SANParks.org Forums

SANParks Frequently Asked Questions

Planning and booking your first trip to any of the parks can be a daunting task, so here we should have the answers to most of the questions which you may have, with some useful links to relevant info provided by other visitors.

If at any time you still feel unsure about anything feel free to contact any of the Forum Moderators for a helping hand, or post your question in the relevant forum. It's usually answered very quickly.

General information

(Two of the parks, the Kruger National Park and the Kgalagadi Transfrontier Park are visited a lot, so more detailed information for those parks seperate. For Kruger just scroll down, for the Kgalagadi we have a seperate topic. Do read this page though....)

Are bookings required?

Always book up front, especially for Kruger National Park and the Kgalagadi Transfrontier Park. These parks are very popular destinations and bookings are done up to 11 months in advance. You run a higher risk by just pitching up, to not find accommodation.
Day visitors to Kruger also need to book their visit!

You can check the accommodation availability for all parks on this page, and in almost all cases you can view photos of the accommodation by clicking on the little photo on the far right of the type of accommodation you are interested in.

Booking and paying can be done in a variety of ways, but the easiest way is via the real-time, online booking system. Other ways of booking can be found on the reservations page. Note that bookings for disabled people can not be made via the real-time system, these have to be made at least 1 month in advance via mail, fax or phone!
Inquiries about reservations and changes can be made via mail: reservations@sanparks.org OR by phoning Head Office in Pretoria South Africa at Tel (012)428 9111 and Fax (012)343 0905.
Pensioners may be entitled to a discount, see this pdf-file.

You'll receive a Reservation Number which must be quoted in all subsequent conversations or posts.

South African School Holidays and Public Holidays

Check the dates here to avoid the busiest times. Kruger for instance is usually fully booked during the holidays.

Pay the accommodation for the national parks in advance?

All reservations made online will require immediate and full payment by credit card.
If you use one of the alternative booking methods you can fax your credit card details to SANParks head office. Do this once you have confirmation of your bookings and, therefore, have a booking reference. Alternately, if you don't mind the cost, you could telephone and give your details there.
You can only book accommodation 11 months in advance.
Once you have made your preliminary booking, you have to pay a deposit (1/3 of total) and then the balance is due 30 days before your booking begins.

Disability and the parks

For the Kruger National Park, and some of the others, there is a very informative section which you can find here, this section covers probably all the information you will need, from accommodation assessments to specialised tourcompanies to guide dogs.

Car hire

You can visit most parks with any brand or make of car, the roads are well maintained, including the gravelroads. Most of the cars for hire will be white, which is a nice color in summer as the car will stay cooler. Air conditioning is also fairly standard in the car, but to maximise the experienceyou will probably drive with all windows open to let in all the smells and sounds.
While a Toyota Corolla-like car will do you for most of the year, during and just after the rainy season (say Januari till April) a higher car like a Condor will benefit you more in a lot of parks due to the vegetation growing.
Other parks, the more rugged ones especially need or should be driven with 4x4 vehicles, or contain sections that are for 4x4 vehicles only, so check what you need! In those more rugged parks, like for instance Richtersveld keeping an eye on your petrol is very much advised. An advisory on the pages for that park as an example:
Diesel and 97 Octane Petrol is available at Sendelingsdrif. Note that Lead Free Petrol is not available. The nearest supply of Unleaded Petrol is at Alexander Bay - 80 km.
Kindly note that the roads in the Kgalagadi Transfrontier Park are not sedan friendly, although the roads are maintained on a monthly basis, sedan vehicles find it difficult to cope with the conditions. Here is a topic on the Kgalagadi roads.

This company has been used by forummembers and they returned favourable comments about it. Here is a link to the car rental companies at the airport: Link.

It's not possible to rent a car without some liability. Even with Europcar super cover the minimum liability is R4000. Also check your insurance to see if it covers damage caused by driving gravel roads! Some companies do not have that insurance, and that will likely cost you a lot in damages.

Creditcards and petrol

Fuel, by South African law, could only be paid for using cash or with a garage card. As a foreign visitor it is not possible to get a garage card (a kind of debitcard).
Since july 2009 creditcards can be used to pay for petrol, one of the good things the Worldcup 2010 caused. This however still doesn't mean that all stations will accept your card! Some infrastructure for that service may need to be installed, and in many cases that may simply be too expensive. So make sure you do have enough cash on you, just in case!
Creditcards are widely accepted, and ATM's do accept most bankcards as well. Those with a 6-digit PIN-code are advised to change that PIN-code to a 4-digit one though prior to flying to South Africa to avoid problems.

Telephony and Internet

It's usually far cheaper to buy a SIM-card in South Africa, and use that during your vacation. Pop an SMS to one of your friends or family, and they'll all know your temporary number.
More importantly, your phone will not try to connect to the Internet via your home-network! And that will save you big bucks!
You can buy SIM-cards in lots of places. Since the first of july 2009 you are required to show your passport when buying a SIM-card, but you need to have your passport on you at all times anyway, so that's no problem.
The current SIM-cards will be valid for another 2 years, after that you'll need to buy a new one every year.
UMTS is available in (places in) some parks, best ask the forum if the area you are going to is covered.

