?driving from J'burg?

Trying to make the best use of time. Will be coming from Botswana into J'burg
airport and was planning on heading to Hazyview and to see Kruger. Now thinking
of renting a car. Arrival J'burg is at 3pm.
I figure a car would allow us to leave ASAP instead of having to spend a night
in J'burg and catching bus the next morning.
What is price of gas to be expected in that area, and what is driving J'burg to
Hazyview like?

Gas - or petrol as it is called in SA, costs about R3.50 - R4.00 per liter.
The road from Joburg to Hazyview is perfect - you should have no problem at
all.
Enjoy your visit to SA.
Koos Greeff.
Specialist Safari Operator.
http://www.afrikasafaris.co.za

Treemoss2 wrote in message
...
Trying to make the best use of time. Will be coming from Botswana into
J'burg
airport and was planning on heading to Hazyview and to see Kruger. Now
thinking
of renting a car. Arrival J'burg is at 3pm.
I figure a car would allow us to leave ASAP instead of having to spend a
night
in J'burg and catching bus the next morning.
What is price of gas to be expected in that area, and what is driving
J'burg to
Hazyview like?

If you arrive at 3pm, you should be through immigration/collect
baggage/customs/at the car hire counter in less than an hour (everything
being smooth). Once you have signed for the hired car and got on the road it
could be way after 4pm and heading for evening. The N12 towards Kruger Park
/Hazyview is easily accessible from Johannesburg International (head east)
towards Nelspruit. The road joins the N4 120 Km from Johannesburg. It is
another 208 Km to Nelspruit. Plus 54 Km to Hazyview on the R40/R538.

Its over four hours drive to Hazyview, so you are going to be driving part
at night. This road is fine (tolls need to be paid). You might consider
staying in the Nelspruit area rather than pushing through to Hazyview. This
is quite near the Kruger park and on the N4, so you won't need to try any
country roads at night.

Suggest you make sure you have a booking at Kruger before leaving. Also book
the car in advance.

see www.shellgeostar.co.za for road trip planning
see http://www.parks-sa.co.za/ for bookings for Kruger park

Regards,

Clive Reid






"Treemoss2" wrote in message
...
Trying to make the best use of time. Will be coming from Botswana into
J'burg
airport and was planning on heading to Hazyview and to see Kruger. Now
thinking
of renting a car. Arrival J'burg is at 3pm.
I figure a car would allow us to leave ASAP instead of having to spend a
night
in J'burg and catching bus the next morning.
What is price of gas to be expected in that area, and what is driving
J'burg to
Hazyview like?

Originally posted by Treemoss2

Trying to make the best use of time. Will be coming from Botswana
into J'burg

airport and was planning on heading to Hazyview and to see Kruger. Now
thinking

of renting a car. Arrival J'burg is at 3pm.

I figure a car would allow us to leave ASAP instead of having to
spend a night

in J'burg and catching bus the next morning.

What is price of gas to be expected in that area, and what is driving
J'burg to

Hazyview like?



Definately hire a car. Easiest is to arrange for it b4 u arrive, try
Avis, Hertz, Budget. Otherwise go to the car hire desks at the airport
to arrange.



There is bookshops/ tourist info desks with maps and info on Kruger and
areas around Hazyview in/near the arrivals hall.



Remember thouigh, u need to pay for petrol either with a petrol card
(which u wont have) or cash, credit cards are not accepted for buying
petrol (at least not when i was last there).


--
Posted via http://britishexpats.com

On 22 Dec 2003 00:13:35 GMT, (Treemoss2) wrote:

Trying to make the best use of time. Will be coming from Botswana into J'burg
airport and was planning on heading to Hazyview and to see Kruger. Now thinking
of renting a car. Arrival J'burg is at 3pm.
I figure a car would allow us to leave ASAP instead of having to spend a night
in J'burg and catching bus the next morning.
What is price of gas to be expected in that area, and what is driving J'burg to
Hazyview like?



