Thoughts are turning to the Easter holidays now, and a recent question on Trip Advisor was about the best camp/area to book in the Kruger Park over this period.
Wishful thinking, to be honest. As much as I would love to wax lyrical about the best areas and best camps, in all honesty, over the Easter period, whatever you do will be dictated by the availability at the rest camps. Easter is a really popular time, with both locals and international visitors, so our advice to anyone thinking of doing a self-drive safari in the Kruger Park over this period is please – do try to sort something out sooner rather than later!
Skukuza or Satara may be the best camps to start with, as they are the larger rest camps so they basically have more rooms to book out.
Having said that, Berg-en-Dahl normally has availability because it is one of the furthest camps south – I have stayed there, and as long as you don’t expect to see much game in the immediate vacinity of the camp, and you are prepared to drive a few hours to get to the more game-rich areas of the Park around Lower Sabie, Skukuza and northwards, then this is a perfectly feasible place to base yourself if everywhere else is full. Ditto with Pretoriuskop – it also too generally has availability because of its location.
Alternatively, if you cant get any availability in the Park, you could look at staying outside the Park at one of the excellent guest houses in Hazyview – our personal favourites are Rissington Inn or Jackalberry Farm and Lodge. If you asked them to pack you up a breakfast, you could be at the Phabeni Gate for when it opens or even the Paul Kruger Gate if you were happy with a really early start (in April the gates open at 6 am). Just a thought! You wouldn’t really be missing out on any game viewing time and the room would certainly be ‘nicer’!
