The Kruger National Park is the flagship of South Africa’s national parks and rated as the ultimate safari experience. By far the largest game reserve in South Africa, land that stretches for 352 kilometres (20 000kms square/2 million hectares) from south to north along the Mozambique border. Established in 1898, safaris in the Greater Kruger Park now offer a unique range of luxury game lodges, self-catering national park run camps, tented & rustic camps and a variety of safari activities to create an incredible wildlife experience.
The original Kruger has grown as fences have come down to include the private game reserves alongside and is known as the Greater Kruger. It has created an enormous protected wilderness where game can roam freely. An example of these private reserves is :
Sabi Sand Game Reserve with 65 000 hectares and the luxury lodges including:
Timbavati Game Reserve with 14 000 hectares, Klaserie Game Reserve with 60 000 hectares and Manyeleti Game Reserve: 23 000 hectares with the Tintswalo Safari Luxury Lodge.
Game Viewing– The Kruger allows self drive but each camp arranges game viewing in a 4×4 camp vehicle with ranger. Book once you check in. Options include Morning, Sunset, Night and all day safaris depending on the rest camp.
Guided Walks with a ranger give a fantastic experience.
Bush Braais in a lantern lit clearing, after a 30 minute game drive with game meats and vegetables, salads, deserts etc.
Bird and Animal hides are throughout the Kruger.
Lebombo Eco Trail– 500kms – Called the “wilderness experience on wheels”, this overland trail follows the eastern boundary of the Kruger along the Lebombo hills from the extreme South to the extreme North. Experienced, professional guides act as trail leaders giving an unparalleled bush interpretation that covers geology, biology, botany as well as historical and cultural information.
It is a self-catered experience and you will need to carry all provisions incl. water and sleeping requirements, gas, tents etc. It is not a 4×4 challenge as such, but you will need the 4×4 at times.
Accommodation is spread over the main rest camps, which we focus on, 5 bushveld camps, 2 bush lodges, and 4 satellite camps.
Self -catering, simple cottages are in 12 main rest camps throughout the Kruger. They are run by the national parks-SanParks and are well kept with linen and all you need to self- cater. Some are equipped for disability. Some have everything in the cottage, others share a communal kitchen. Click on the name to see more detail. Camps vary hugely… some have swimming pools, restaurants and good supply stores and some just a little convenience store. Some camps have airconditioning but it may not be in all accommodation. Alternately, there are fans. Check when bookiong. The map below shows where the camps are and which have petrol. All have post boxes and call booths. Book well ahead and re confirm your booking.
When planning, remember the speed limit, stops for sightings and breaks to allow adequate time to get from one camp to another. A grid is below to assist your planning. Camp gate closing and opening times are strict.
Our recommendation is to mix and match. Include a luxury lodge as well as the Kruger camps and try to spend at least 4 days to get the best out of this very special place.
Below, see the gates, where the rest camps are, caravan areas and where to get petrol. Please do not use the Numbi Gate and route as it is the only one with safety concerns.
***There are basic camp layouts below. For detail of chalet numbers, just click on the map.
Practical tips for caravanners and campers. Some sites are on sand, so take good and plentiful groundcover in case it becomes muddy. Also: at least 30m of hose for some camps. In summer, choose/book a spot under a tree, otherwise you will boil!
click to enlarge
Skukuza Rest Camp is the biggest camp and includes facilities such as a shop, ATM & bank, restaurant, deli, 2 swimming pools, a Spa, fuel station, medical doctor, fairly good cell phone reception, laundromat, car hire, garage & workshop, car wash, indigenous plant nursery and conference facilities.
Skakuza has a 9 hole, 72 par golf course where your play will be viewed by a variety of wildlife!
The camp is big, so avoid if you are looking for a quiet bush experience.
click to enlarge
Berg en Dal Rest Camp is one of the ‘new generation’ camps. Situated on the bank of Matjulu Spruit with preserved natural vegetation in the camp and surrounded by rocky hillsides, this camp has a peaceful feel.
Facilities include airconditioned accommodation, fairly good cell phone reception, Internet café with their laptops which can connect via LAN as no WiFi yet, a shop, café, swimming pool, laundromat, petrol, conference facilities and basic first aid.
click to enlarge
Crocodile Bridge Rest Camp is a stone’s throw from the Mozambique border and has a rich cultural history.
‘The game viewing area is known as the ‘Southern Circle’ and is renowned for its concentration of different prides of lion with different hunting techniques and behaviour. It has an abundance of prides, herds, troops, packs and swarms. It is home to a larger percentage of the Kruger National Park‘s total rhino population ‘
Facilities include airconditioned bungalows, fairly good cell phone reception, shop, with small take-away food section, laundromat, petrol and basic first aid.
click to enlarge
The oldest of the camps with many facilities incl. a swimming pool. We are glad to say that they have left some exotic flowering trees, which results in a brilliant red across the camp at some times of the year.
