I have been reading through all of your very helpful posts & thought I would send out my first question.

My husband will be leaving in a week to visit the Congo on business. I will be meeting him afterwards in Jo'burg to go on safari in Kruger National Park (for 5 days). We are staying @ Sabi Sabi.

We have both always wanted to do this "some day" but have never really looked into it before. Now we are actually going without much time to plan! My husband is in the midst of obtaining his Visa and we are both getting our vaccinations at the moment. We are so busy with all of this that we have not yet focused on the trip itself. Any helpful tips, advice, background knowledge, do's & don'ts, customs, local etiquette, things to bring, packing considerations, etc. I just bought the "Lonely Planet-Southern Africa" guidebook & began reading it a few nights ago. Any suggestions of websites, books, guidebooks, etc. that I should check out? We are mainly interested in knowing about the Kruger National Park portion of the trip.

I promise to post a trip report when we return.

Thanks in advance for the help!

BTW, we live in Arizona (USA).

For Kruger, the best website is www.sanparks.org, the official site, whidh has maps, lodging info, availability, visitors' photos, etc. Its a great website.

Lonely Planet is probably not the best guidebook for someone going to a luxury lodge in Sabi Sands. If you post an email address, I can scan in the guide on tipping et al that my TA send me.

As for packing, there are a lot of posts here on that topic. I used them as a guide, augmenting and deleting based on my personal experiences, but didn't take them as gospel. You don't need nearly as much as is listed on some of them, particularly in the lodges in the Sabi Sands, a lot of which provide bug spray, shampoo, conditioner, etc.. So take the lists with a grain of salt and don't let them overwhelm you.

Thank you thit_cho for the website!

hills27, my email address is:

[email protected]

Thank you for the advice & for the guide that you will be sending. I really appreciate it!!!

have a great trip.
Which camp will you be staying at in Sabi Sabi?
We are going in Jan'08 and will be at both little bush camp and Selati.

We will be at Earth Lodge & Selati. Enjoy your trip too!

vici, I'll email it tomorrow.

vici, I would be very interested in seeing any lodge pics you may take in and around selati and earth. Also please let us know how many people are on the game drives per vehicle while at selati. I believe you have your own driver and vehicle at Earth.