Your arrival

Staff at the Gates are wonderful. You should encounter no problems whatsoever. From your side have the following with you:

1. If from overseas, your passport
2. Your Wildcard (see below)
3. Your booking confirmation received from SANP.

You'll receive a document which you need to carry with you at all times. Keep it in the cubby hole or somewhere easily accessible. It should look something like this, although the look of it changes now and then the info contained in it stays the same:



You can download the pdf-file (± 900 kb) here so you can read it / print it.
When you check in at camps this booklet, and the slips stapled to it will be asked for by the staff at reception.
Do read the booklet, not only does it have the do's and don't on it, but you'll also find handy information there like gate times and such!

Wildcard system

What is the Wildcard System? Read this link for other visitors' experiences concerning this system.
In very short, if you are an international visitor coming over for a longer vacation it's a way to pay less. At the moment of writing a Couples card costs R1475 (Check pricing here). Conservation fee per day is R76,00 per adult, so R152 for a couple. Which means that if you are in the parks for 10 nights or more you'll be spending less. Up to date tariffs can be found on this page.
The Wild card can be bought online, see the second link, or at the gate to the park.
There are cashback actions and such as well, more information on the Infinity website, again the second link.

Animals

It has been asked a few times, no animals may be brought into a National Park, not even a little dog or bird. This is of course to avoid tranferring disease into the parks. The only exception to this rule is guide dogs for visually impaired, but then only with the proper license. See the section above about disabilities.

What to bring or pack?

Quite a lot, and not really that much... Obviously you'll need clothing, and we would be surprised if you did not bring photography and/or video equipment.
In short, South Africa is quite warm, even in winter. You'll need to be able to layer your clothing, mornings and evenings can be quite chilly. You do not need the wonderfull looking "safari clothing", zip off trousers, t-shirts, shorts and a warm jumper or fleece are quite enough. Here is a discussion on clothing for Kruger.
Those going to do 4x4 or camping trips may want to look at the checklist, and create your own from that topic.
People staying in bungalows have it easy, bedding and towels are supplied in all accommodation (except camping). Cooking utensils and refrigeration are provided in most accommodation units. Exceptions will be indicated when booking. Just bring your own shampoo and toiletries.
Photography gear is of course very much up to budget and personal choice, in the photography forum you can find all you need to know.

Electricity

Most accommodation has poweroutlets, unless otherwise stated. There may be restrictions on it though, some camps run generators that are switched off during the night. Campers should bring an extensioncord of at least 25 meters long, fitted with the "blue plug". This 240 Volt blue plug is rated at 16 Amps and is suitable for use with extension cables outside.

Chargers for batteries that can be run off the car batteries are recommended for people doing a lot of photography.

More questions?

We hope that this information is all you need, but of course there could be questions left pertaining to your special needs. These might already be answered, but a bit hard to find. No problem, these two links may help you:
- Search the site or
- Search site & forums.
And if even that doesn't help, registering on the forums is free, and most likely someone can answer your question within hours.

Praise and complaints

With well over 3.7 million visitors to the parks per year it is unlikely everything works out to 100% satisfaction for everyone. Far more likely you will have had service above and beyond the call of duty. In both these cases feedback is very much appreciated, please fill in the Guest Feedback Form, and provide as much detail as possible.



Kruger National Park

The Kruger National Park is probably the best known National Park in the world. It houses the Big 5 (the african elephant, the lion, the cape buffalo, the leopard and the rhinoceros), as well as 142 other mammals, 517 species of birds and 1.982 species of plants.
The Kruger National Park has 21 rest camps, as well as 7 private lodge concessions, and 11 designated private safari lodges.

How to get from JHB International to Kruger

From Johannesburg it is about a 5 hours drive to Malelane gate. Getting out of Johannesburg onto the right highway can be a bit daunting, so a detailed route can be found here. New visitors are advised to print that out and bring it along.
Note that the main routes to Kruger, like the N4, are toll roads, so keep some cash ready. You can find the current fees in this pdf-file.

The weather
You can find some info on the weather here. This is the weather for Nelspruit, which is just outside Kruger. If you choose Mpumalanga as Province the Town dropdown will let you choose Skukuza, which is 'the capital of Kruger'.

Health - Malaria

NEVER UNDERESTIMATE THE DANGERS CONCERNING THIS DISEASE

The Kruger National Park is a high risk area. For advice visit this page, if you have more questions this topic is about malaria.

NOTE: We can not take responsibility for any advice given in the forum, it is just that, advice. Please visit your own GP for professional care.

Kruger Camps

General information about all Kruger camps can be found on the main website; Kruger camps. On the forums you can find lots of advice and personal accounts of people who have been there. In the Camps & Roads forum every camp has its own topic with heaps of information. Feel free to ask any question you have about a camp in the related topic.

