The Wild Card is a South African tourist card that gives unlimited access for one year to 80 National Parks and reserves in the country, as well as three in Eswatini, the neighboring country formerly known as Swaziland.
If you are planning to travel to South Africa, one of the questions that will strike you as soon as you start organizing the adventure will be whether the Wild Card is worth it. To give you an answer, here is all the practical information you need about the South African Wild Card, prices, types, how to buy it, and some tips.
Are you prepared for whatever might happen?
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How much does the Wild Card cost?
The first thing you should keep in mind when checking the Wild Card prices is that, unless you are a South African citizen or have a work permit, you are subject to the international rate prices which are higher.
Here is a screenshot of the international Wild Card rates until October 31, 2024. If you check their official website, you will see many other prices before these, which appear at the end, but, as I was saying, these are the ones you will have to pay as a tourist:
Individual Wild Card: 3,780 rands (approx. €183)
Couple Wild Card: 5,905 rands (approx. €287)
Family Wild Card: 7,065 rands (approx. €343)
You should keep in mind that in the national parks managed by Sans Park, children pay the child entrance fee from ages 2 to 11. Unfortunately, from age 12 they are considered adults. If you are traveling with children or teenagers, having these two facts will be very useful when doing the math to see if it’s worth buying the Wild Card.
However, if you are thinking of buying the family one, you should know that it is valid for two adults and a total of up to five children, or one adult and up to six children. Note that in the case of the Wild Card, young people up to 18 years old are considered children, rather than up to 12 as they would be if you paid the fees separately at each park.
You should also know that the Couple Wild Card is valid not only for two adults, but also for one adult and one child.
At first glance, South Africa’s Wild Card prices might seem expensive, but it’s all about doing the math. Surely the next question you’ll ask yourself is whether it’s worth buying the Wild Card and if you actually save money. Let’s see!
Discounts with the Wild Card
If you are planning to go up to the summit of Table Mountain by cable car, you’ll be glad to know that you get a 20% discount if you present your Wild Card at the ticket office. Mind you, this only applies at the ticket office; it is not applicable if you buy tickets in advance through the website
Is the Wild Card worth it?
I am sorry to tell you that there is no single answer to this question, but rather it depends on what your itinerary is like, how many parks you are going to visit, which ones (rates change depending on the park), how many days you want to spend inside them, and how many travelers you are
Ultimately, you will simply have to do the math to see how much money you would spend paying only for the entrance fees of the parks and/or reserves you are going to and compare it with what the Wild Card would cost you.
It is not complicated, but it is a bit laborious because each park and reserve has different rates. That is, you will have to go site by site checking the price. To make the task a bit easier for you, here is the link where you can see the South African National Parks fees managed by SANParks and included in the Wild Card, along with a screenshot with the current prices (conservation fee) until October 31, 2024.
As soon as you are going to spend several days in Kruger, want to go to the Cape of Good Hope, say hello to the penguins at Boulder’s and, for example, go to see the elephant herds in Addo, you will surely already be saving money. To give you an idea, entering Kruger with the new 2024 rates costs 486 rands per day per adult, which is about €24.
Also keep in mind when doing the calculations that you pay for each day you are inside the park, meaning that if you sleep one night inside you have to pay fees for two days.
In my case, as I was on a 4-week independent trip in South Africa with my partner and three small children, it was worth it for me to buy the Family Wild Card.
Important details about the Wild Card
-It has a one-year validity from the date of purchase.
-It is issued in your name, you cannot sell it or lend it to someone else later.
-It provides unlimited access, meaning you can enter as many days as you like.
-Always keep your passport handy because in some parks they will ask you for it.
-In some parks you can skip the lines when entering.
Which parks the Wild Card gives access to
When doing the math, it is important to be clear about where you will be able to use the Wild Card pass to know which entrance fees to add and which not. Although I have just shown you how much it costs to enter South Africa’s national parks, as I said at the beginning, it allows access to 80 parks and reserves in South Africa and Eswatini among them, meaning that when you do your calculations, look closely because there will be more places than you think where the Wild Card is valid.
Here are some of the most prominent ones:
-All national parks managed by SANParks among which stand out:
- Kruger National Park
- Addo National Park
- Table Mountain National Park (with six different areas, each with a different entry price, the two most common are Cape of Good Hope, the beach at Boulders where you can see the penguins
- Garden Route (with four sections with different prices: Tsitsikamma Storms River Mouth, Nature’s Valley, Wilderness and Knysna
- Agulhas National Park
- Kgalagadi Transfrontier Park (the Kalahari Desert on the border with Botswana).
-The nature reserves of Cape Nature with the most famous one at the forefront being De Hoop
-The reserves managed by KZN Wildlife such as Hluhluwe-Imfolozi Park or the nature reserve of Cathedral Peak in the area of Drakensberg, border with Lesotho.
-In Eswatini, the jewel of the former Swaziland, Hlane Royal National Park, an incredible place to see rhinos, the Mkhaya Game Reserve and the Mlilwane Wildlife Sanctuary.
Where is it NOT valid?
Here are some of the most visited places in South Africa where the Wild Card is not valid so that you can take it into account when planning your budget and avoid disappointments:
–Kirstenbosch National Botanical Garden, in Cape Town.
–Isimangaliso Wetland Park, in St. Lucia.
–Three Rondavels in Blyde River Canyon, nor any of the other attractions on the Panorama Route.
–Pilanesberg National Park, north of Johannesburg.
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How do you buy the Wild Card?
The simplest and most practical way is to buy it in advance on the official website. To do this, you need to register as a new user and then activate the account via the email you will receive. Check your spam folder just in case it went there, as happened to me. Afterward, you need to fill in all the details it asks for. If you are going to buy the couple or family option, also have the details of everyone you want to be beneficiaries ready because it will ask for them.
I recommend buying the Wild Card from a computer or an Android mobile because, for some unknown reason, it is common for it to cause errors on iPhones and not let you proceed when entering your passport details. Perhaps you will be lucky and it won’t happen to you.
You have to enter your passport number; this option should appear below the South African ID.
You can choose between collecting the Wild Card in person at an office in South Africa or having it sent to you by post. Always choose the latter option. Although it usually takes months to arrive (I bought mine in October and as of January 30th I still haven’t received it), the receipt that arrives in your email is sufficient to access the parks.
You just have to present it at the entrance. Sometimes, showing it is enough, but other times, such as in Addo, they will ask for all sorts of additional information, to show passports, and to fill out a thousand and one documents.
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