Having spent a couple of weeks in Mauritius rather than Australia (here’s why), it was time for the second part of our international trip – a week doing a self-drive safari at Kruger National Park in South Africa.
We stayed with friends in Marloth Park, a town just outside of Kruger. We’ll have more about our amazing experiences at Kruger in some future posts, but for now I wanted to share about our journey to and from Johannesburg to Kruger National Park.
Why We Flew In & Out Of Johannesburg
South Africa is a large country, with Kruger National Park being massive in and of itself. Kruger is the size of Israel, while here’s South Africa overlaid on a map of the US to give a sense of the country’s size.
We flew into Johannesburg which is a 5 hour drive from Marloth Park, which itself is just west of the border with Mozambique and right on the edge of the south end of Kruger National Park.
That’s a long drive, so you might be wondering if there are any airports closer than Johannesburg we could’ve flown in and out of. Yes, there are. In fact, there are three airports just outside of Kruger National Park you can fly into – Phalaborwa to the north, Hoedspruit in the center and Nelspruit to the south.
Those are more like regional airports though with limited service. O.R. Tambo airport in Johannesburg was the closest major airport which has excellent transportation links with other countries around the world. Our initial plans involved flying from Perth, Australia to Johannesburg via Singapore on Singapore Airlines, but our revised plans ended up having us flying from Mauritius on Air Mauritius. On the way home we were able to fly Qatar Airways in QSuites from Johannesburg to Miami via Doha.
That meant it made much more sense flying in and out of Johannesburg. In theory we could’ve booked separate flights to an airport closer to Kruger, but there was another benefit to not doing that – rental cars. Seeing as we were planning on doing a self-drive safari, we wanted to rent an SUV. Our rental car options at Johannesburg were more comprehensive – and cheaper – than if we rented from a location closer to Kruger National Park.
Renting A Car From Bluu
Shae’s mom and stepdad joined us for this part of our trip, flying from the US to Johannesburg which was another reason we wanted a larger vehicle. If you plan on putting together a similar trip for yourselves, something important to check is the mileage allowed on your rental vehicle.
There were some very reasonably priced SUVs available, but they only offered x number of miles. I forget how many miles exactly, but we would’ve exceeded the allowance which would’ve resulted in excessive additional charges. I’d used Kayak to search for car rentals and so filtered for unlimited mileage. That reduced our options, with most of the recognizable rental car companies being very expensive.
There was one option though that wasn’t as expensive. That was through a rental car company called Bluu via RentalCars.com. I’d never heard of Bluu before and so was a little apprehensive about booking with them. Looking up reviews online gave mixed results – some people slammed their experience, while other places had good reviews for Bluu overall.
We decided to risk it and it worked out well. The vehicle we got was a car brand we’d not heard of before – Haval. It turns out that it’s a brand owned by the Chinese company Great Wall Motors and it ended up being a lovely vehicle to drive. It had great pick up, was spacious and comfortable, had a rear view camera, etc.
We had a great experience renting from Bluu as well. The person who sorted out our rental when we arrived was very friendly and it felt like just as professional an operation as renting from Hertz, Avis, etc., so I wouldn’t have any hesitation renting from them again if and when we return to South Africa.
We paid for the rental with a Chase Sapphire Preferred card as that offers primary rental car insurance. We used to have a Chase Sapphire Reserve card which offers the same rental car coverage as the Sapphire Preferred and had to make a claim for hail damage after a trip to Australia. The claim process was painless and they paid out without any issue which saved us almost $3,000, so I’m happy using their coverage rather than paying for rental insurance separately. In case you’re curious, I wrote about that experience over on Frequent Miler a few years ago, so check out My Experience Using Chase Sapphire Reserve Rental Car Insurance for more about that.
The Drive From Johannesburg To Kruger National Park
We all arrived in Johannesburg the day before our drive to Marloth Park/Kruger, so we stayed overnight at the Holiday Inn Johannesburg Airport. I won’t be writing a separate review for this stay seeing as a) it was only one night and b) it wasn’t a great hotel. At only $60 or 12,000 IHG One Rewards points for the night it was OK value for what it was, but the property is dated and the service from the front desk was awful.
ALZU Petroport N4
The next morning we picked up the rental car from the airport and made our way east. About 1.5 hours into the drive we stopped to use the restroom at a service area along the way and it’s possibly the best service area anywhere in the world.
It was called ALZU Petroport N4 and there was a gas station, stores and restaurants including a Nando’s. Side note: you must eat at a Nando’s if you’ve never eaten there before as their peri-peri chicken is delicious and South Africa is where the chain began.
Anyway, ALZU Petroport wasn’t amazing because of its gas station and restaurant options. It’s amazing because out the back there was what seemed to be some kind of nature reserve. There was at least one rhino, some ostriches and/or emus, zebras, buffalo, waterbucks and more. It was incredible having them right there, especially because the men’s restroom urinals had a window looking out over this area.
Lunch At McDonald’s
We’ve mentioned on here before, but when traveling overseas Shae and I like to order McDonald’s. Not because we’re uncultured, but because we love trying out each country’s unique offerings there.
Shae got a Cajun chicken burger, while I ordered their Chili Cheese Double burger minus the cheese and nacho cheese as I don’t like cheese. This was still a very tasty burger though as it had jalapenos and some kind of additional spicy sauce. In fact, it was far spicier than I was expecting,
For dessert Shae tried their Belgian Chocolate Pie which came served in a cup of soft serve ice cream. It sounded like it would be good, but she wasn’t a fan. The outside of the pie tasted like fryer oil and although the inside was a little better, she wouldn’t recommend ordering it.
