Kruger Parks Board Restcamps

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Hotel overview

The Kruger is managed by South African National Parks, and part of the service they offer is a network of public restcamps throughout the Kruger. Generally the accommodation is pretty simple, typically a thatched rondavel with basic furniture and self-catering equipment. The camps vary in size, but generally we’d recommend the larger ones as these have restaurants and shops as well as a variety of other services. Staying in the smaller, more remote camps requires a greater degree of planning, as not only will you need to prepare all your own food, you’ll also have to purchase it in advance as there are no facilities on site. The restcamps are more for experienced safari goers, or those on a tight budget, and can be combined with a stay at a private game lodge: this way you get the benefit of excellent guided game drives at the private lodge, combined with the thrill of doing a self-drive safari from the restcamps.

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Quirky excursions

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Excursion

Bush Dinner in the Kruger

When at a private safari lodge, dinner is usually eaten in a variety of different locations around the lodge, changing from night to night. One of the most exciting options is a bush dinner. It’s normally a surprise, and at the end of your evening game drive, when you think you’re heading back to the lodge, you’ll find the ranger pulling up in a secluded spot where there’ll be tables set up with the usual full silver service, all romantically lit by lamplight. The chefs will be beavering away nearby, preparing food of the usual high standard for you to enjoy beneath the open night sky.

Excursion

Kruger Game Drives

When staying at a private safari lodge, the bulk of your game viewing will be done on safari drives. These take place in the early morning and late afternoon, as many of the animals everyone wants to see (notably the predators) are most active around dawn and dusk. In the morning you’ll be wakened by a call from your ranger, who will then be waiting for you with coffee or tea before you get into the safari drive vehicle. You may stop during the morning drive for more coffee! After a drive of around three hours, you’ll be returned to the lodge for a massive breakfast. Your time is then yours to do as you please until mid/late afternoon. Usually, lunch will be served (although sometimes not during their winter) and you may have the chance to go on a safari walk. Then you meet your ranger again for afternoon tea before heading off on your evening drive. You’ll stop for sundowner drinks, and the last hour or so of your drive will be in the dark, using a spotlight to try and spot some of the nocturnal creatures. Upon your return, it's time for a gorgeous dinner before retiring to bed in order to be as fresh as possible when that morning call comes! Drive times are determined by dawn and dusk. So in their summer, morning drive starts very early and the evening drive starts quite late, allowing for a big chunk of free time in the middle of the day. In their winter, these times get compressed as the day is shorter – hence some lodges skipping lunch during the winter months. When out on drive your ranger (and his tracker in those reserves where they are used) will use his skills and experience of the bush, plus information from other rangers out on game drives, to pinpoint the best game viewing. He (or she!) will also provide a running commentary on the animals you are seeing – it is truly amazing how much information they are able to pass on. If you particularly want to see certain animals, do let your ranger know and they’ll try to oblige wherever possible, although much is dependent on the animals cooperating, and of course the wishes of the other guests in your safari drive vehicle (unless you have paid for a private vehicle). When staying in one of the parks board public restcamps, safari drives are operated by the parks board twice a day and can be booked on to when you arrive.

Excursion

Sleep-outs

A number of the private lodges offer a sleep-out experience. Typically they will have a platform built into a tree somewhere out in the reserve. Before dinner your ranger will drive you out to the platform where a table will be set out, along with a comfortable bed swathed in a mosquito net. After enjoying a meal and sundowner, you’ll be left alone with a lamp, a torch and a radio for an amazing night. Truth be told, you’re unlikely to sleep a great deal, the excitement of being right amongst the bush, straining to hear every sound and wondering what might be prowling around beneath you is likely to see to that. And once you do doze off, the dawn chorus of a million birds, ably supported by the monkeys, will rouse you in time for your ranger bringing you your breakfast. Sleep outs are a fantastic way for the adventurous to experience the bush; it goes without saying that they are of course weather-dependent!

Excursion

Bird hides

If you’re self-driving in the park, check your map for the location of bird hides. We’ve always found that these are great places to spend a bit of time, particularly if you enjoy your photography. Typically they overlook a waterhole or a river, and so it’s likely that you’ll see not just birds, but also things like hippo, or antelope and warthog coming to drink. Take a pair of binoculars and a bird book, and settle down in silence to see how many species you can identify.

Excursion

Kruger Bush Walks

Most lodges in private game reserves, in the period around lunchtime between the two usual daily game drives, offer guests the chance to go on a short safari walk. The focus on these is not the game you’d see on drive. Instead you’ll concentrate on learning about the trees and plants, including their various uses in bush medicine and bush craft. You’ll also have the chance to look at the much, much smaller animals like spiders and millipedes, no less worthy of your attention than the bigger animals in the reserve! Some of the private reserves offer a more intensive walking safari experience, where you’ll walk for large parts of a day through the bush, or even for a couple of days, camping out. Sometimes these will be to walk with cheetahs, which seem particularly comfortable being accompanied or tailed by humans; other times it will just be about the thrill of spending protracted amounts of time on foot in what has become an alien and fascinating environment for modern man, never knowing what is around the next corner, and really getting the chance to understand and appreciate nature. At the public restcamps in the Kruger National Park, daily safari walks are operated by the parks board and can be booked on to when you arrive. If you want to spend the majority of your time doing walking safaris, then you should consider the Rhino Post safaris, where two-day walking safaris can be done, with overnight sleep-outs.

Excursion

Kruger Self-Drive Safari

For those not staying on a private reserve, but staying at the public restcamps in the Kruger National Park itself, self-driving is an interesting alternative to a guided safari. Unless you really know a lot about safari, it should never replace the experience of guided game drives and walks in the company of an expert who can not only find the animals but also explain them to you. However to complement guided game drives, or for those who feel they know their way around their African wildlife, it makes an exciting and rewarding way to see game. The park is laced with a network of roads, some tarmac and many more graded tracks (passable in a normal saloon car). There is a real thrill in setting off into the park, under your own steam, equipped with a map showing roads, waterholes and notable features, a pair of binoculars, a bird and mammal guide, and perhaps a packed lunch. You can then do whatever takes your fancy: spend half an hour with a herd of zebra or impala (which would never happen on a guided game drive), or head for a waterhole and sit with your bird book trying to identify as many species as possible, or simply to drive slowly around, taking in the amazing scenery and hoping to spot some big game.

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