Guided safari, game reserve or self-drive?

Guided Safari in Kruger National Park

(Low on effort, high on information)

This was our first safari experience, and it felt sensible. If you’re going somewhere new and don’t feel confident yet about doing it on your own, always trust the pros. So we went out before dawn with an experienced guide and a young French couple for a day of bumpy dirt roads, great snacks, staring breathlessly into the bush, and elephants. Lots of elephants.

What it was like

We sat in an open safari vehicle, clutching our binoculars and holding on to our hats, while our guide pointed out things we hadn’t seen ourselves, explained what we were looking at and made sure we were watered and fed throughout the day. He did all the driving, all the navigating, and he decided where to go next – and of course: he determined when it was time to start the truck and get going if the wildlife got a bit too close for comfort. We were mostly required to sit, watch and learn.

Why this works well

• No driving
• No decision-making
• No wondering whether that movement in the bush was important, dangerous or both
• No worrying about safety, bathroom breaks and where to have a picnic

The limitation

The downside of not having to make any decisions is that you don’t get to make any of the decisions. The guide will try to show you as much as they can, and listen to any ideas you may have. But any requests can be ignored if the rest of the group don’t feel the same. So if you like to call the shots this may not be your best option. I’m glad that we started this way though, because it took care of first-time safari anxiety, we learned a lot during that first day and we did’t have to do any of the driving. Or thinking.

Best for: first-time safari visitors, people who are a bit worried about safety, people who enjoy understanding what’s happening, people who don’t want to drive.

Private Game Reserves

(Even less effort, slightly better seating)

The stay in a private game reserve offered the smoothest version of safari we experienced. In a private game reserve, it’s not just about the safaris and the sightings, it’s about the whole experience: staying in the bush with nothing between you and the elephants, showering under the stars, needing an armed ranger to walk around camp at night, drinks and dinner by the fire, looking out over waterholes, and in our case, we even slept in a tree house away from the camp.

What it was like

Everything was arranged. From arriving in the camp after an adventurous drive through the reserve in our rental car, to the staff welcoming us with drinks, to sundowners in the bush and a hyena showing up while we were sitting by the fire: it was all magical. Game drives were longer, the vehicles were allowed to go off-road, and the lodge was designed around the idea that guests want to feel safe and spoilt. No need to check meal times, maps or gate times, no wondering if you’ll see any wildlife, just relax and enjoy!

In fact, I loved staying in a private game reserve so much that I wrote not one but two posts about it. This is the first post about our stay in Umlani Bush Camp; this is the one with the tree house.

Why many older travellers prefer this

• Fewer vehicles, so no waiting around with twenty other cars hoping to be able to see anything.
• Less noise, generally more comfortable
• More space and fewer people around: most safari camps are small and feel intimate
• All meals and drinks included, so no cooking or even deciding where to eat out.

The trade-off

Cost, mainly. It was one of the most expensive things we’d ever done on holiday. It was worth it, but it was a hefty sum. The bush camp where we stayed was nowhere near the most expensive. My advice: decide on the amount of luxury you would like before even starting your search – and then start looking for exactly that. In our case that meant we ignored the camps with the hot tubs, the personal butlers and the helicopter rides in and focused on it feeling like a true bush experience.

When staying in a private game reserve you are also seeing a smaller area, though an exceptionally good one. For me, this option felt the least adventurous of the three. The overall experience was amazing but the sightings felt less awesome because we knew what we were going to see. Rangers were in contact with each other all the time and told each other where to take the groups next. This meant wildlife sightings were guaranteed, but the wonder and excitement of spotting something unexpectedly was missing.

Best for: travellers who value comfort and want the whole experience, not just the game drives.

Self-Driving in Kruger National Park

(Maximum autonomy, variable outcomes)

Self-driving was the experience we were least certain about, and the one that turned out to be one of the best. My recommendation: if you can only do two out of the three, make this one of them but don’t start with it. It’s more fun if you’ve already had your share of animal sightings and are in it for the excitement and the unexpected at this stage.

