Kruger Half-Day Game Drive from Hazyview

The southern Kruger: the park's richest wildlife region

Kruger National Park is enormous, stretching about 350 kilometres from south to north, but its southern section between the Crocodile and Sabie rivers holds the densest wildlife populations. Permanent water, fertile soils and a mix of thorn thickets, open grassland and riverine forest support large numbers of impala, zebra, giraffe, buffalo and elephant, and with them the predators that follow: lion prides, leopard in the big river trees, spotted hyena and, with luck, wild dog and cheetah. White rhino are more common here than anywhere else in the park.

A half-day drive from Hazyview concentrates on this region. From the western gates the roads run through the Pretoriuskop sourveld, the granite koppies around Nkambeni and down to the Sabie River, with loops that your guide chooses according to the morning's radio reports and fresh tracks. Is a half-day in Kruger worth it? For many visitors it is the ideal format: the productive hours without the slow midday heat.

Numbi, Phabeni and Paul Kruger gates

Three park gates serve Hazyview, and you can be collected at any of them. Numbi Gate, to the south-west, is the historic entrance near the Pretoriuskop camp; Phabeni Gate is the closest to Hazyview at roughly fifteen minutes; Paul Kruger Gate lies east of town on the Sabie River, opposite the Skukuza area. Kruger opening hours follow the seasons, with gates opening between half past five and six in the morning and closing between half past five and half past six in the evening, and our morning drive is timed to enter as they open.

Because our guide is registered with the park, the vehicle uses the separate lane for tour operators at the gate, which saves waiting time on busy mornings. Entrance and conservation fees are paid at the gate and are not included, so carry a card or cash and your passport or ID. For the afternoon option the drive starts around midday and continues until shortly before the gates close, with the light softening over the bush.

Game viewing from an open safari vehicle

An open safari vehicle changes the experience of Kruger. Seats are raised in tiers above the driver, so every row looks over the bush rather than through a window, you hear the birds and the alarm calls of impala, and you can photograph in any direction. At a sighting the guide positions the vehicle, switches off the engine and gives you time; most guests find that watching a lion pride at rest or an elephant herd crossing the road in silence is the highlight of the day.

The best time for a Kruger game drive is the first two hours after the gates open, when predators are still active and the temperature is pleasant, which is why the morning drive is the default. Animal sightings are never guaranteed, but a registered guide knows where lion were seen the evening before and which waterholes draw game in the dry season. Between sightings there is always something: hornbills, kudu bulls, dung beetles rolling their balls across the road.

Rest camps and picnic spots along the way

Halfway through the drive we stop at a rest camp or picnic spot inside the park for breakfast or lunch, which you buy yourself. Skukuza, the park's largest camp, has a restaurant deck over the Sabie River, a shop and clean restrooms; Pretoriuskop is a quieter option near Numbi Gate with a shaded terrace; picnic sites such as Nkuhlu, on the Sabie River between Skukuza and Lower Sabie, have gas-fired cooking points and a kiosk. Each has restrooms and a few minutes to stretch your legs.

The break lasts about forty-five minutes and the guide uses it to plan the second half of the drive. Afternoon drives include a similar stop, with the camp terraces at their best as animals come to the river to drink before dusk. Allow a little cash for coffee, snacks and souvenirs, as the camps are the only places inside the park to buy anything.

Hazyview, Nelspruit and White River: where the drive starts

Hazyview is the classic base for the southern Kruger, a small lowveld town on the Sabie River with hotels and guesthouses at every level, about fifteen kilometres from the Phabeni Gate. How to get to Hazyview: it is roughly an hour from Kruger Mpumalanga International Airport (MQP) and about five hours by road from Johannesburg, and we can arrange a private transfer. Nelspruit, now called Mbombela, and White River lie closer to the airport and are the pickup points for the alternative options on this page, with an earlier start to cover the extra distance.

The dry season from May to September is the best time to visit Kruger, with sparse vegetation and animals gathering at water, though early mornings on the open vehicle are cold. The green season from October to March brings heat, afternoon storms, lush bush and newborn animals. Kruger is a malaria area, so speak to your doctor before you travel.