I'm ready to Go, but Where do I start

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Summer

• Day time temperatures often in the 40s
• Flash flooding and torrential storms
• Longest hours for game viewing, camps open earlier (4:30am) and close later (6:30pm)
• Tougher to see animals in longer grass, less animal activity with more surface water to drink, peak birding season
• Lots of insects at night
• Take heed about malaria

Autumn

• More comfortable temperatures, but still very warm
• Rainy season finished, surface water drying up
• Animals becoming more active as it cools, searching for water
• Take heed about malaria

Winter

• Coolest time of the year, daytime in mid 20s, night-time dropping into the single digits
• Dry season
• Shortest hours for game viewing, camps open later (6:00am) and close earlier (5:30pm)
• Easier to see animals in drier thinner grass, greater animal concentration around waterholes, birds migrate away from Kruger
• Fewer insects at night
• Take heed about malaria

Spring  

• Days are getting longer, and hotter, nights are getting warmer
• First rains bring the green shoots of grass and flowers 
• Lambing season with babies being born
• Take heed about malaria 

Kruger National Park accommodation can be booked online, directly through the SANPARKS website. Create your user account and log-in to the system for full functionality

Bookings are live and real time, with camp availability by accommodation type shown, on a monthly basis. The number of vacant accommodation choices is shown by a number. Anything with a zero means there is nothing available

Reservations open 11 months in advance and fill up quickly, particularly during South African school holidays

Plan your trip in advance. Availability changes frequently, and you can change your accommodation up to 1 month prior to your arrival. Check the page frequently if your initial preference isn’t available

Once you have a confirmed reservation, use this reservation number to call through to SANPARKS (+27 12 428 9111) and make specific accommodation unit requests

Kruger National Park accommodation varies from camping (bring your own) to cottages (large style for families)

Please manage your expectations on the quality of the accommodation, it is very basic and functional at best. The staff do their best to ensure accommodation is clean, but most of the units are dated and in need of a paint job and a refresh. 

• Decide on the time of the year you would like to visit South Africa, and how many people you’re travelling with
• Determine how many nights you’d like to spend in Kruger National Park
• Determine which regions of the park you’d like to visit
• Search for accommodation availability at the rest camps in the regions
• Select the type of accommodation you require
• Make your reservation online

Accommodation type:

• Camping: you’ll need your own tent. 
• Huts: Single bedroom, some without kitchen and bathroom
• Safari tent: Permanent tents, some don’t have bathroom
• Bungalow: Single bedroom including bathroom, most with a kitchen
• Cottage: A larger family unit including kitchen, living room and 1 or 2 bedrooms
• Guest Cottage: these usually are identified by donor names. They sleep larger parties, and are ‘more luxurious’

Please remember that Kruger National Park is not the luxury lodges you may see advertised with plush pillows, mosquito nets and welcoming plunge pools 

Depending on the length of your stay, we recommend staying at at least 2 different rest camps

Each rest camp has its' own charm, different features, different roads to drive, different animals to see

Try not to move too much though as you'll be consistently packing and unpacking your car

Most visitors don’t make it to the far north of the Kruger National Park. It’s not renowned for ‘big 5 sightings’. Animals are more sparse, but it’s particularly good for birding during summer. Less people and less traffic. The scenery is more dramatic and the nature feels more natural.