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If you were to ask me which part of our South African adventure I loved the most, I would easily answer that it was being at Kruger Park. Being in nature in its rawest form was extremely powerful and the long hours on game drive to witness the animals in their natural habitat felt very meditative.
We spent three nights and four days at Kruger Park and stayed at the charming Hoyo Hoyo Safari Lodge, a very small (only 6 rooms) game lodge 2 hours from the closest gate to enter Kruger from Johannesburg. The beauty of staying in such a small lodge was that we had the entire place to ourselves and the staff were so kind and treated us like guests in their home, spoiling us every step of the way. Where else can you be lounging by the pool and the waiter begs you to let him make you a drink, free of charge!
We would wake up at 5AM every day to head out on our early morning game drives from 530AM till 9AM. These were some of the coldest times, but it was worth it to see the animals while they were still active.
A lot of you have been asking questions about the game drives, so I’m going to share some helpful tips at the bottom of this post:
Here are more pictures from our amazing time at Kruger Park:
SAFARI TIPS:
1. Wear light coloured comfortable cotton clothes. Even though it’s not required, colors like gray, beige, black, and green fit in nicely. Long pants or legging are best.
2. You don’t need to go out of your way to buy shoes. A good pair of hiking sneakers or rubber shoes should be fine. You’re actually in the vehicle the most of the time.
3. Bring a hat because the sun can bite once it’s up. But don’t use it in the vehicle unless you can be guaranteed it won’t fly off.
4. If you have binoculars, I highly recommend bringing them. Sometimes the animals are far away and it’s no fun to share one pair among everyone.
5. Bring a camera lens with a bit of zoom. A fixed lens isnt going to get you too far in terms of pictures.
6. The mornings can be really chilly. So bring a beany to warm your ears and a scarf you can wrap around your neck and mouth. I wore three layers over my shirt that worked really well. A fleece from Columbia, a wind breaker from Uniqlo, and a green jacket from Gap. As the sun warmed us ip, I just peeled off layers till I was comfortable.
7. Bring easy to munch snacks, some game drives can be 4 hours.
8. On that note, use the bathroom before you go. Unless you want the full bush experience.
9. Don’t forget your insect spray, sunblock, hand cream and lip balm.
10. Listen to your guide. When he says quiet, he means it. Don’t do any sudden movements when animals are nearby or stand up in your vehicles.
In case interested, we booked our South African Tour through Jeron Travels and flew to South Africa via Singapore Airlines.
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