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#1
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?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? |
#2
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?driving from J'burg?
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? |
#3
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?driving from J'burg?
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? |
#4
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?driving from J'burg?
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 |
#5
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?driving from J'burg?
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#6
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?driving from J'burg?
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 |
#7
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?driving from J'burg?
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 |
#8
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?driving from J'burg?
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 ================================== Hans Martens Wildlife & Nature Photography http://www.wildpicture.com ================================== |
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