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It is going to be a long day - especially if you have a lot of good sightings along the way.

Hi Zeelie,

The distance for the round trip is 186km so at average speed of 30km per hour, this will take 6.2 hours (without stops). As already said leave when the gates open and watch your time as the day goes and you should be fine.

Enjoy!

I was camping at Satara for a week earlier this month. Whilst waiting for the gate to open one morning I was chatting to a couple who had gone to Lower Sabie and back the day before and had an amazing trip in that they spotted a black rhino, a leopard and a cheetah all on the H10.!!! They finished off the discussion by saying 'but we didnt see any lions'.
Needless to say when I did the same trip 2 days later I did not see a black rhino, nor a cheetah but did come across a leopard just north of Tshokwane but was relatively 'far in'.
The best sighting for me that day was on the S129 when I came across an ostrich couple with at least 12 chicks.
My opinion it is well worthwhile doing the trip.

Am new to this site as we eagerly anticipate our visit July 2010! We will have a rental vehicle for our panoramic route drive including stay at Letaba Camp. Can someone let me know what type of driving time we should anticipate to get from Letaba Camp to Crocodile Bridge Gate?

Welcome to the forum, banditoo!
The distance from Letaba to Crocodile Bridge is about 200 km and which will take you about 8 hours at the recommended game viewing speed of 25 kph. Stops excluded.

I know there will be many and varied opinions, but I'll ask anyway. How about the drive from Satara to Shingwedzi in a day--December holiday time? The drive time says 7 plus hours at 25 km/hr. This is our first trip north of Letaba, so don't know how many great places we'll see where we want to stop.
Right now we have: Pretoriuskop-one night, Satara-one night, next night no place to stay (but Satara is now available), one night Shinwedzi, one night Punda Maria, then out to Mapungubwe for three nights. Hope to come back to Kruger after, but still have to find space.
Thanks much for helping.

That sounds stunning California Girl I can see no problems with your itinerary. I would consider taking the extra night at Satara, as it is such a game rich area.

I am pleased that you are going to Mapungubwe, I am sure that you will enjoy it immensely.

Hello!

Well not long now until our 4 nights in Kruger

We'll be driving between Biyamiti & Satara - the distance seems very doable for a days drive (around 130km by my best guess). BUT there are a number of different routes!

Any suggestions/experiences on what routes will be good during early december?

Thanks,

Pete

Hi pete

Its doable.Not sure of the distance from there but I know the distance from LS to Satara is 95km.The S114 always good the LS to Skz road good the S25 good.Think its the S21 that links the LS and SKZ road with the S114 very good.

Welcome WOODLT!

That is perfectly understandable.

Yes, it is too much. I am always strongly of the opinion that if its a first (and possibly only) visit to Kruger, the south to middle is the only way to go. I would do 2 nights at Lower Sabie, and 2 at Satara. Drive up to Olifants from there, and even up to Letaba, but your chances of seeing game are better south of the Olifants River. LS and Satara are going to give you a really good experience of the African bush.

Try to go with no expectations - and you will be delighted. Everything you see then will be a 'high'.

Stick to the South.

If you want to go to Tsendze then you'll need camping equipment, no huts there. Other than that you

I would not do Letaba and Olifants on the same trip, they are quite close to each other. I'd add another night at Olifants or a night at Satara. Other than that your timings are spot on. You realise that you have a lot of packing up so I won't mention that. Just remember that you have to be out of your accommodation by 9am so doing a morning guided activity might be pushing it a bit, depending on the timings.
I'd always recommend a drive from Lower Sabie, the guides there are brilliant, I've never had a bad drive.

Always try to get a perimeter (U or V), especially at Lower Sabie and Olifants. The BD3U bungalows at Lower Sabie have been renovated and are fantastic. I've only stayed in the luxury safari tents in Tamboti but I'm told the ones in LS are good as well and in a less busy area that the bungalows.

Hope this helps and enjoy your trip.

So, we're now looking at:
Sunday arrive Jo'burg (due about 11am) and collect hire vehicle. Drive to around Graskop, arrive there by late afternoon / early evening.

Monday From Graskop drive up along the "waterfalls trail route" to around Blyde River Canyon NR, overnight Kampesrus or Hoedspruit area (possibly at a birder friendly establishment)?
Tuesday: Blyde River Canyon- birding sites around the Abel Erasmus Pass/Strydom tunnel etc Morning or all day depending on next option. Then I see we have a couple of choices:

Is it feasible to drive from Hoedspruit to Olifants camp in a day and which route would you take from Hoedspruit, up to Phalaborwa gate or through Orpen and then up? How long would that be likely to take?

Or should we aim to get to Phalaborwa for Tuesday night and overnight there and then use Wednesday to get over to Olifants??

Wednesday drive to Olifants
Thursday around Olifants- maybe take a drive up north to Letaba and loop back to camp
Friday around Olifants
Saturday to Satara
Sunday Satara for Sweni Wilderness Trail
Monday /Tuesday at Wilderness trail
Wednesday to Lower Sabe
Thursday to Crocodile Bridge
Friday via trails to Malelane Gate then to about Nelspruit
Saturday to Jo’burg, return vehicle and fly back to UK with lots of wonderful memories!

Thanks again!

My first instinct would be to go Hoedspruit, Orpen Gate then the tar roads to Satara and up to Olifants. If you start early enough you should have enough time. It will be an all-day drive though.

However as I now tend to head straight to the park in the quickest time possible after landing in SA I'm not that sure of the surrounding area. Hopefully, someone with more knowledge than me will help you out here.

As you have added Satara to your itinerary though, you may want to explore the Letaba area and go in through Phalaborwa Gate. Decisions, decisions. We have it every time we start planning a trip.

Whatever you do, it won't be a wrong decision so don't worry too much about it.

Greetings forumites

Its time to visit the park soon, but this time round its going to be extra special i will be taking my GF with Its her first visit to KNP.

I was lucky enough to get bookings during the busy June World Cup month, at Croc Bridge & Olifants for 2 nights.

Will be spending the first night @ Croc Bridge then off to Olipants.

What i would like to know is how long will it take me to travel up north?

thanks

I would say it would take about 8 hours or so. Long drive so leave early to give yourself time to explore many places en route.

If you go via the "back" of Lower Sabie, you should make some time to stop at the Nkumbe view point. You could also stop for brekkie at Mlondozi.