It seems I made the better dessert choice. I got a Passionfruit Cheesecake McFlurry which was very passionfruit-y and delicious.
Fun Road Signs
In the US, we’re used to seeing signs warning of animals like deer crossing the road. In South Africa, there are some particularly fun signs like ‘Beware of hippos’!
Driving Courtesy
Something I was particularly impressed with in South Africa was how much consideration drivers had for each other. When driving more slowly than other vehicles, trucks and cars would drive along the shoulder, thereby allowing you to pass them more safely and easily. This happened without fail and it was so nice that drivers were constantly aware of their surroundings and happily moved over.
The Drive From Kruger National Park To Johannesburg
After a week in Marloth Park, it was time for us to head back to Johannesburg for our flights back the next day. Our friends recommended driving the Panorama Route along with several places to stop along the way. We fit in as many of those as we could while also ensuring we got back before dark.
Lisbon Falls
Our first stop was Lisbon Falls, some waterfalls that are 308 feet high.
The waterfalls had a beautiful backdrop.
God’s Window
Our next stop was God’s Window – an overlook in Blyde River Canyon Nature Reserve which gives some amazing views of the reserve below.
Divine Foods At The View
Another recommendation from our friends was to stop for lunch at Divine Foods At The View. It’s a restaurant at Panorama Chalets & Rest Camp which has a pool with a view.
Our view while we had lunch at Divine Foods At The View was great too.
The food was excellent as well. There was an extensive food menu with more than 60 dishes to choose from which made it hard to pick what to eat. I ended up going with the beef bobotie which is a Cape Malay beef curry. It’s traditional ground beef served with yellow rice and sambals of coconut, tomato salsa, rooibos peaches, chutney and banana salad.
The beef bobotie was unusual in that it’s not quite like anything I’ve eaten before, but I enjoyed it. The closest I thing I could compare it to is like a curried meatloaf, but that’s not an accurate description of it.
Shae ordered the bunny chow which is a South African dish consisting of hollowed out white bread with curry inside. They offered both chicken and beef curry as an option and Shae went with the beef curry. This came served with a small side salad, poppadum and sambals of coconut, mango chutney, banana salad and something else (maybe yogurt?). Shae thought it was delicious.
Shae’s mom ordered the vegetarian platter which was an impressive-looking tray with garlic spinach & feta, cinnamon butternut, potato wedges, onion rings, corn/rice cakes, home-baked seed bread, homemade pickles, ginger chili beetroot and basil pesto guacamole.
Shae’s stepdad went for their mighty meaty pizza which he seemed to enjoy.
I was taking the afternoon portion of the drive and so I stuck to drinking soda, but the others enjoyed some wine and cocktails.
Mac-Mac Falls
There was a lot more to see on the Panorama Route, but we didn’t have time to do it all if we wanted to get back to Johannesburg before dark. That meant we made just one more sightseeing stop – Mac-Mac Falls. This is another beautiful waterfall that’s worth a stop. There was a trail from the parking lot down to the overlook which did mean we had to walk back uphill afterwards, but it was worth it.
ALZU Petroport N4
We had to stop to use the restroom on the way back and as luck would have it we ended up stopping at the same rest area that we’d stopped at on the way to Kruger National Park a week beforehand. That was completely unintentional, but it meant we got to enjoy seeing some more animals before heading home.
See All Posts From This International Trip
- Lions & Quokkas & Scorpions, Oh My: A Month In Australia, South Africa & More
- We Were Denied Boarding To Australia – Here’s Why
- Flight Review: Lufthansa Business Class – Dallas-Fort Worth (DFW) To Frankfurt (FRA)
- Flight Review: Eurowings Discover Business Class – Frankfurt (FRA) To Mauritius (MRU)
- Some Thoughts On Mauritius
- Hotel Review: Hilton Mauritius Resort & Spa
- Hotel Review: Le Méridien Ile Maurice (Mauritius)
- Restaurant Review: Sunset Filaos In Pointe Aux Piments, Mauritius
- 20 Fun & Interesting Things To Do In Mauritius (+ Many Bonus Ideas)
- Hotel Review: Holiday Inn Mauritius Mon Tresor
- Flight Review: Air Mauritius Economy Class – Mauritius (MRU) To Johannesburg (JNB)
- The Awesome Drive Between Johannesburg & Kruger National Park
- 50 Animal Photos From Kruger National Park In South Africa Taken With Our Phones
- Kruger National Park: 13 Tips For A Successful Self-Drive Safari
- Elephant Kisses – Meeting Tswale In South Africa
- Kruger National Park: 30 Photos Taken With Shae’s Nikon Camera
- Doing A Kruger Park Bush Braai With Royal Safaris
- Marloth Park: Like Living In The Best Zoo Ever
- Hotel Review: InterContinental Johannesburg O.R. Tambo Airport, South Africa
- Flight Review: Qatar Airways Business Class (Qsuites) – Johannesburg (JNB) To Doha (DOH) To Miami (MIA)
- Hotel Review: Hyatt Regency Oryx Doha, Qatar
Dan @ Points With a Crew says
I like eating at McDonalds when I’m traveling too, but mostly because I’m uncultured 🙂 (and the free wifi and usually clean restrooms are an added perk as well, depending on where you’re at)
https://www.pointswithacrew.com/im-embarrassed-admit-eat-mcdonalds-vacation/
stephen says
Glad we’re not the only ones 🙂