What it’s like

We drove. We looked. We stopped. We second-guessed every decision. We drove long stretches of road not seeing anything, and then – giraffes close to the road. A crocodile swimming under the bridge we were on, waiting for a herd of impalas to cross the road. Two vultures sitting in a tree. Followed by more empty stretches of road.

When you do see something, it feels like a reward you’ve earned. I’m sure we missed things. A professional would have found more animals. This is not a flaw, just a fact. But that leopard in the photo below? He showed up right by the gate as we were leaving on our last safari day. All windows open, within petting distance. I don’t think we’d ever been this quiet before. Not a bad way to wrap things up.

Why you would choose to do this

• Complete control over the day: you decide where you go, and how long you’re going to stay there.
• The least expensive of all the options, especially if you stay in accommodation outside the gates of the park, like we did. We were close enough to be at the gates early and saved a lot of money this way.
• There’s no pressure to continue when tired. You can still enter the park at sunrise and stay until sunset, but you don’t have to.

The catch

Somebody has to do the driving, and that person won’t get to see as much as everyone who can just stare out of the window, binoculars and cameras at the ready. It also requires more decision-making while planning the trip: where to stay, which gates to use, what paperwork to arrange. And of course: you may not see any animals except the omnipresent impalas.

Best for: independent travellers, repeat safari visitors, people comfortable with uncertainty

When self-driving: stay inside or outside the gates?

For the self-driving days, we booked our stays outside the gates of Kruger Park, in a villa near Phalaborwa and a guesthouse near Hazyview. The first one was close to Phalaborwa gate, the second one close to the Orpen and Paul Kruger gates. We didn’t stay inside one of the guest camps inside Kruger Park, because by the time we’d decided to travel to South Africa, everything inside the park was booked. It is however a decision you could make if you’re planning far enough ahead.

Staying inside the park — in one of Kruger’s rest camps — means you’re already in the action. Early-morning and late-afternoon game drives are easy, and there’s something special about hearing the bush settle at night. The trade-off is simpler accommodation, possibly higher cost and fewer dining options. You can find information about staying in the guest camps inside Kruger Park here.

Staying just outside the park offers more comfort and flexibility. Private lodges and guesthouses often provide guided game drives, better facilities and a quieter, more relaxed stay — though you’ll need to factor in daily gate times and travel to enter the park.

We would definitely have stayed inside the park for one or two nights if that had still been an option, so you might want to consider it.

So – guided safari, game reserve or self-drive? Or – why choose at all?

Reasonable combinations can be:

• Guided safari first, self-drive later. This takes care of first-time safari anxiety and helps you know what to look for (and when to get out of there) when you’re self-driving later.
• Start with a guide, be spoiled in a private reserve and finally two or three self-driving days in different parts of Kruger. This is how we did it and what I recommend.
• For obvious reasons (at least I hope they’re obvious) walking safaris can only be done with a guide. We did not do this, although I wish we had.
• Guided drives early in the day, self-driving when energy allows. If you don’t want to get up at the crack of dawn every single day, don’t plan just guided tours. They all start early.

How long should you spend in and around Kruger Park?

Long enough to relax into it. 3 to 4 days is enough for a good introduction. 5 to 7 days is ideal for mixing styles. More than 7 days will make you stop counting sightings and enjoy the quiet and guilt-free naps.

Final thought: There is no “correct” way to do Kruger.

Safari isn’t about ticking off animals( Although ticking them off is a great pastime between sightings). It’s about how you move through a wild place: being shown, being looked after or the oddly satisfying feeling of figuring it all out yourself.

We loved all three versions for different reasons — and I’m very glad we didn’t try to force one experience to be everything.

If you’re planning a Kruger safari as an older traveller, here’s my best advice.
Ask yourself the question: do you want to feel safe and well-informed with a guide, adventurous on your own or spoilt in a game reserve? All three are great options, all very different.
Want the full experience? Go for the private game reserve. Want someone else to decide where to go and when to get out of there if animals get a bit too close? Go on a guided tour. Want maximum freedom? Self-drive it is.
And of course: if you can – do all three.

Want to explore more of South Africa? Visit the South Africa page for tips on the Cape Peninsula, Kruger, and other must-see regions