Skukuza Kruger National Park Visit

There were two cheetahs lying together looking over this water hole. I think it was also the time of day and the fact that it was coming on to sunset, and it was warm. That, and elephants was the biggest surprise, definitely, the sight of them.

Table of Contents
Accommodation and Food Wildlife highlights	Typical day Tips, advice and disappointments	Most useful luggage item and rating

Could you describe the accommodation and the food on your safari?

We stayed in one of the huts in Skukuza, which was you know thatched little huts, which was absolutely magnificent - we loved it.

And concerning the food, what did a typical breakfast and dinner in Skukuza consist of?

It was usually fruit or there was sushi sort of stuff, there was cereal, whatever you wanted from the buffet.

Evening meals were the same (buffet) - we tried kudu, we tried various, we would always go with what was South African, except when there were power cuts when we had what they could produce.

What wildlife did you manage to see?

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We saw everything except we didn't see any rhino. We certainly saw the others, we were amazed because obviously we've seen elephants in zoos in Britain years ago and I didn’t realise how big they were, real elephants are just so different. We saw cheetah and we saw wildebeest, the normal sort of things. We saw hippo, we just were very lucky, we had an absolutely amazing time.

Did you see any lion?

Yes, we saw lion. People were very good at pointing them out, aren't they, and saying to your group there are lions feeding up there, it was really good.

Describe a typical day in Skukuza from the moment you woke up until you went to sleep in the evening.

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Getting up very early, well very early for me! - about 6 or a bit before and having a very quick cuppa. And then going out and seeing the animals first thing you know before the sort of real daylight and then coming back and having breakfast.

Then relaxing and driving about, because we had a hire car as well and just drove around and saw what we could see, oh and tortoises, seeing tortoises walking across the road was wonderful as well. You're bringing back so many memories, thinking about it!

Then we would have, usually the guys would have a packed lunch with us or we would go back to the cafeteria place in Skukuza.

We'd go out again in the evening before, you know at the sunset time, specifically. That’s one time I can say, we didn’t see very much, but we drove around in hope. We saw some monkeys and that.

And of course our evening meal, we'd go for a evening meal, have a few beers and back to your little hut.

And did you go for walks also, or did you just drive through the bush on the vehicle?

We only drove through the bush and we just walked about the camp. We didn't walk outside. We saw people on walking safaris and thought oh, would we be brave enough?!

Do you have tips and advice for safari travellers? Any disappointments on your trip?

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I would say take warmer clothes than you expect. We sort of expected Africa to be hot-hot and although there we did have a couple of hot days, we really could have done with an extra jumper, especially in the evenings. That was one thing.

And then the other thing was I would send all my pictures back before by post or something because it was far worse losing the film than losing the camera or the video camera.

Was there anything about the Skukuza trip that didn't meet your expectations? Any disappointments or regrets?

No, absolutely nothing. It was the most wonderful experience of our lives, I think we'd both say that. It was absolutely fantastic. Our luggage or rather our cameras got stolen on the way home so we haven't got a single photograph.

Where did that happen?

Well, we don't know. We checked our bags ... they went away at Johannesburg Airport and when we got to Heathrow there was nothing in them. Heathrow said it was Johannesburg Airport.

However, shortly afterwards there was an item on the news that loads of stuff had been nicked at Heathrow. So I don't know who to blame, but we lost all our photographs which was a disaster. We had films and films, and we also had borrowed a video camera to take with us and that was stolen, so we didn't have the film on that. We were just very, very upset with that.

But the Skukuza holiday was wonderful.

Make sure you have adequate travel insurance for your safari »

What was the most useful item in your luggage and how would you rate your trip?

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Probably the Wet Wipe type things, because of the dust. We really didn't need much sunscreen, we took loads of insect repellent but didn't find any insects. I don't think we saw a mosquito the whole time we were there! So that was all much better than we expected. But the wet wipes - it is all very dusty.

How would you rate your Skukuza safari overall?

I'd give it a 10.

Safari Location:	Kruger National Park, Skukuza camp, South Africa
Safari Company Used:	Albatross Tours
Duration:	Nine days in February
Traveller Details:	Jeanne Wightman, UK. Seven adults in the group.
Rates & Availability:	Plan your own safari. Make a Skukuza enquiry