Kruger

Currency

The rand is weak against the euro and the dollar, which makes Kruger the cheapest way to see the Big Five anywhere in Africa — a self-drive week here costs what two nights in a Botswana camp does. Cards work at every rest camp; carry some cash for the community stalls at the gates.

ATMs & cards

Machines at Skukuza and the larger rest camps, and in Hazyview and Nelspruit on the way in. Draw before you enter; the smaller camps have none. Standard Bank, FNB, Absa and Nedbank are the ones to use, and skip the standalone machines at petrol stations.

Cards work at every rest camp. Carry some cash for the community craft stalls at the gates.

Wherever you are: if the machine offers to charge you in your home currency, decline. That is dynamic currency conversion and the rate is set by the ATM's operator, not your bank.

Safety

The rules exist because people die ignoring them: stay in the vehicle except at designated points, keep the windows up near elephants, never get out for a photograph, and be inside a camp by gate-closing time. Malaria is present in the summer months and prophylaxis is worth discussing. Crime inside the park is essentially nil; on the roads outside it, normal South African caution applies — do not leave valuables visible and avoid driving after dark.

Our own assessment, not a sourced index.

Entry & visa

Health & emergencies

Required to enter

• Yellow fever certificate, but only if you are arriving from a country where yellow fever is present

Worth having

• Hepatitis A
• Typhoid
• Tetanus up to date
• Malaria prophylaxis only if you are going to Kruger or the north-east — Cape Town has no malaria

Getting treated

Private hospitals (Netcare, Mediclinic) are genuinely world-class and cost far less than Europe or the US, which is why medical tourism exists here. The public system is overloaded. Insurance is worth it, and private ambulances (ER24, Netcare 911) respond faster than the state service.

Tap water is safe in Cape Town. No malaria in the Western Cape.

Orientation, not medical advice. Entry rules change and what you need depends on your own history and where you have been — check with a travel clinic or your national health service four to six weeks before you go.

Food tip

Rest-camp restaurants are decent and the braai is the point: every unit has one, every shop sells boerewors and firelighters, and grilling your own dinner while hyenas call outside the fence is the whole Kruger experience. Stock up in Nelspruit or at Skukuza’s supermarket.

Getting around

• Your own car — this is the great thing about Kruger: 2,000km of road, much of it tarred, and you drive yourself
• Rest camps — book SANParks accommodation months ahead; the gates close at sunset and being late is a fine
• Guided drives — dawn and night drives with a ranger leave from the camps and reach places cars cannot
• Private concessions — Sabi Sand and the others on the western boundary offer off-road tracking at ten times the price
• Airports: Skukuza inside the park and Kruger Mpumalanga (KMIA) an hour from the gates

Internet speed

Broadband here runs at 39% of the global median of 128 Mbps. Mobile runs at 64% of the global median of 110 Mbps.

Source: Ookla Speedtest Global Index · measured May 2026

Must-see

Things to do

• Drive yourself at dawn, slowly, with the windows down and the radio off
• Take one guided night drive for the things that only move after dark
• Sit at a waterhole hide for an hour and let the animals come
• Braai at your camp with hyenas laughing on the other side of the fence
• Walk with an armed ranger on a morning bush walk
• Go in winter, when the grass is down and the animals come to the water

Nearby day trips

Say a few words

South African English — local usage

• HelloHowzit
• ThanksThanks / DankieDUNK-ee
• BarbecueBraaibry
• Traffic lightRobot
• Yes, definitelyYebo
• No problemSharp sharp
• The bill, pleaseThe bill, please
• GoodbyeCheers / Totsiens

Religion

Christian majority

Around 80% Christian, alongside African traditional belief, Hindu, Muslim and Jewish communities. The constitution protects all of them explicitly.

Do's and don'ts

Do

• Greet with howzit and take time over it; abruptness is rude
• Tip 10-15% at restaurants, and a few rand to car guards
• Accept a braai invitation — it is the central social ritual
• Ask locally which areas to avoid; the answer changes by street and by hour

Don't

• Do not walk alone at night, or use a phone visibly in the street
• Do not accept help at ATMs from anyone, ever
• Do not discuss race and politics casually; the history is recent and raw
• Do not leave anything in a parked car, or resist if you are robbed