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When visiting KNP I always wonder if the park visitors, waiting for the gate to open, does have a specific route they will take for the day or are they waiting for the next BBM to show them the way??

Me and SO will leave at or just after gate opening and only come back to camp by 17:00 in the afternoon.
I always braai something extra and SO prepare some samies for brunch the next day and coffee to go

I have however a few things to consider whilst planning a route for the day which are as follows:

1. Have to be at some scenic point (water hole; outlook point) by 08:00 in the morning for coffee and rusks;
2. Have to make sure that we are at some point for a body break by 09:30;
3. Have to be at some scenic point (water hole; outlook point) by between 10:00 and 11:00 in the morning for brunch and last but not least;
4. Have to make provision for buying of cold drinks and body break by 12:30.

We will never make use of sighting boards and or BBM's to guide us to sightings. I stay on our planned route for the day, be as it may .

Would love to hear how fellow mites plan their next days activities in the Parks

We usually plan the initial part of the day, and then 'wing it' as the day goes on, though also never swayed by the sightings boards or other notification platforms.

We plan very loosely as well. Sort of we are heading in that direction, grab a rest at a picnicspot there-ish and then on to.... Which direction we head in of course relates to which camp we shall be in that evening.
Depends on the park as well of course. In Golden Gate we decide which walk to do the evening before, will we go to the vulture restaurant, or do we head for... Or do we stay at the retreat (plenty to see from the veranda), or...

We kinda plan our next days route, but it certainly is never cast in stone.

I am more "planning" than most I would think. We'll be visiting Olifants in about 3 weeks time.
At this stage, 3 weeks beforehand, I've already planned what route we'll take each day, where we'll eat breakfast, lunch and dinner and if I'm making it and its not takeaways etc, what we'll be eating.
I'll know how many kms we'll drive, at what time approximately we'll be where and have a good idea of the sightings potential of the roads we'll be driving. The roads will be selected based on this information and also on my priorities at the time. For instance last time in Pretoriuskop I was specifically looking for wild dog.
This time around I'm looking for Pel's fishing owl. Unlikely that I'll be successful, but the looking part is the fun.
Closer to the time I'll get my shoppinglist ready, based on this planning.

If I know the area I'll do some research to refresh my memory, but if I don't know the area and this is my first time at a camp, I'll do exhaustive reasearch months before and write a whole book full of notes and routes and advice and ecosystem info. It takes months to do and some of these books are works of art, if I have to say so myself.
I also keep a journal of each trip in this book and so have a record of each of our KNP trips, right down to the menu, routes and research beforehand. In the event of a fire, these are things that I'd try to save.
SO says I must publish a book on KNP one day, drawing all of the different ones over the years together.
Since Olifants is my favourite camp, I know the area around it quite well and have not done the whole guidebook thing in detail this time around.
In case all of this sounds like a lot of work to you, I'll just say that the planning is half the fun!

The first time we went to Kruger, we planned each and every drive according to the map.........now we see where the road leads us!!!

I have already planned October's drives
There is a minimal chance that these plans will be followed though! It is more about obsessing and fantasising about the trip than actually making plans

But yes I have written down tips based on what people have seen on facebook and BBM updates. I take that knowledge into consideration when planning a route If I feel like going a certain route at the time, of coarse I will do so! But when it is hard to decide, I go on the facts of what has been seen recently on which roads Or perhaps I will drive the terrain of the animals I havn't spotted yet. Although the cheetahs keep staying away from me

Hi everyone
I plan a route but I wing it as well, and I do check the sightingsboard and BBM but I won't go out of my way mostly to go check it out.
I stop at a T-junction and always ask my passenger what direction they feel like
But there are some days that I do follow a strict route
Mel123 I like your planning

We start the day with a vague plan but find that events overtake us and what we planned rarely works out because what we are looking at/doing is far more exciting/interesting. We always take snacks and drinks so that we can stay out all day or not, but we do try and have a couple of 'afternoons off' in camp at various points just to enjoy the peace We always try to take in waterholes for an hour or two on our routes in the early morning and evening - the best time of all - tea, biscuits and the local show No sighting boards or BBMs . . . .

We will often sit around the table the night before and plan more or less which route we will take the following day.
but it has also been known to change at the 11th hour or on the spur of the moment.
If there is any major at cross roads then out comes our "decider"

Large Heads

and Tails!

Large

Taken us to the "right" road on more than 1 occasion.

This is exactly what I do! Plan for months in advance, out of obsession, only throw majority of the plans out of the window once I'm through those magical gates.

I tend to have a vague-ish plan..

but

I often get tips and advice on the route
I get a gut feel
I get hungry

or more often

I get lost

We usually decide on the way to the car or when we are already out of the camp gate

I have a plan at what I want to see and know the area where I might see it... so I would plan an area rather than a route and then I follow my gut - I do have a Kruger 6th sense about where to go.... and I can nominate what I'm planning to see, on which road.

Cases in point:
1. Our last trip a couple of weeks back, I booked specifically at Maroela to catch a glimse of the H7 wild dogs. Well, on our way in towards Orpen gate, while still in the Timbavati reserve we saw the doggies come running towards us in the road ... 6th sense, CHECK!!

2. We drove around the Satara area for a couple of days knowing that there would be lions around... that's a given, I know.... and I know the S100 has been prolific with the mega pride hanging around - so no surprise there... but we did the S100 just about every day without luck. But then on the second last day we were on our way back from N'wanetsi dam and my FIL said we should rather take the H6 back to Satara. But I just had a feeling that the lions would be on the S100 and convinced everyone that we should take it one last time. Around the 2nd or 3rd bend a lioness walked towards us head-on. We reversed with her for about 500m and she crossed the river to meet the male just across the river in a clearing... 6th sense - that's 2!!

I did strike out on a leopard though - I was certain we'd see a leopard on the S36 Timbavati, without luck - but I blame that on my crew, 50% of which were taking a nap while driving and the other 50% spending more time with their heads in the sanck box than actually looking for leopard

When in KNP i have an idea of which roads I want to drive before hand but I will only decide how and when I drive them while in KNP. I generally get to the gate way before opening time and go for an 1-2 hour drive that will include a coffee stop and a scenic location.
Back to camp to collect breakfast?brunch supplies and then off to a picnic spot, return to camp in the early afternoon. I spend the rest of the afternoon either catching a nap, having a swim or having a stroll around camp before heading out for an afternoon drive