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Greater Kruger

Kruger safari packages: private reserves, the Sabi Sand and the park

Kruger is one ecosystem sold three ways: the national park on public roads, the private reserves on its unfenced western boundary, and the Sabi Sand at the top of them all.

Plan my Kruger safari See Kruger packages and prices

Private reserve or national park

Private reserves share the park's unfenced ecosystem but add off-road tracking and vehicle limits at sightings. The park is bigger, cheaper and busier.

The Sabi Sand

The best leopard viewing on the continent and the lodges to match. Worth it when game viewing is the reason for the trip.

Under an hour from Johannesburg

Scheduled flights into Skukuza, Hoedspruit and Nelspruit, or a light-aircraft hop straight to the lodge airstrip.

Packages from four nights

Sample Kruger routes from four to ten nights, each with a land-only guide price per person sharing and the flights from Johannesburg included.

Read this first

Four nights, one reserve, and what it costs.

Almost every Kruger package we build is four nights in one private reserve, with eight guided drives, a guide-and-tracker team, all meals and house drinks, reached by a scheduled flight from Johannesburg or Cape Town. Three nights is the floor; five lets you split across two camps or add a private vehicle.

The reserve decides the safari. The Sabi Sand gives you leopard almost daily and the strongest lodges; Timbavati, Thornybush, Klaserie and Manyeleti share the same ecosystem at gentler rates; the national park itself is excellent value with the vehicle numbers a public road implies.

As a guide, four nights in a private reserve start from about US$3,200 per person sharing, land only, and a seven-night Cape Town pairing from about US$5,200. The Greater Kruger is low-risk and seasonal for malaria rather than malaria-free; a travel clinic settles the question for your dates, and we plan around what they advise.

The reserves

Sabi Sand, Timbavati, Thornybush and the park, compared.

The same unfenced ecosystem, priced and managed six different ways.

Sabi Sand

Off-road traversing, a two-or-three-vehicle limit at sightings and the best leopard viewing anywhere. Priced accordingly, from about US$1,300 per person per night at the blue-chip camps.

Timbavati

Unfenced to the park, known for its white lions and big herds, with a strong set of Classic-band lodges. The sensible answer when the budget has to stretch across more nights.

Thornybush

Compact, well run and close to Hoedspruit airport, so a four-night stay loses nothing to transfers. Consistently good Big 5 viewing at Classic rates.

Manyeleti

Quiet, community-owned land between the Sabi Sand and the park, with very few lodges and long stretches without another vehicle.

Kruger National Park

Enormous, excellent value and genuinely wild, but on public roads with the queue that implies at a good sighting. We use it deliberately, usually as a day from a private reserve, rather than by default.

Klaserie

Big, wild and lightly developed, with owner-run camps and walking safaris. The choice for a second Kruger visit rather than a first.

Kruger packages

Four Kruger packages, with guide prices.

From a four-night safari-only stay to ten nights with Cape Town and Victoria Falls. Every one is rebuilt around your dates.

None of these exact?

Start with what matters to you.

Tell us your dates, party and the one thing the journey must deliver.

Plan your safari

Package prices appear only where published and are reconfirmed for your dates and party before booking.

Budget

What a night in the Greater Kruger costs.

Lodge rates are per person per night, and the same suite moves by a third between seasons. These are the bands we plan against in the Kruger reserves.

Considered
from about US$450 per person per night
Smaller owner-run camps, and shoulder-season dates in excellent reserves. The compromise is the room finish and the extras, not the game viewing.
Classic
about US$700 to US$1,200 per person per night
The heart of the market: established private-reserve lodges with two guided activities a day, all meals, and house drinks at most properties.
Premium
about US$1,300 to US$2,000 per person per night
Blue-chip camps in the strongest traversing areas, frequently with a private vehicle and guide added to the rate.
Exclusive-use
quoted per villa or per camp
A staffed private house, or a whole camp taken for one party. Expensive for two people, and often good value from about six travellers upward.

Every band excludes international flights. Internal flights, conservation levies, premium wines and private vehicles differ by property and are confirmed in writing before you commit.

Health and honesty

The malaria question.

The Greater Kruger, including the Sabi Sand, is classified low-risk and seasonal for malaria: risk rises in the wet months from roughly October to April and fades in the dry winter. Plenty of adults are comfortable with standard precautions; families with young children usually choose Madikwe, the Waterberg or the Eastern Cape instead.