In addition to what Koos and Clive have told you, also remember that
the Kruger's gates are closed in the evenings.

November to February: 18h30

If you leave Joburg at say 4pm you won't make it in time.

Daniél Palm - South Africa
Disability is not inability

Thank you all for your info. I am still deciding on best approach.
Looks like driving would not be a problem. Now for other arrangements.

Kruger:
Seems like booking in advance for Kruger needs to be done to stay in the park,
but to do multiple camps through the booking process looks like a hit and miss
sort of thing.
If I wanted to enter in the south and stay at 3-4 nights different camps and
exit at Skakuza, I may or may not get a place at any one of my requests.
That said, is it really a MUST to book ahead?
I have been to Yellowstone National Park (a very popular destination) in US
here and on one of our biggest holidays and was able to get a campsite without
much problem, even though if I had contacted the park they would have said I
need a reservation. Might it be similiar in Kruger? Could you just wing it on
arrival there and probably still get accommodations?

Ken

I have been in both Yellowstone and Kruger. If you don't find a campsite at
Yellowstone it is just a short drive to townsites out of the park. Also,
the camps in Yellowstone seem to have many more sites available. My
experience in Kruger were that most sites were full on many days and there
was no place else to stay.

That said, the sites in Kruger have nice facilities with cooking shelters
featuring pre-heated water to make tea. Most camps have a small store where
you can buy groceries and wood for the brie (BBQ).

We booked our camps in advance through the South African National Parks by
email. This was a little frustrating because the person I was dealing with
would only reply to requests and did not make many suggestions for
alternatives if the site requested was not available. Civil servants are
the same all over the world.

If you don't have much time, I suggest you get a map of Kruger so you can
locate camps and get on the telephone to SANP to make your reservations.
They take VISA to make payments.

Scott Elliot
http://www3.telus.net/selliot/

"Treemoss2" wrote in message
...
Thank you all for your info. I am still deciding on best approach.
Looks like driving would not be a problem. Now for other arrangements.

Kruger:
Seems like booking in advance for Kruger needs to be done to stay in the
park,
but to do multiple camps through the booking process looks like a hit and
miss
sort of thing.
If I wanted to enter in the south and stay at 3-4 nights different camps
and
exit at Skakuza, I may or may not get a place at any one of my requests.
That said, is it really a MUST to book ahead?
I have been to Yellowstone National Park (a very popular destination) in
US
here and on one of our biggest holidays and was able to get a campsite
without
much problem, even though if I had contacted the park they would have said
I
need a reservation. Might it be similiar in Kruger? Could you just wing it
on
arrival there and probably still get accommodations?

Ken

Scott Elliot wrote:
My experience in Kruger were that most sites were full on many days
and there was no place else to stay.

That depends a bit on the time of year. During peak periods many camps
may be fully booked, while during other periods there is still some
spots left. At Kruger there is a maxumim number of people allowed in. So
even though there would still be space enough, when that number is
reached no more are allowed in. Though sometimes frustrating, it is a
good thing. So check to see whether or not you are in the middel of a
holiday season.

We booked our camps in advance through the South African National Parks by
email. This was a little frustrating because the person I was dealing with
would only reply to requests and did not make many suggestions for
alternatives if the site requested was not available. Civil servants are
the same all over the world.

Indeed. Making reservations for National Parks has become more and more
of a hassle. Despite the fact that they are becoming very commercial
(too much to my regards!) they still don't understand the principle of
commerce. Also due to the fact that they have employed many people
without proper education and without ant decent tourism training.

If you don't have much time, I suggest you get a map of Kruger so you can
locate camps and get on the telephone to SANP to make your reservations.

That would be the best way. Plan your trip carefully and choose the
camps you want to stay in. But beware of distances. Though there is a
speed limit of 30 and 40 (km/h), you will often travel at a much lower
average speed because you stop all the time looking at animals.

Have a great time at Kruger, it is such a wonderfull place!

Regards,
Hans



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Hans Martens

Wildlife & Nature Photography
http://www.wildpicture.com
==================================