Some 3 500 million years ago, molten rock forced its way through the earth’s crust and solidified to form the spectacular granite outcrops where Pretoriuskop Rest Camp is now nestled.
Facilities incl. airconditioned accommodation, restaurant & café, shop, laundromat, petrol, and basic first aid. If you choose a tent, try for one along the fence as you may see game at night.
click to enlarge
Beautifully situated on the banks of the Sabie River (one of the few perennial rivers in the Kruger), you can watch hippo and other wildlife from the restaurant deck. The camp is leafy with sycamore fig and other fruit trees which attract birds.
Facilities include a swimming pool, restaurant, café & shop, laundromat, petrol, basic first aid and an eco information centre.
click to enlarge
‘The area is good for lion, cheetah, wild dogs, honey badger and leopard as the habitat has wide-open plains covered by sweet grass that attracts many browsers and grazers.’ With aloes and Barbeton daisies in the rockeries, the camp comes alive when they are in flower.
Guest cottages are airconditioned. There is a swimming pool, small shop and a coffee shop, restaurant, laundromat, an eco information centre, cell phone reception and basic first aid. Petrol is just a km away.
click to enlarge
The ambiance here recalls the mood of yester-year Africa with red-roofed public buildings. Judged as the best organized camp last year, it is the Kruger’s 3rd biggest camp. Accommodation in bungalows is airconditioned. There are some lovely murals, a shop, cafeteria, restaurant, fuel station, fairly good cell phone reception and laundrette. There is also an open air theatre where wildlife documentaries are shown and a jungle gym for the kids.
The best camp for viewing lions, leopards, and cheetah, it is often referred to as the ‘cat camp’. The big cats prey on the vast herds of antelope that are attracted by the fertile grazing land in the area.
If you are camping or caravanning, choose a spot under trees along the fence …it will be cooler plus you will get to game view at night!
click to enlarge
Situated high on a hill with panoramic views of river and plains, this is a good place to spot game. Facilities include airconditioned accommodation, simple first aid, restaurant, petrol, Cadac braai hire, spotty cell phone reception, and a shop plus curio shop.
There are guesthouses for 8 as well as smaller bungalows. This is the only camp that provides mountain bikes and equipment and where you can ride within a group of 6 with 2 rangers.
click to enlarge
A green and thriving oasis, Letaba Camp offers comfortable accommodation and has excellent elephant and bird viewing. There are rondavels and chalets.
Facilities incl. airconditioned chalets and safari tents, a swimming pool, restaurant, shop & café, conference facilities, laundromat, an ATM which generates slips to use at the shop, spotty cell phone reception, petrol, and the Matambeni Bird Hide is just 10 km north of the camp.
click to enlarge
This small camp is the newest of the rest camps and commands a spectacular view over the pretty Pioneer Dam.
The name comes from the Mopane Trees which are around the region. The indigenous vegetation has been left untouched, while newly planted trees have been laid out making this camp a bush oasis. A signature feature is the huge gnarled old baobab tree in the heart of the camp.
All the buildings are built from natural materials such as rough stone, wood and thatch. There is a unique ‘sleep-over’ game-viewing hide, the Pioneer dam and Shipdane bird-hides are close to the camp and are good places to sit and wait for the animals.
Shipandane is a sleep out game viewing hide which can be booked at the Mopani camp.
Facilities include a restaurant, ladies bar, shop, swimming pool, basic first aid, laundromat, coffee shop, conference facilities and petrol.
click to enlarge
Find large herds in this prime elephant and buffalo territory but game can be scarce. This is a good place to search for birds and the rare larger antelope species such as roan and sable antelope, plus tsessebe, eland and Lichtenstein’s hartebeest.
Facilities include airconditioned rooms, a restaurant, shop/café, swimming pool, mini ATM, laundromat and petrol. Kanniedood Bird Hide is about 7 km east of the camp.
NOTE: Following January 2026’s floods, access to Shingwedzi will for now only be through Punda Maria or Pafuri Gates. In the meantime, repairs are underway at the approach of the Letaba high water bridge which connects the tar road between Mopani and Letaba Rest Camps.
click to enlarge
With lush vegetation on Sandveld, the area is described as the botanical garden of the Kruger and attracts a wide variety of rare birds and wildlife.
Facilities include a restaurant, shop & café, laundromat, mini ATM, swimming pool, basic first aid and petrol. No WiFi but there is spotty cell phone reception.
For more detail on the Kruger:
https://www.sanparks.org/parks/kruger
Sabie Sand Game Reserve, Sabie...
Mala Mala Game Reserve, South ...
Singita Boulders Lodge, Hazyvi...
