First time in South Africa
 

In December I'll be traveling with a friend to Johannesburg with the intention of going to Kruger. Should we rent a car to go to Kruger or would it be better to hire a car? We'll have 6 or 7 nights and are thinking of two different places in Kruger. Any suggestions where we should stay? Should we spend time in Pretoria on the way back to Joburg?

It's easy to drive yourself from Jo'burg to Kruger, if you're not put off by driving on the left. With two of you in the car, the passenger can remind the driver to keep left.

From Jo'burg you can drive to Nelspruit and then on to Numbi Gate for a stay at Berg-en-Dal camp (lots of rhinos around there) or Lower Sabie (great situation on the river with hippos and crocs). Then you might go up to the central area of the park and stay at Satara, or at Oliphants, which is set high up in the hills.

The Union Buildings at Pretoria is interesting if you like architecture, but the city is really sort of "government dull" in my opinion. It's less than an hour drive from Jo'burg, so it makes a nice day trip, but not, in my opinion, worth actually staying overnight.

Thanks for your reply. Should we spend time in Jo'burg?

In a word, no need to go to the cities. There is a great mall in Joburg and you can do the township tour and a few museums (Hector Peterson and Apartheid) but they are just OK. I have been there many times and feel that Kruger would be far more fun!

We've self driven Kruger twice. Both times rented an Avis car at the JNB airport and driven over to Kruger, about 6 hours. Then staying at one of several camps. Here is my trip report of our Sep 2007 safari when we did a little sight seeing before Kruger, then Kruger, then private safari camps.
http://tinyurl.com/329b8g
Have plans to do same in Sep 2009.

regards - tom