Kruger National Park

The dry season, from May to September, is the best time for game viewing, as vegetation thins and animals gather at water sources; it's also cooler and lower risk for malaria. The wet summer, from October to April, is hot, green and lush, with newborn animals and migratory birds, though animals are more spread out.

Self-drive is popular: rent a car and follow the park's roads, sticking to speed limits and gate opening times. Guided game drives, including sunrise and night drives, can be booked at rest camps. Kruger Mpumalanga International Airport near Nelspruit, Skukuza Airport inside the park and Hoedspruit Airport serve the region, and Johannesburg is about five hours away by road.

• Book rest camps well ahead through SANParks, especially in school holidays.
• Stay in your vehicle except at designated areas, and keep windows up near elephants and lions.
• Be back in camp before the gates close; times change with the seasons.
• Never feed animals; it's dangerous and illegal.
• Malaria is present, especially in the wet season; take medical advice.
• Drive slowly: many of the best sightings are by the roadside.
• A Wild Card gives unlimited entry to SANParks parks and can save money on longer stays.
• Fill up with fuel in camp; petrol stations are only in the main rest camps.
• Carry water, snacks and a cooler: distances between camps are long.
• Respect speed limits strictly; animals cross without warning.

Rest camps have shops and restaurants, but many visitors self-cater with a braai, a South African barbecue, in the evening. Try boerewors, a spiced sausage, and biltong, dried meat, a classic road-trip snack. Private lodges serve elaborate meals, often under the stars. Picnic sites along the roads have gas braais for hire, a pleasant way to break a long day of game driving.

Rest camps offer camping, huts, bungalows and family cottages at good prices. Smaller bushveld camps are quieter, and luxury lodges in private concessions and reserves offer guided safaris and high-end comfort.

Elephants are everywhere in Kruger, often in big family herds crossing the road or drinking at rivers and dams. Buffalo gather in large herds in the central and northern regions, and lions are most often seen in the south and centre. Leopards are elusive, but the riverine forests of the Sabie and Sand rivers give good chances. White and black rhinos survive in the south, though poaching has reduced their numbers, so sightings are not reported publicly. Wild dogs, cheetahs and hyenas, as well as giraffes, zebras, hippos and crocodiles, complete the picture, and the park has more than five hundred species of birds, including the colourful lilac-breasted roller and the ground hornbill.

A self-drive safari gives freedom and great value: you set your own pace, stop as long as you like at sightings and stay in rest camps at modest prices. Bring binoculars, a field guide and plenty of patience, and use the sightings boards in camps to see what others have spotted. Guided safaris, from park rangers or private reserves, add expert tracking, open vehicles, off-road driving where allowed and night drives, when you may see nocturnal animals such as leopards, hyenas and genets.

The Panorama Route, along the escarpment west of the park, has dramatic viewpoints such as God's Window, the Three Rondavels above the Blyde River Canyon, one of the largest canyons in the world, and Bourke's Luck Potholes, sculpted by swirling water. Graskop and Sabie are pleasant mountain towns to stop in on the way.