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....and just to add. October is, from my experience, one of the best months sighting-wise to be in the park. It may get very hot and it will most likely be dry, but that is when you see all the animals at the waterholes. And some of the migratory birds will be back!

Exactly the same flights as we took in November this year

As has been said BA are very generous with the luggage allowance, you'd be surprised how much 23kgs is. We take a cool bag with us that can fold up and even manage a couple of saucepans in the luggage. You may want to get hold of sharp knifes if you are braaing, as the ones provided are not that great for cutting up meat.

Do try to stay more than one night in a camp at a time, packing and unpacking can get tedious. And yes, if you can stay longer around Satara.

Hope you have a great trip.

Welcome to the forum Elephantears.

A few things you might need to know.
1. October is right at the end of the dry season. At the moment Kruger is awash with floods in the wet season (Nov - April), but very litle rain usually falls after April and it dries out quite remarkably, so that raging torrents today are dry river beds in October. My point is, plan routes and camps near permanent water, where the animals (and thus the predators) will be more concentrated. Like Croc Bridge, BergnDal, Lower Sabie, Satara, Olifants, Letaba and, for the very north, Punda.
2. All of the above camps have restaraunts except Croc Bridge, where the shop does decent take aways until half an hour after gate closing.
3. The only picnic sites where you can buy food are in the south, namely Afsaal, Nkuhlu and Tshokwane.
4. Although Croc Bridge area is near the perimeter of the park the area is rich in game at that time of the year.
5. Satara area is well known lion country, but the usually rewarding H7 to Orpen gate can be a bit 'slow' at this time of the year.
6. The best 2 hides in the park are Mantambeni, north of Letaba, and Lake Panic, near Skukuza. and both are worth a visit for an hour or so in the morning.

Hope this helps.

WOW!!!! Thank you lovely people!
Brilliant advice.... Some of you even answered my second question which I was planning to post on a separate thread regarding the car hire and car type.
Unfortunately there is no such car Dihatsu Terios (I think Avenza; IX35 seems an overkill to us as well) available on BA flight car combo purchases.
Any advice on where to rent such a car separately ( in Jo'Berg) recommended reputable car hire firms? Regarding closure of Shingwedzi, if we were to reserve somewhere else to stay, should the bungalows reopen, would it be easy to cancel the reservation and rebook in Shingwedzi without being liable for penalties?
Regarding Braai's would you buy presoaked coal bags or wood? Which is the better?
Although you all advise against single night bookings we are booking 3-4 single nights for the north of the park...
Bateleur, Punda, Mopani?? Should this work out ok?
Thank you very very much!!
Elephant ears!!

Elephantears, regarding the braai, you would buy firelighters, charcoal and wood.
This is how we do it (I am not saying that it is the correct way, but it is our way), we break up a firelighter then we stack some charcoal around and on top of the broken up firelighter, then we light it and wait for the charcoal to burn and turn into coals and when the temp is correct we braai our meat, once we have taken the meat off, we move the braai grill to the side and put a few logs on,the logs soon catch fire and then we have a nice fire to sit around to talk about the days happenings and also to plan the next days route.

for good reason, we have done it.
Just don't be tempted to pack/unpack in prime game viewing trime,.
You will arrive home knackered.

On the question about the braai. You will get many opinions - as South African men LOVE their braai! In KNP we usually use wood and firelighters - available at all camp shops. A wood fire takes longer before it is ready, but creates a much nicer "ambience". If you're unsure of how to start the braai or if the temperature is ready etc - just ask any South African neighbour in the camp to come and help out. Especially if it is an Afrikaans-speaking guy. They will be too happy to give you some advise!

We've rented a Daihatsu Terios twice before - both times through Europcar. It is about half the price of other 4x4 vehicles, and a very nice rental to get. Although - any sedan should actually be perfect for KNP, and probably cheaper as well!

