Kruger National Park is huge — roughly the size of Wales — and that surprises plenty of first-time visitors who assume they can hop between rest camps in an hour or two. Figures published by SANParks show just how much planning a Kruger itinerary needs: the longest possible drive between two main camps, Punda Maria in the far north to Berg-en-Dal in the southwest, stretches to 415km and an estimated 16 hours 35 minutes behind the wheel. That's not a morning transfer; that's most of your holiday.

Other marathon combinations include Berg-en-Dal to Shingwedzi (344km, about 13 hours 45 minutes) and Punda Maria to Skukuza or Lower Sabie (both 342km, around 13 hours 40 minutes). At the other end of the scale, Olifants to Letaba is the shortest hop at just 32km, taking roughly 1 hour 20 minutes. Skukuza to Lower Sabie (43km), Satara to Orpen (48km) and Skukuza to Pretoriuskop (49km) are all comfortably under a two-to-three hour drive.

The reason these times look slow is simple: you can't hurry in Kruger. Speed limits are 50km/h on tar and 40km/h on gravel, and SANParks calculates its journey estimates using an average of just 25km/h to allow for game viewing. A lion pride near the road, a herd of elephants blocking the track, or a planned stop at a picnic site or waterhole can easily double your travel time. gravel routes also eat into the clock compared with tarred roads.

The practical lesson is to build slack into every day. Don't schedule around distance alone — a 50km leg can swallow half a day if the wildlife is showing off. And remember the gates: you must reach your booked camp or an exit gate before closing time, so aim to arrive with a comfortable buffer rather than trusting the estimate. If you're covering a long distance, consider booking a night at an intermediate camp to break the trip and maximise time actually watching animals rather than driving past them.

For anyone plotting a multi-camp safari, this matters most on short trips. If you only have three or four nights, pairing camps that sit close together — say Skukuza with Lower Sabie or Pretoriuskop — makes far more sense than trying to tick off both the far north and the southwest. Longer holidays open up combinations like Satara with Olifants or Letaba, which still keep drives manageable while giving you a genuinely different feel for the park's varied habitats.