Grahamstown with a stopover at the InLaws in Mtunzini to break the journey and swop our Golf for their Fortuner for the Park, so we have 2 very very long days of driving just to get to the park (worth it). Malelane seems to me to be great first/last stop. Close to the gate, lovely looking camp, small etc. I've specifically picked all the camping-only (except for Punda) sites because that's what we want/like. Naturally we'll have to stop in the bigger rest camps for supplies and fuel but that's not an issue.

I'm curious about the over-night hides. We would like to do them both, but are they worth it? Or if we've done one should we bother with the other?

And finally, are the distances we've set ourselves up to do, especially the Punda-Tsendze-Maroela-Malenane trip manageable? We are happy to engage game drive speed (1st gear) and chug slowly down the road but I don't want to feel too rushed, especially if we need to check-in at the associated main camp an hour before the gates close.

At this stage everything is flexible except for the total number of nights. So any and all feedback appreciated!

Glad to see plans are coming together!

Yes Feb is going to be hot!
but having said that we come to Kruger every Feb ourselves so may even meet up somewhere along the way!
not that we camp but stay in bungalows with air con!

Your itinerary looks OK to me, quite a long drive from Malelane to Balule so you will need to leave pretty early.
otherwise all other drives look doable.
Fortunately Feb has long gate days.

Have a look Here for a wonderful Topic of what the various camps sites look like.

and also Overnight Hides

Sable Hide

Shipandane Hide

Sure you will get lots of other advice as well.

Hi there,

Regardless of what time of the year you go, Friday and Saturday nights are always very busy, and saturdays are the busiest day. Just plan something away from the reach of the day-trip buses, and masses of people on those days. You should also check the pensioners discount dates (under reservations/discounts), as those periods will also be busier.

Neil.

January 2012 - Maroela - Pensioners discount - only four people camping - don't tell anyone

http://www.sanparks.org/forums/viewtopic.php?style=2&f=27&t=59188

Hi

My 2 cents:

February will be hot yes but thats part of the fun! I've come into the ritual of visiting Kruger every January for 2 weeks.

My only concern with your planning is the amount of "one-nighters" you have scheduled. For me, previously I found it a burden to consider the check in and check out times in your planning every day. I prefer to get up in the morning, go for a drive without having to worry about vacating my accommodation before 10:00 and then planning the rest of the day's drive around the afternoon's check in and unpacking again. Not sure how the check in/out times apply to camping though.... But I usually try to stay at least 3 nights in one place if possible.

On the overnight hide I cant really comment yet. I'm staying in Sable on 9 January. May be a bit late for you but I can advise after that. It sounds pretty cool though.

Cheers

Agreed

Putting and packing up the tent deprives you of prime viewing time.

Although camping is fun, if it were my honey moon, I would try to avoid the whole camping setup. Pretoriuskop and Balule have huts that are below R300 a night.
Then Shingwedzi, Letaba, Lower Sabie and Tamboti also offers accomadation for R400 or less per night.


You only get married to the right person once, and you only go on honeymoon once. Spoil yourself a little.

But that is just me.

About travelling times, when we stay at Olifants we still go in at Malelane. I would rather go into the park as soon as possible and "rush" from Malelane to Olifants at 40km/h than going in at a gate closer to the camp but spending more time outside the park. By keeping your speed between 30 and 40 you could easliy reach your planned destinations.


15 nights must be awesome! My longest was 8 nights.

Highly recommended !