This is travel planning, not medical advice. Take your dates and your travellers to a travel clinic, then tell us what they advised and we will plan around it.

Getting there

Flights from Johannesburg and Cape Town.

Scheduled flights leave Johannesburg daily for Skukuza, Hoedspruit and Nelspruit, and Cape Town for Skukuza and Hoedspruit; most lodges are twenty minutes to an hour by road from the airport. Light-aircraft hops land on the lodge airstrip and cost more. The road from Johannesburg is five to six hours and rarely worth it on a four-night stay.

Inclusions

What a Kruger package includes.

Private-reserve lodges are all-inclusive; the flights and transfers are where packages differ. This is the usual split behind the guide prices above.

Included in the guide prices

  • All accommodation at the room category quoted
  • Full board at the lodge, with two guided game drives a day and house drinks at most properties
  • Scheduled flights from Johannesburg or Cape Town to the Kruger airports
  • Road transfers between the airport and the lodge
  • Reserve, park and conservation levies
  • Cape Town hotels on a bed-and-breakfast basis where the package includes the Cape
  • A documented itinerary with contact numbers, and a team to call while you travel

Not included

  • International flights into Johannesburg or Cape Town
  • Visas, travel insurance, vaccinations and antimalarials
  • Light-aircraft transfers to the lodge airstrip, unless quoted
  • A private safari vehicle and guide, unless specified
  • Premium wines and spirits, spa treatments and boutique purchases
  • Lunches and dinners in Cape Town
  • Staff gratuities

Inclusions vary lodge by lodge. We confirm the exact list for every property in your package in writing before you commit.

Why this is safe to hand over

The credentials behind a Kruger package.

A package asks you to pay for something you cannot inspect first. These are the things that should make that reasonable.

IATA accreditation

Agency number 96097083, the accreditation airlines require before an agency may issue tickets in its own right.

Booking terms you can read first

Our terms and conditions are published on this site, so the payment schedule and cancellation rules are readable before you commit to anything.

Read our terms and conditions

Direct relationships with camps

We contract with lodges and reserves directly, which is how we get straight answers on refurbishments, guiding changes and what a rate genuinely includes.

Everything in writing

Inclusions, exclusions, cancellation terms and the full routing are confirmed on paper before a deposit is taken.

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Greater Kruger stays

Lodges we book most often in the Greater Kruger.

A sense of the standard rather than a fixed list. Which lodge goes into your package depends on the reserve, your dates and how many nights you have.

Before you enquire

Questions we are asked every week.

Private reserve or Kruger National Park?

A private reserve for the safari itself: off-road tracking, a guide-and-tracker team, and a limit on how many vehicles share a sighting. The national park for scale and value, with the trade-off that you stay on public roads. Most of our packages use a private reserve and, at most, a day in the park.

How much does a Kruger safari package cost?

From about US$3,200 per person sharing for four nights in a private reserve, land only, including flights from Johannesburg, transfers, all meals and two drives a day. Add Cape Town and a seven-night trip starts from about US$5,200. Sabi Sand icon camps and peak dry-season dates sit above those figures; green season sits below.

Is the Sabi Sand worth the extra cost?

When game viewing, and leopard in particular, is the reason for the trip, yes. When the budget has to stretch across more nights, Timbavati, Thornybush or Klaserie sit on the same ecosystem at gentler rates and give up surprisingly little.

How many nights do I need in the Kruger?

Four. Three is the floor below which the dawn-and-dusk rhythm never settles; five lets you split across two camps or add a private vehicle. A two-night safari is the single most common regret we hear.

How do I get to the Kruger from Johannesburg?

A scheduled flight of under an hour to Skukuza, Hoedspruit or Nelspruit, then a road transfer of twenty minutes to an hour, both included in the package. A light-aircraft hop to the lodge airstrip is available at extra cost.

Is the Kruger malaria-free?

No. It is classified low-risk and seasonal, with the risk rising in the wet summer months. For families with young children or anyone advised against antimalarials, Madikwe, the Waterberg and the Eastern Cape are the malaria-free alternatives, and we can swap them into any package here.

Keep reading

Related safari planning pages

South Africa safari holidays and packages Luxury safari holidays in South Africa Greater Kruger lodges Sabi Sand lodges Best time to go, region by region

Greater Kruger

Tell us your dates, and we will pick the reserve.

A specialist replies within one working day with a reserve recommendation, the flights that work, and real rates for your dates.

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