Practical Information

Ensuring a safe journey

Johannesburg (https://exploretraveloasis.com/is-johannesburg-safe-to-visit/), like any bustling metropolis, has a dynamic urban environment. For convenience, fly directly to Skukuza or stay overnight at an airport hotel if your flight arrives in the evening. The next day you can catch a quick connecting flight to Skukuza.
To ensure a safe and joyful trip through our parks, kindly adhere to the Rules & Regulations as stipulated by South African National Parks.
The Kruger National Park is in a malaria area, but in the southern hemisphere winter months, the risk of contracting malaria is low. Please see the website of the National Institute for Communicable Diseases for more information and advice.
When driving around in the Kruger Park keep in mind that you are visiting the park to observe wild animals in their natural habitat. Therefore, the number one rule is to remain in your vehicle unless in a designated area. Remember that no part of the body may protrude from a window or sunroof or any other part of the vehicle. Vehicle doors should be closed at all times.
In addition to the game drive which forms part of the conference dinner, other game drives and guided walks can be booked in the Skukuza rest camp. On guided walks, the ranger is armed, but no children under the age of 12 is allowed on these walks. The conference dinner takes place in the open, outside the fenced rest camp and for this reason, no children under the age of 12 are allowed at the dinner. Childcare can be arranged up front via e-mail (dssv2025@sastat.org).
The rest camps are enclosed by fences, to keep the wild animals out. Inside the Skukuza camp you are free to walk around between the hotel, conference centre and restaurants. Game drives take place in open vehicles. For this reason, no children under the age of 6 are allowed on these game drives.
Please see how to travel to and from Mozambique through Kruger National Park.

Animals you may encounter

Rats, mice, bats and insects, snakes and other small mammals have been around in all the rest camps of the Kruger National Park (KNP) for many decades.

This is due to the artificial nesting and roosting sites created for them by the buildings, as well as vast sources of food brought about by visitors leaving foodstuff outside and all the insects attracted to the lights in the camps. Even in camps where special bat-houses are installed, bats still use the buildings as well. It is almost impossible to keep the rodents and bats out of buildings as they originate from the surrounding natural bush and are able to crawl through the tiniest of holes.

Fortunately, the vast majority of visitors to the KNP realise that rodents, bats and other insects, reptiles and mammals are an integral part of the KNP ecosystem and accept them as such. Kruger Park boasts an impressive diversity of rodents: 25 species of rodents (mice and rats), 9 species of shrews, 3 species of elephant shrews and 43 species of bats.

Most people also accept that a visit to the Park may inevitably lead to some sort of a close experience with some ‘creepy crawly’, be it a bat, mouse, spider, scorpion or insect.

Bats and Insects

Light draws many flying insects and with these insects come their predators. These predators could take on the form of bats and frogs. Please remember to keep your screen doors closed as this will prevent these unwanted creatures from entering your room. Should you forget and a bat enters the room by mistake, please do not panic! Calmly place a towel over the bat and release it outside or call for assistance.They are some of the most interesting small mammals with some of the most extraordinary adaptations to find food and survive. Bats, for example, use ecolocation in flight to zoom in on insects and this is one of the wonders of the world in my view. An African night will never be complete without their feint but sharp sounds in the background.

Spiders, Snakes and Scorpions

Yes, these creatures are part of our environment but will most probably not harm you if not threatened. If you must walk around at night please DO NOT DO SO WITHOUT A TORCH. If you do come across a snake please do not try to catch it! Rather report this to the Manager on duty or to reception.

Monkeys, Baboons and Bushbuck

Monkeys, baboons and bushbuck can be entertaining for young and old, BUT PLEASE DO NOT FEED THEM. Remember that by feeding them, you are signing their death warrant, as they become aggressive and may have to be destroyed. By feeding these animals you do not only aggravate the situation but you also make these animals lazy and they become dependant on this food supply. The same applies to animals you may encounter along the fences of the camps in KNP, including Hyena. Do not throw food to them or attempt to touch or tease them.

Before going out in the morning in search of animals please make sure that you have put all foodstuffs securely away. Remember that these monkeys and baboons have learnt to open up fridge doors and cupboards.