Game Drives (guided), Kruger National Park

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The same place where we found few Hippo’s we found also plenty of Buffalo’s, they are always close to water and in big herds where they try to protect the young ones in the middle, but not always that successful.

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Our guide took us also to see the local Elephants in private game reserve, being local and familiar with the elephants he could drive the land rover much closer then I would ever drive nearby African elephant. You can see them here just in front of the land rover, it was amazing watching them.

It certainly is worth taking a guided drive in one of the landrovers. Not only do you get good views from being up slightly higher than when in a car, you also benefit from the rangers knowledge.
Taking an organised trip also means you get to go where the general public are not allowed to go.

We stayed at the rest camps inside the park and they all offer early morning and evening game drives. You are taken out in a small, open-air bus and drive around for 3 hours looking for animals. The morning drives leave before sunrise, at 5:30 AM and the evening drives leave just before sunset at 5:00 PM.

We were there in May, and even though it was comfortably warm during most of the day, the morning drives were COLD! The evening drives weren't much warmer. If you're there in the cooler months, you'll need several layers to stay warm. Bring a hat, sweatshirt, windbreaker and long pants!

I have to say, there wasn't much that we saw on the game drives that we didn't see driving around on our own. We saw a rhino, some jackals and a hyena, which we didn't see on our own. But all of the rest, (lions, elephants, buffalo, etc.) we did see on our own and in higher concentrations. So you don't HAVE to get up early to see good stuff, but you never know what you might miss if you don't!

Sunset dam is a great place to watch hippos, crocodiles, and various water birds. You can find spoonbills, grey heron, yellowbilled stork, openbill stork, egrets, yellow weavers, black crake, blackwinged stilt and, African jacana to name a few common to the region. You can find many vantage points along the dam and get very close to the water.
Sunset is located on the lower sabie road H4-1 about 1km north west of lower sabie.

Starting very early in the morning, they pack you in a Jeep and drive you around the Nature reserve.

Since there are several Camps and Jeeps and all are connected with radio equipment, they inform each other, if they see anything interesting.

So here is your best chance to see the "big five" (lion, leopard, rhinoceros, buffalo and elephant) real close up, but in the wild.
Also you get all the information you need and want to know.

Isn?t that lion just the cutest?
I am not going to rub its belly anyway, sorry.

Safari tours that usually take place early in the mornings and late in the evenings and last 4 hours. After two hours of 'hunting' your ranger and his tracker stop and you are allowed to step out of the jeep right to the wilderness to enjoy a nice evening cocktail or morning breakfast. But beware of wild animals that can pass you nearby without notice!

Rise and shine the animals are up and are in full view. In an open air Jeep you are experiencing not only the sights and sounds but the smells as well. The jeeps and guides can communicate with radios and go off road on to trails so that your viewing pleasure is enriched.