u/Healthy-Fruit111

I feel very overwhelmed with all the different safaris, private reserves, and public camps info so thought I would ask here. We would be two (31F and 31M) people traveling to SA/Kruger for the first time. Here are some thoughts/questions. If you only have an answer to one or a few of them, I would still love to hear from you:

1. Is it safe to fly into any of the three Kruger airports and rent a car? Safe meaning would we be safe driving a rental car from any of the airports into the park? Are there areas/roads we should avoid?
2. Is early April an okay time to visit? Hearing lots about flooding from this past winter/spring
3. We are traveling on a budget, so cost is important to us. My husband is an outdoorsman and we both have experience camping, so a public rest camp plus self drive would be okay for us but I would love to know if we would be missing out by doing that as first timers. Not sure when the next time we could get to SA would be. Some of the private reserves/lodges I have looked at are Sun Destination lodges and Grietjie Private Nature Reserve lodges but I have no idea what we they include, though many of their cheaper lodges are doable as far as budget.
4. If we do just stay at the rest camp and self drive, could we still book private game drives a few of the days? If so, how do we go about doing that and do you have any recommendations?
5. Do most or all of the rest camps have ACs or fans at least?
6. Are restaurants located at most of the public camps?
7. Is there a chance we could book at a rest camp and then have all the surrounding roads closed when we get there? Again referencing the recent floods I have read about. Would hate to go all the way to Kruger from NYC and not be able to drive anywhere.
8. How many nights should we spend total in Kruger?

Sorry if these are silly questions but this seems to be the most helpful community on the internet when it comes to Kruger! Much of the research process has been overwhelming and I have traveled many places!!

Hi all - should my husband and I have any safety concerns when visiting South Africa? We will be in Cape Town and then we will fly to Kruger, rent a car and drive around while staying in the park.

My husband is white American and I am biracial American (black and white). I have traveled the world and have been to many places that have US travel advisory warnings, including in South America and Asia. We also live in NYC. However the warnings around rapes and kidnapping in ZA do give me pause, and I know there have been racial issues in the country for decades. Would either my husband or I be targeted over race?

I read it is safest not to rent a car but is that only for major cities? I have heard it is normal and safe to rent one to drive around Kruger but want to be sure.

All in all we are very concsious and aware travelers. Again, we are very experienced but do always like to hear from locals or other travelers to put our minds at ease. Many things are scary until you actually do them.

Hi all - should my husband and I have any safety concerns when visiting South Africa? We will be in Cape Town and then we will fly to Kruger, rent a car and drive around while staying in the park.

My husband is white American and I am biracial American (black and white). I have traveled the world and have been to many places that have US travel advisory warnings, including in South America and Asia. We also live in NYC. However the warnings around rapes and kidnapping in ZA do give me pause, and I know there have been racial issues in the country for decades. Would either my husband or I be targeted over race?

I read it is safest not to rent a car but is that only for major cities? I have heard it is normal and safe to rent one to drive around Kruger but want to be sure.

All in all we are very concsious and aware travelers. Again, we are very experienced but do always like to hear from locals or other travelers to put our minds at ease. Many things are scary until you actually do them.