Visit the Kruger Park
EN
Where to stay

Month by month

Kruger in August

August and September are Kruger's strongest months for game. Water is now the limiting factor, the game is concentrated, the school holidays are over and the days are getting longer.

If you only want the answer

August is one of Kruger's two strongest months for game, with September. Expect about 8 mm of rain at the park centre, highs of 26.7°C and a model night low of 13.6°C, with cold dawns still. Animals gather at the last water, gates close at 18:00 again, and malaria risk stays very low. Weekends are busy, weekdays much less so.

August weather: warming days, cold dawns

The normals give August about 8 mm of rain at the park centre, with afternoons of 26.7°C and nights of 13.6°C. Dawns are still cold: the Skukuza station has recorded -4.2°C in August. By the end of the month the afternoons are noticeably warmer.

SANParks notes that hot berg winds from August raise the fire danger. Patch burns are part of the park's fire management, so smoke and burnt patches are normal sights this month.

Why August is so good for game

Water is now the limit. The seasonal rivers in the north have stopped flowing, the pans are dry, and elephants, buffalo and the grazers walk to the perennial rivers (Sabie, Crocodile, Olifants, Letaba, Luvuvhu and Limpopo) and to the dams. The predators follow. Sit at a river viewpoint or a dam for an hour in the morning and the animals come to you.

The bush is also at its thinnest, which helps with leopard on the river roads of the south and with lion on the central plains. Check the sightings board at your camp's reception each evening.

Gates, rates and crowds in August

From 1 August the gates close at 18:00 again, giving half an hour more than in July; they still open at 06:00. The school holidays are over, but SANParks' camps are busy at weekends.

Singita Lebombo's peak rate of R60,470 per adult runs to 31 August, after which it drops to its shoulder rate. Malaria risk is very low until the end of the month; NaTHNaC recommends tablets again from September.

Sources