I must say - we also prefer not to stay in a camp for only 1 night. In terms of the Northern camps - Punda is not a bad idea. The Safari Tents are great - if you can get one. Mopani is a lovely camp, but in my opinion, it is not the best area for game-viewing. From Punda one can take a day and explore up to the Pafuri region. One of the most beautiful and unique areas in the park.

Hope that helps!

In short I would stay a minimum of 3 nights per camp , this leaves time to relax without having to wait for a checking in times or packing before checking out times.

In octobers heat you will get hot and irritated shifting camp too often.

I agree with Forest. Even I as a seasoned Saffie can struggle with the October heat and humidity.

Hi Elephantears,

I have been coming to Kruger from England every other year for about 15 years now. You will love it. Something that hasn't been mentioned yet.... Since our first trip when we drove up, we now always take the internal flight to Kruger Mpumalanga Airport. It is not particularly expensive and saves a huge amount of time. You can pick up a car at the airport and enter the park either at Phabeni or Melalene.

Early October is a great time to go. I would agree with the other respondents that staying in each camp for a few days is most productive and less tiring than moving on each day. Looking out for wildlife all day is exhausting!

I know this forum is full of fans of the north of the Park, but in my experience animals are noticably much harder to find north of Olifants so on a first trip I would recommend taking in Skukuza, Satara, Olifants and Lower Sabie.

Can't wait to be back in the Park myself in September.

Have a great trip.

Thank you very much again for your replies. If we were to stay 2 nights at OLIFANTS or MOPANI which would be the better one?

From what Ive seen of mopani that would be my choice immediately but different strokes for different folks it would remain your choice at the end of the day

Olifants is my choice. Lovely view - try and get one of the units with a view! Better game-viewing area in my opinion...

Agree with Bushbuddies

Mopani fans love the view over the magnificent Pioneer Dam, and the well run camp and restaurant
Mopani boasts the Tropic of Capricorn Loop. A serengetti-like open grassland area which is the best in Kruger for rare antelope, and usually has high traffic of animals! However there are not many productive roads around Mopani. The attraction is to the peacefulness of little traffic

Olifants has the best view in Kruger And as Bushbuddies mentioned, good game viewing

The H1-4 to Satara is one of my favorite roads in Kruger! It is extremely flat and open and as a result you can expect to see large herds of zebra and blue wildebeest here. These, in turn, attract lions which are often found near the road in the early mornings. As in most open areas of Kruger you can also expect to find ostriches, along with kori bustards and secretary birds.In the dry time you are going, artificial waterholes, or large dams or flowing rivers are key to finding animals! The H1-4's The northern half iis famous for the Ngotso waterholes, starting at Ngotso South in the south and ending with Ngotso North in the north. Buffalo are common in this region and so are lion. It's worth while to drive this section past all the waterholes very slowly...because predators are common here, including cheetah. I have also seen spotted hyaenas denning just north of Ngotso North.

The H1-4 ends at the large bridge which crosses the Olifants River. You are allowed to get out of your vehicle on the bridge, providing you stay between the designated lines. The view is breathtaking and more often than not you will see some animals and birds from here, including elephants.

Yellow-billed kites can often be seen hunting overhead and have a habit of sitting on the bridge railing for a rest every now and then.

Another road to drive from Olifants, is the S39 Roodewal road. It runs next to the Timbavati River, and as such, there should be plenty of game there when you are going The Northern stretch runs through quite open Mopani country, but the Southern section has plenty of water It is a road best left to a later time of day in the route, when the animals come to cool down in the river

The S90 South of Olifants is usually very productive up until Bangu waterhole!! South of that, there is a long dry stretch which is not likely to provide great game viewing in the driest times.

The S44 Letaba river road is one of the most scenic in Kruger he Olifants lookout point is situated on a rocky cliff above the Olifants River in more or less the centre of the S44. You are allowed to get out of your vehicle here, but there are no toilet facilities or benches. From the lookout it feels like you can see forever... With a good pair of binoculars you may even spot elephants, giraffe and waterbuck on the opposite bank, as well as hippos and crocodiles in the river.

Olifants offers a variety of routes, each with unique terrain Mopani is quite monotonous.