Best camp for first timers

This is a difficult one to answer upfront as it's all about personal preferences, how long you'll be there and where you're coming from. Have a look at this Poll which others rate as their favourite main camp and this Poll about favourite Bush Camps. A good rule of thumb is like with most other things: if everybody says it's good, they can't all be wrong, can they?

As a rule of thumb:
- the south is the best for sightings, but can be quite busy,
- the middle is great for cats, but less good for other sightings, less busy, and
- the north is great for birding, poorer for other sightings, and very nice and quiet.

When planning your vacation keep in mind that you are on vacation. Unless you really want to, do not plan a camp a day, but instead stay 2 or 3 nights per camp, that saves you packing and unpacking everyday. And don't pick camps that are too far from each other! Kruger normal speed is around 25 km/h, not including stopping for sightings, lunch and such. So realisticly 150 kilometers between camps is a lot, though it can be done.

Etiquette

Please read the Code of Conduct on this website.
There are a few rules that are not really needed to be published. Among others the obvious ones, like talking loudly in a car at a sighting or at a waterhole, not slowing down while passing someone else on a sand road (dust blowing in), following closely behind another driver (we want space, especially if there is an elephant in front of us!!). Approach a sighting slowly and quietly, turn down the radio if it is on, switch off the engine!
Getting out of the car is not only downright dangerous, it may get you into the Gallery of shame... Do you have photo's to add to the Gallery of Shame? Email them with details to ericr@sanparks.org.
Discuss about etiquette? You can do so here and here.
Here are some examples of fines.

Unfortunately we have to point out a bit about feeding animals. It happens, and gives huge problems, and even creates danger to humans. SANParks has signs posted with this text:
You feed them, we shoot them!
This is the complete truth! So if you love them, don't feed them...

Advice on how to find animals - driving etc

Don't speed, keep your windows (and ears and eyes) open. Look at the sightings boards at the entrance of the camps, that may give a hint where to find what. Talking to other visitors may also help you find that sighting you otherwise may have overlooked.
Looking with your peripheral vision (looking out of the corners of your eyes) will help you find animals as well, as that is very good in finding motion. That flick of an ear, the leaf betraying the little cat, you name it...

It is not worth speeding in the KNP! Not only will you see less animals, and run the risk of hitting animals, read this:

The press release stating that, with photo's of the speedtrap officers.

Activities (bush breakfast & bush braai, game drives & guided walks, golf etc.)

First of all, have a look at the activities page of the site to see all the possibilities and pricing. On the forum we have this topic for discussing them.

Photography

Photography and video is one of the things you are very likely to do a lot in the parks. There is a section called Wildlife Photography Enthusiasts where you can find almost everything from what to bring to photography hints and Photoshop tutorials.
In general: you will have lots of light, so ISO 100 is enough during the day. You will need a beanbag or windowtripod to get the best photo's. A normal tripod is not needed as most animals will flee (or attack!) when you put something out of your window.
For birding you will need a long lens, 500 mm or more, for general wildlife a zoomlens like a 100-400 is usually enough. Inside the camps you can have great photo options, birds, bushbabies, bushbuck, etc, so do walk around with a camera and say a 70-200 zoomlens.
Roads can be corrugated, dust abounds in dry season, so equipment does break down. Buy, loan or hire a second body!

Food
Talk about Kruger food. What is on your Kruger menu? Worst Kruger food to eat? Read about it in the infamous skilpaadjies topic.

Shops

Advice about the supermarkets in and around Kruger. More about picnic spots.

Cell phones

Views about cell phone reception in Kruger. In this thread you can find advice about renting a cell phone or buying a simcard.

Emergencies
What can you do if your car breaks down? Quite a few forummembers have had the unfortunate experience of a flat tire.
Call the The Kruger Emergency Call Centre number which is 013 735 4325. If you have cell reception that is, otherwise you will have to wait for another car. Do not walk to camp!
This number is also the number to call if you see people speeding, littering, crowding sightings and other such nasty stuff. The call centre will pass your information on to the nearest camp or rangerpost.

More electricity
The camps are fenced, and electrical wires run through or next to the fence. These cables carry quite a stun, with 6.000 to 10.000 Volts! Even though this sounds like a lot, it is only produced initially from a 12v supply, so the amount of power in it, and hence damaging effects are negligible .
It pulses the power on and off as it generates the power (similar to a cars spark plug), so the shock you feel, is as the pulse comes along briefly every second or so.
So if you want to take photos over or through the fence, watch out for the wires! (And leaning against it is probably not a smart thing to do.)



When will I see yellow ribbons in KNP?

See what...? If you have not heard of that, a little history:

This has been widely accepted by the forummembers, and a lot of them have actually met each other that way.
There is a schedule posted on the forum with the dates members are in Kruger, have a look here for 2009, here for 2010 or here for all other parks. If you are going to visit a park and you want to have your schedule entered send a Personal Message to Jazil by clicking here.


Copyright The SANParks forum 2005, 2008

Please note that changes have been made to the Creditcards and petrol, and the Telephone and Internet sections.