Where to Stay on Your African Safari

One of the great things about Kruger National Park in South Africa is that it offers a range of accommodations to suit any budget and experience. Whether you’re looking for a full DIY camping experience or luxury safari camps, you can find it within the park.

With more than 20 rest camps throughout the park, you have lots of options. Each camp has a unique selection of different accommodation types, with the bulk of them being basic bungalows. Accommodation can book up early, so book as far in advance as possible. The Kruger National Park website has an online reservation tool that allows for reservations up to one year in advance.

Most accommodations provide private or shared kitchen facilities, allowing you to purchase your own food (either in advance of arriving at the park or from the rest camps’ stores) to prepare at your camp, or you can take advantage of the camp restaurants. When selecting a camp, I suggest trying to stay at one camp (or at most two) for the duration of your stay, assuming it’s less than a week. This allows you to explore the area around your camp in greater detail, experience the facilities and get into a good routine around morning and afternoon game drives.

The rest camps in the park provide many activities including night game drives, guided bush walks, 4×4 trails and mountain biking. Check with reception at your rest camp for a full schedule. Many rest camps also have walking trails around the perimeter fences, which can provide unique encounters. I’ve seen elephants and hippos right at the camp fence, and have heard of people seeing leopards and lions within a stone’s throw. Don’t worry – they’re big fences.

As far as the “Big 5” (leopard, lion, elephant, rhino, and buffalo), the leopard is still one that eludes me. I have never been able to get the classic African photograph of the leopard in the tree. I’ve had amazing encounters with leopards on numerous occasions, but most of the time the big cat will disappear into the bush long before I can get a good shot. On my first trip to the park, within the first few hours, a young female leopard came within a metre of our vehicle. While the encounter didn’t last long, just a couple of minutes, it is a memory I will carry with me forever. And maybe one day I’ll be lucky enough to get that photo.

5 Favourite Rest Camps in Kruger National Park

1. Lower Sabie: A large camp in an amazing location on the perennial Sabie River. The large deck overlooking the river can provide hours of relaxing game viewing, while you are enjoying lunch or dinner.
2. Biyamiti: Nestled in the trees on the banks of the Mbiyamiti River, this bushveld (smaller, remote camp with less facilities) camp is in an area renowned for great game spotting and is one area where rare black rhinos are found.
3. Satara: This is a camp everyone should stay at when they come to Kruger. While busy, it is in an area of the park known for big cat sightings, expansive views over the plains and amazing sunsets.
4. Oliphants: Situated on a hill several hundred metres above the Oliphants River, the Oliphants rest camp provides arguably the most stunning setting of any of the Kruger rest camps.
5. Skukuza: As the largest rest camp and the administrative headquarters for Kruger, Skukuza is the heart of the park. It has the most facilities and services of any of the rest camps

This is the fourth post in a five-part series on how to plan a self-guided safari in Kruger National Park. Each entry will provide you with ideas to make this dream trip a reality.

Additional information is available in Warren Cartwright’s e-book Self-Guided Safaris in Kruger National Park.

Read about how to plan your own African safari every Thursday on Travel and Escape!

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