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What it costs to drive from Joburg to the Kruger Park this December

You can expect to pay around R890 if you are planning on making the trip from Johannesburg to the Kruger National Park this December, according to calculations done by TopAuto.

It is finally the end of the year, and South Africans are entitled to a well-earned break enjoying all manner of activities over the summer period.

One of the most popular for the outdoor-inclined individuals is, of course, a trip to one of the country’s lauded South African National (SAN) Parks, of which the Kruger is the most famous both to locals and international tourists.

In many cases, this will involve a drive from the country’s metropolitan hub of Johannesburg to the Park, located to the east in the provinces of Limpopo and Mpumalanga, both because Gauteng is the country’s most populated province and because many who live in other provinces often elect to fly to O.R. Tambo and rent a car for the trip.

What it costs

Using O.R. Tambo International Airport as a general starting point from Joburg, the journey to the Kruger National Park will take approximately four and a half hours spread out over the course of 392km.

This is assuming that we use the fastest route via the N12 and N4 to reach Malelane – one of the more popular entrances to the area.

To calculate fuel consumption, we used a Toyota Corolla Cross to represent a typical family car owing to how it is one of the country’s best-selling crossovers, which gives us an average fuel consumption of 6.8l/100km for the base 1.8-litre model.

Using these parameters, the drive to the Kruger should use roughly 26.6 litres of petrol, which at December’s inland rate for petrol 95 of R23.25 per litre, will net a travel cost of R618.45 in propellant alone.

Fuel is not the only cost to consider, however, as there are a handful of toll gates on the N4 that one will need to pay to continue.

You can see a list of the N4 toll gates the route will pass through, along with their prices, below:

  • Middelburg – R75.00
  • Machado – R112.00
  • Nkomazi – R84.00

Together, these tolls will add another R271 to the cost of the trip, leaving travelers with a combined tab of R889.45 to arrive at the Kruger, which will double to R1,778.90 for a return journey.

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