Without a doubt, one of our favorite family holidays is going to the bush, especially the Kruger National Park. I’ve been going since I was a child and it’s so special that I can take my own children now and relive the experiences through them.

But going to the Kruger with kids is no joke, let’s be honest. And while my girls are great when it comes to car drives and being out of routine, etc it still takes a fair amount of planning and a lot of patience.

On our most recent trip, the three most common questions I got asked were:

1. Which camps we like the most?
2. How do we keep the kids busy on drives?
3. Do we do self-drives or only guided?

I’m going to answer these in as much detail as I can and hope that it will help you to have the most incredible holiday in the Kruger with kids.

Where we stay

Unless you’re staying in one of the private or luxury camps, the accommodation at Kruger is very simple and rustic, but it has everything that you need for a great stay.

Majority of the camps also have really amazing pools (which are amazing because it gets hot over the summer months) as well as restaurants, shops, lookout points, etc.

Obviously, the size of these facilities vary from camp to camp but we’ve never felt like we couldn’t get what we needed to be comfortable and the staff have always been so accommodating.

Most recently we stayed in Berg-en-Dal and Pretoriuskop. Both are stunning camps and we enjoyed both. If pushed, I would say that the accommodation at Pretoriuskop was slightly nicer but only because it was a bit lighter, the chalet at Berg-en-Dal was quite dark inside.

I also really love Lower Sabi but couldn’t get a booking there this year, next year for sure! We haven’t ventured up to Satara simply because it’s quite a drive north and if/when we do make the trip there, we would want a good few days to split the drive up between camps. My folks just stayed there though and said it was wonderful!

What to pack

In terms of what to pack for your accommodation, you need to take swimming towels (bath towels are provided) and braai wood/charcoal (available at the shops).

You also need to remember that even if you’re booked into Kruger accommodation, you still need to pay your conservation fees, either online when you book or at the gate when you arrive.

Marloth Park

We’ve also stayed at Marloth Park (which is outside of Kruger) a lot and it’s just as lovely and you can find some great places on AirBnB. It’s about a 20min drive to the closest gate so you can do a great little day trip.

Marloth itself is beautiful and has lots of buck, zebra, etc that roam freely, a little shopping centre and a great waterpark.

The only downside to Marloth is that if you’re going to go into Kruger multiple times it can get expensive as you’re paying a fee each time. Of course, a solution to that is to get a Wild Card.

Kids and game drives

This is probably the most asked question in my DMs; what do the kids do on the game drive. Our kids grew up going on game drives so they are pretty good at it and enjoy spotting the animals and chatting while we drive. A few things that do help though:

• Keep the game drives to a max of 2hrs if your kids don’t fall asleep easily in the car. When the girls were around 3yrs/4yrs we could go on much longer drives and they would usually have a nice nap in the car, these days naps are a thing of the past and so we cap drives at 2 hours. Either we do a loop back to the camp or we do a stop over at a rest stop or another camp and have a nice meal and let the kids run around for a bit. There are some great lookout spots where you can get out of your car, cook some food on a braai/skottel, and stretch your legs before hitting the road again.

• Have music or audiobooks that they enjoy. We don’t do this often because we generally like to listen to “bush radio” but if the kids start to get restless then we pop on their playlist or an audiobook and they chill out.

• Invest in some animal books. My girls love looking up the animals and then telling us facts about them. Our favorite series is “My First Book Of”. They come in a few different languages, have great illustrations and lots of infographics so even if your child can’t read yet, they can still discover fun facts about the animals they see.  This trip I also picked up a copy of The Kruger Stick-List for the girls to share and it was an absolute hit! It’s so fun and interactive, of course, the kids love stickers and unless you’re going for a super long trip, you can reuse the book for multiple trips to Kruger with kids.

How we get around Kruger

I say this to almost everyone but Kruger is one of the best marked parks in terms of road signs, they really do make it so easy. Google Maps picks up most of the park but it is still helpful to buy a map and plot your drives, where you’re going to stop, etc.

For the most part, we drive ourselves everywhere (there are petrol stations in the majority of the camps if you need to fill up), but we have gone on a few guided drives.

My favourite is the sunset drive which is usually from 4.30pm for 3 hours. They don’t take kids under 6 and no food/drinks are provided so you need to take your own. Aria came with my mom-in-law and I this trip and she loved it, it really is so special.

The guides of course can’t guarantee specific sightings but even if you don’t see anything showstopping, they have such incredible knowledge of the bush that you always go home learning new things.

In terms of what car we take to Kruger, we don’t have a 4×4 and you definitely don’t need one in Kruger, but if you have the option to take an SUV or a car that’s higher up, it’s really helpful.

We are so lucky to live in a country where we can see such incredible animals in their natural habitat, and while we really do have so much choice when it comes to where we can book, there is something so special about Kruger that everyone needs to experience.

I hope that this blog post was encouraging to those of you who are on the fence about Kruger with kids. Just being in Kruger is amazing, but being there, watching your kids enjoy it, takes the whole experience to another level.

Got any other Kruger questions? Leave them in the comments and I’ll get back to you!

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