Basically seeing the Big 5!

LOL! I'm sorry, I meant basically GAME VIEWING!! Thats why you don't carry on a conversation and type at the same time;)

The game viewing at Elephant Plains which is in the Sabi Sands has in my experience always been better than any of the lodges built on private concessions WITHIN the Kruger National Park, so if game viewing is your priority, I would definitely opt for Ele Plains!

I would ask the travel agent if that camp allows for game vehicles to drive off roads. I think that within Kruger, game vehicles can only drive on paved roads...and thus you will miss out on the fun of driving thru the bush!!. I could be very wrong...

Well actually I dont know...is Rhino Post & Plains Camp considered to be a part of Kruger national park or a separate private reserve??

What makes the game viewing better? Just wondering what aspects you think make it better. Aren't all the same animals there? Or they don't hang out around there? Or its the set up?

Thanks!

Sabi Sands has the most number of man made watering holes per area (when compared to nearby private areas)... plus some predators are territorial (at least that is what I was told of the male lions and leopards that roam the area near Elephant Plains)...so that what make it a good area for game viewing! Rhino Post and Plains camp apparently share a border with Mala Mala- so I cant imagine that the game viewing would be bad...but I really don't know.

Rhino post is on a private concession WITHIN the Kruger National Park, so it is basically surrounded by KNP property. Sabi Sands is a private game reserve that borders KNP, so if you look at it this way, Rhino Post is inside Kruger. No off road driving is allowed.

The vast majority of the private concessions WITHIN KNP are on areas that were formerly known as "Wilderness areas", and visitors to the park were not allowed to drive in these areas. These wilderness areas are quite big, and this meant that many animals hardly came into contact with tourists/game viewing vehicles. I have visited many of these lodges on private concessions, and there is a very big difference in the game viewing compared to reserves like the Sabi Sands, because of the fact that many of the animals that roam the private concessions are still quite skittish in the presence of game viewing vehicles and tourists with flashing cameras. In the Sabi Sands, eco tourism has been practised for decades, and the animnals are extremely habituated to the presence of game viewing vehicles. It's not that the private concessions don't have the animals - they are definitely there, it's just that they aren't always viewed as easily as in the Sabi Sands!

Just a small point regarding driving in Kruger National Park (as opposed to concessions/private reserves) Whilst you certainly cannot drive off-road through the bush, much of the driving is done on dirt roads. There is a network of tarred/paved roads basically connecting Entry Gates/Rest Camps etc the majority of roads are dirt roads and you can get well off the beaten track and probably drive for half an hour and not see another vehicle. Many of these dirt roads run by various rivers which makes them excellent areas for game spotting with animals going to/from the river. Obviously you have to be a bit careful if you are in a saloon car as opposed to a 4 x 4 but we have never had a problem negotiating them in, say a Toyota Corolla.

The best way to view animals is by 4 x 4 - includingoff road - on a private reserve.