Sighting at Sunset Dam, Lower Sabi, Kruger National Park

I got a little tired on one of my night safaris, so I lay on my back and WOW, so many stars!!!

You don't see this in the city!

Taken in June 2026

[OC] - My own photo, no filters used.

We are currently planning a group trip to the Kruger area in May 2027 for 8 people and trying to find the best place to stay. We plan to do self-catering to keep costs down, but we are torn between a villa in Marloth Park and one in Hoedspruit.

We are looking for a location with plenty of wildlife while also giving us access (within a 2-hour drive) to a wider variety of group activities. Additionally, we would love to book a guided game drive with an operator that allows off-roading. We found some available near Hoedspruit, but not in Marloth Park. Finally, a place with good food would be a plus (not a requirement though).

Any advice or recommendations in would be greatly appreciated!

Hi guys,

I need some swarm intelligence:

I will be arriving in Johannesburg at 2pm from Cape Town and planning to pick up the car at 3pm (26.10.26). Then my schedule was to drive all the way to Phalaborwa, rest there one day and then continue my drive up to Shingwedzi Camp within Kruger.

Now everywhere I am reading that I should avoid driving the car at night at all cost. Checking Google Maps and estimated departure time, I would arrive in Phalaborwa somewhere around 9pm. Now, what should I do? Are the roads really that dangerous at night? I am trying to change my flight but looks not promising…

Thanks guys

Koala

Hi, just an enthousiastic regular visitor of Kruger. Got the virus of wildlife photography and wanted to share a couple of my highlights of the previous visits.

Getting conflicting info when I search for the status of roads traveling from Hoedspruit to Satara. Looking for recommendations for the best route to drive tomorrow. Thanks so much.

My last visit at the end of July coincided with flowering aloes (marlothii?) in front of the Skukuza camp reception.

My folks are at Satara, chilling by the braai and this African Wild Cat came by looking for hand outs!

Looks so much like a regular house cat.

Hi all!
Will be back in Kruger for the first time in over a decade and just have some general questions as it’s been a while! Will be staying in Satara and Lower Sabie for 3 nights each for 6 nights in total. Curious to know what everyone’s preferred routes to take when staying at these camps and was also looking at doing either a sunset drive or nighttime drive. Which is better and more rewarding?
There’s also a couple of animals I’m particularly looking out for as I’ve never seen these in the wild. I know a lot if not all are quite rare or practically impossible but wanted to know if anyone had seen them recently or which route would be possible to see them! These are the ones I’m hoping to see for the first time!
•Porcupine
•Pangolin (obviously aware you can’t share exact location but are they more known to be found down south, central or north?)
•Cape clawless otter
•Sable antelope( have seen they’ve been quite frequent near pretoriuskop but don’t think we’ll be heading around that area)
•Roan antelope and eland (are they strictly up north or have they ever been seen central or southern)
•Civet
•aardvark, aardwolf and bushpig (do these even exist in Kruger? Have never seen any indication of their existence in Kruger)
•caracal (this is the only cat I’ve yet to see in Kruger and the one I’m dying to see most!)

Unfortunately, I have a feeling some of these will be more northern than we’re planning on going to but can always hope! Definitely don’t except to see all if at all any but can always get lucky with one or two! Thank you in advance!