What's on in Kruger National Park (Kruger), South Africa through the year

Peak crowds — December school holidays, Term 4–1 (summer, year-end) break in South Africa

• Rule

  Gates open at dawn, shut at dusk

  1 Jan – 31 Dec · usuallyClosures

  Entrance and camp gates open at first light and lock at sunset, and the exact times shift month by month. Arriving back late carries a fine, and it is enforced, so the last hour of light is planned around the drive home. Source ↗

Still on: Green season (1 Nov – 31 Mar (usually)), Summer migrants arrive (1 Nov – 31 Mar (usually)), Malaria season (1 Nov – 31 May (usually)), December school holidays (10 Dec – 10 Jan (usually))

Quiet — school holidays in 2 of the markets that fill it, one of its worst months for weather

Nothing new starts in February.

Still on: Gates open at dawn, shut at dusk (1 Jan – 31 Dec (usually)), Green season (1 Nov – 31 Mar (usually)), Summer migrants arrive (1 Nov – 31 Mar (usually)), Malaria season (1 Nov – 31 May (usually))

Peak crowds — Easter self-drive rush, Term 1–2 (autumn) break in South Africa

• Holiday

  Easter self-drive rush

  25 Mar – 20 Apr · usuallyEaster & Holy WeekCrowdedBook early

  Four public holidays land inside a fortnight and the southern camps fill with self-drivers. The bush is still thick from the summer rain, so it is the busiest roads and the hardest sightings of the year. Source ↗

Still on: Gates open at dawn, shut at dusk (1 Jan – 31 Dec (usually)), Green season (1 Nov – 31 Mar (usually)), Summer migrants arrive (1 Nov – 31 Mar (usually)), Malaria season (1 Nov – 31 May (usually))

Peak crowds — Easter self-drive rush, Term 1–2 (autumn) break in South Africa

Nothing new starts in April.

Still on: Gates open at dawn, shut at dusk (1 Jan – 31 Dec (usually)), Easter self-drive rush (25 Mar – 20 Apr (usually)), Malaria season (1 Nov – 31 May (usually))

Busy — Dry season game viewing, school holidays in 3 of the markets that fill it

• Season

  Dry season game viewing

  1 May – 30 Sep · usuallyCrowded

  The grass drops, the bush opens up and the animals come to the rivers and the pans, so this is the easy half of the year to see anything. Mornings in an open vehicle start cold enough for a blanket.

Still on: Gates open at dawn, shut at dusk (1 Jan – 31 Dec (usually)), Malaria season (1 Nov – 31 May (usually))

Peak crowds — Dry season game viewing, Term 2–3 (winter) break in South Africa

Nothing new starts in June.

Still on: Gates open at dawn, shut at dusk (1 Jan – 31 Dec (usually)), Dry season game viewing (1 May – 30 Sep (usually))

Peak crowds — Dry season game viewing, Term 2–3 (winter) break in South Africa

Nothing new starts in July.

Still on: Gates open at dawn, shut at dusk (1 Jan – 31 Dec (usually)), Dry season game viewing (1 May – 30 Sep (usually))

Busy — Dry season game viewing, school holidays in 4 of the markets that fill it

Nothing new starts in August.

Still on: Gates open at dawn, shut at dusk (1 Jan – 31 Dec (usually)), Dry season game viewing (1 May – 30 Sep (usually))

Peak crowds — Dry season game viewing, Term 3–4 (spring) break in South Africa

Nothing new starts in September.

Still on: Gates open at dawn, shut at dusk (1 Jan – 31 Dec (usually)), Dry season game viewing (1 May – 30 Sep (usually))

Busy — Term 3–4 (spring) break in South Africa, school holidays in 3 of the markets that fill it

Nothing new starts in October.

Still on: Gates open at dawn, shut at dusk (1 Jan – 31 Dec (usually))

Shoulder season — school holidays in 2 of the markets that fill it, an ordinary month

• Season

  Green season

  1 Nov – 31 Mar · usuallyMonsoon

  The bush closes in and the game scatters, but the impala are dropping lambs and the predators follow them. Rates fall, the day visitors thin out and the light after a storm is the best of the year.

• Nature

  Summer migrants arrive

  1 Nov – 31 Mar · usuallyBirdlife season

  Woodland kingfishers, carmine bee-eaters and the storks come back with the rain, and the kingfisher's call starting up in November is the local signal that the season has turned.

• Hazard

  Malaria season

  1 Nov – 31 May · usuallyInsect season

  Kruger is a low-risk area but not a no-risk one, and the risk sits in the wet months, running towards its peak late in them. Prophylaxis is the standard advice and covering up after dark is the minimum. Source ↗

Still on: Gates open at dawn, shut at dusk (1 Jan – 31 Dec (usually))

Peak crowds — December school holidays, Term 4–1 (summer, year-end) break in South Africa

• Holiday

  December school holidays

  10 Dec – 10 Jan · usuallyCrowdedBook early

  Skukuza, Lower Sabie and Berg-en-Dal are reserved eleven months ahead for the festive weeks, and the tar roads around them carry a queue at every sighting. Book the day you are allowed to. Source ↗

Still on: Gates open at dawn, shut at dusk (1 Jan – 31 Dec (usually)), Green season (1 Nov – 31 Mar (usually)), Summer migrants arrive (1 Nov – 31 Mar (usually)), Malaria season (1 Nov – 31 May (usually))