It's been a few years since we stayed at Nkhoro, but it wouldn't be our first (or second) choice as SSGR lodges we'd re-visit. You might look at Elephant Plains or Chitwa Chitwa in the "moderate" cost category.

At a Wilderness Safari camp, an elephant flipped a guide vehicle - with guide and guests in it the week before we arrived. Tusk holes and damage still on vehicle (everyone was ok - shaken for sure, but ok). It happens - and Kruger is great fun!! We're going back in June!!

Have you looked into Arathusa? We loved having the animals visit the waterhole all day between game drives. NThambo, Africa on Foot, Umbumbe.

Shindzela has an attached toilet and shower. Miles above camping! Basic, yes, but the food and company are excellent (assuming it's similar to 3 years ago). Can you make it to Shindzela by 3pm? Three nights per camp is SO much better than two. Fly to HDS? It's not that expensive.

You'd have to price out the car vs transfers. Some camps offer free, or lower rate transfers. I can't imagine transfers are cheaper than a rental.

Well, my husband is going further and now doesn't want to drive at all. So I am starting over with plans.

Sun - fly JNB-HDS transfer to Shindzela for 2 or 3 nights of game drives and walks

Tues or Wed - hire transfer to somewhere in Sabi Sands (between morning and afternoon game drives). Arathusa is full. Some opening at Elephant Plains. Idube. I don't like that Elephant Plains allows children of all ages on the drive. I read a couple reports of how that really damaged some people's drives at some resort.

Fri afternoon Fly back to JNB

You can see we picked up a night because husband does not want to see Blyde Canyon. So, so we can add a third night to Shindzela or a third night in Sabi Sands, or a one-night stay somewhere else. Anything else we should try?
As I see it, we have more tent, game drives and some walking for 2 days/nights; then more upscale housing with similar game drives for 2 days/nights in two different private reserves with similar terrain. Is there a different terrain or something that I should be looking for to find a third type of experience? Otherwise, we will probably add to Shindzela because of the cost.

(Moving around doesn't bother us if it fits during the after breakfast - before lunch/tea time. We won't be using the pool and don't lounge well.)

Shindzela is a very small camp and does not have shared traversing rights. So if the animals are not on their small property, they can't go searching elsewhere. I would try for any of the camps in Sabi Sand for at least two nights (don't bother with one night anywhere).

All lodges in SS - www.sabisand.com

Check out Wild Wings - they have guided packages to Kruger. They can do a two-three night guided tour at Kruger then arrange for a transfer to Shindzela (or vice versa). They look like fun. And reasonable cost:

www.wild-wings.co.za

Here is a list of all the concessions around Kruger. Maybe another reserve will work for you:

http://www.sunsafaris.com/safari/sou...national-park/

I agree with you about the kids, but most are in school until mid-late June. There is a S Africa holiday early June, but it's a weekend. We've had game drives with full vehicles (10 guests!), just the two of us, 4-6 people, fun groups, boring groups, terrible groups and with kids. They all have their pros and cons, but all are memorable for the wildlife. The kids can actually be the least worst!! One game drive with two boys under ten is in our top five (maybe top three) game drives out of at least 50.

Lots of thoughtful information here, bookmarking for my planning.

Just wanted to tack onto this thread. We are also looking at mid-range lodges in Sabi Sand.

How would you say Idube compares with Arathusa (assuming we stay in the standard suites, not the luxury ones)? I've read that Arathusa can be "resort-like" and the safari jeeps tend to be full. Would the jeeps be less full at Idube? I definitely read less people on forums, etc. going there...

Also, which "block" of northern Sabi Sand tends to be more crowded? The Arathusa grouping toward the east or the Idube grouping toward the west?

Also, how is the game viewing in Klaserie vs Timbavati, or is it generally similar? Is Motswari the best option outside of Sabi Sand for those on a budget, or would you recommend Africa On Foot and nThambo or Gomo Gomo?

On our 3-night stay at Idube, the number of people on a truck ranged from 2 to 7. Just depends on how fully booked they are and what days people arrive/depart.

On 6 drives in June we saw cheetah, leopard, lions, rhino, hippo, giraffe, elephants, monitor lizards, crocodile, wildebeest, hyena, stork, vultures, zebras, and buffalo. hey do call each other to coordinate tracking and "schedule" viewings so that no more than 3 trucks are following an animal at close range at a given time.

Having stayed at both Arathusa and Idube, which one would you choose if you were to stay in a standard room? We're a couple with no children. Wildlife is #1 priority and less crowded/less children would be nice (for both the game drives and around the lodge).

I would choose a lodge more to the east, mostly due to feedback I've read here. We liked Arathusa a lot and luckily had very fun, accommodating fellow travelers when the vehicle was full. We enjoyed the animals visiting the waterhole that we had a great view of from our deck. We spent our afternoons on the deck with a drink while we watched giraffe, eles, waterbuck, turtles, water monitors and so much more.

All three times we've been to Timbavati, the wind came up and we had terrible luck with animal viewing. But every time, we spoke to people who were there before we got there and their luck was incredible. One group saw a white rhino on foot! And not just a fleeting glance. There are no guarantees.

There are a few camps that don't allow kids. Look into them. (Africa on Foot? Shindzela?) Gomo Gomo and a few others cater to kids, so avoid them if that's important. We have only been on two game drives with kids out of very many (over 80). One of those is in our top three game drives ever. You don't say when you're traveling, but we go May-September (best wildlife viewing) and there just haven't been many kids at all. You won't experience crowds unless you go to the national parks. Even those are overblown - we were in Kruger during a holiday weekend and didn't have problems with crowds.

Check out www.sabisand.co.za and see the map, then count beds at each camp and then people on each traversing property to get an idea of the max people allowed. Then see if Djuma fits your budget (it might with the ridiculous exchange rate!) and you get the place to yourself. I think it might be the best value in SS. Even better if you go with another like-minded couple or two.

Have fun planning. You might get more/better feedback if you start a new thread. This has good info (although my website citing sources are not correct!) but it's old.