On our last night in Kruger Park, we stayed in the biggest camp yet, Skukuza. This camp is so big, it has car rental and conference facilities, two restaurants, and guided tours.
Its size did not make Skukuza any less lovely and our rondovel bungalow was charming. Our accommodation included self-catering and our own grill.
Advantages of staying in Skukuza Rest Camp
Not all of the camps offer tours, so when we could sign up for one, we did. Because Skukuza is a big camp with all the amenities, we were able to take a guided walk on the afternoon of our arrival, where we saw Rhinos!
This is the fourth in a series about Kruger Park accommodations. We travelled from north to south and booked accommodations in advance. We spent our fourth night and really enjoyed our stay at Tamboti Tent Camp.
Night Four: Our Stay at Tamboti Tent Camp
Tamboti is the star on the map of Kruger Park
Tamboti tent camp is one of the smaller camps in Kruger, remote and peaceful. It’s the only camp we stayed in which doesn’t even have a reception desk – to check in at Tamboti, we had to first stop in at the bigger Orpen Rest Camp a few kilometers east.
Tamboti is a type of tree, and it’s a poisonous tree. Fortunately we didn’t have any experiences with the Tamboti tree; just the camp named for it.
Lodging at Tamboti Tent Camp
Our lodging at Tamboti was a big tent with a bedroom and bathroom inside, and an outdoor kitchen on a deck, which we quite liked. We liked the natural beauty and the outdoor elements to staying there especially.
Besides being comfortable, Tamboti was a great location for spotting animals. In fact, just outside the gate on the way in we saw a leopard’s kill of impala hanging in a tree, and when we left the next morning, we saw two hyenas finishing off the meal.
The third post about accommodations in Kruger National Park is our Christmas night camp, Olifants Rest Camp. We travelled south through the park and Olifants was a convenient stop for night three. Here’s what we liked about staying in Olifants Rest Camp.
To learn more about booking accommodations in Kruger, check out my earlier post.
Night Three: Staying in Olifants Rest Camp
Map of Kruger with Olifants camp
Olifants is one of the biggest campsites at Kruger Park, and was bigger by far than what we were used to when we arrived there on Christmas Day. It even had a restaurant and a pool for the kiddies. Nothing against a big camp; we really enjoyed the variety of sites in Kruger Park.
A lot of South Africans spend Christmas holidays in Kruger Park, not just tourists like us. The crowds thronged Olifants Camp on Christmas Day. The day visitors’ centre was full of locals cooking their Christmas brais. It calmed down at night, but is still a large and busy place with a lot of cottages, campsites and more.
About The Camp
Olifants camp is on a cliff overlooking the Olifants River. We learned that Olifants means elephant and is named as such because the elephants often drink from that river. Sadly, we didn’t see this supposedly common occurrence.
We had an air conditioned bungalow with a deck overlooking Olifants River. Not the wettest time of year!
Olifants River
Celebrating Christmas at the Park
Our Christmas dinner was spent with some South African Methode Cap Classique (bubbly) and a delicious brai on the deck on the Olifants. We had a nice view and a visit from a scrub hare. It felt very South African and we loved every aspect of it.
This is the second in a series of posts about the great places to stay in Kruger National Park. Overall, we spent five nights traveling north to south and we highly recommend Shimuwini Bushveld Camp, a highlight of our trip.
Overview: Shimuwini Bushveld Camp
Shimuwini was special! It’s a small camp with a reception area and not much else besides the houses for guests. The remote atmosphere made us feel as if we were secluded away in our own paradise.
Because of its location on the Groot Letaba River, it felt like we were staying in a summertime resort. We even had our own house, which was a roomy riverfront cottage with a beautiful view.
Kruger Park is huge: one of the largest game parks in Africa, it covers over 19,000 sq kilometers, and it has almost 40 different accommodation options. We visited Kruger National Park for 5 days in December, and stayed in a different camp each of 5 nights. Each one was quite different from the previous, and we enjoyed all of them! Here’s where we stayed our first night in the park and what it’s like to stay in Punda Maria Rest Camp.
Getting to Kruger pArk
We made Kruger Park our first stop in South Africa, so flew to Johannesburg Airport where we rented a car for the drive to the park. You can get to the park quite quickly as it is so large. However, we planned our trip from the north to the south of Kruger, so it was supposed to be a 7 hour drive. Factoring in holiday traffic, it’s a slog. But worth it because Kruger Park is a bucket-list destination.
Booking Kruger park Accommodations
We booked our rooms in advance through the Kruger Park website. We booked in August for our Christmas stay, and some of the places were already full, but we still got good rooms for each night. Christmas is a busy time at Kruger: a lot of South Africans spend their holidays there and plan well in advance. If you can book earlier in the year, do so.
Options range throughout the park – from north to south, you can camp out or stay in fancier places.
This is the first post about our accommodations in Kruger Park.
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