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The local Tsonga people gave the name Skukuza to the first warden of the Kruger National Park. Literally translated it means “he who sweeps clean” referring to the removal of the people to make way for the establishment of the park. Skukuza Rest Camp is not only the biggest camp in the park, but also the administrative headquarters. It is situated in the shade of the beautiful trees in the riverine forest on the banks of the Sabie River.
A wide variety of accommodation options are offered, catering to guests with varying needs, tastes and budgets. The surrounding area is the heart of Big Five wildlife territory and the large trees are home to some interesting birds, making Skukuza a busy and popular camp. The attractions in and around the camp and the wide range of amenities provide everything a visitor to Kruger Park might need.
Rates are per night and exclude 1% community fund which will be added when booking.
| Accommodation Type | Base Guests | Base Rate | Additional Adults |
|---|---|---|---|
| Campsite (CK6P) With Powerpoint |
2 | R 480 | R 116 |
| Safari Tent (CTT2 / CTT4) Communal Faciluties |
2 | R 892 | R 221 |
| Accommodation Type | Base Guests | Base Rate | Additional Adults |
|---|---|---|---|
| Bungalow (BE2 / BE3 / BG2 / BG2UT) Communal Kitchen |
2 | R 1,797 | R 335 |
| Bungalow (BG2E / BG2ZE / BG3E) Communal Kitchen, Closed Verandah |
2 | R 1,797 | R 335 |
| Bungalow (BD2 / BD2Z / BD3) Kitchenette |
2 | R 1,964 | R 335 |
| Bungalow (BD2E) Kitchenette, Closed Verandah |
2 | R 1,964 | N/A |
| Bungalow (LB2D) Communal Kitchen |
2 | R 2,199 | N/A |
| Bungalow (LB2K / LB3) Kitchenette |
2 | R 2,333 | R 603 |
| Riverside Bungalow (LR2E) East of Restaurant |
2 | R 2,746 | N/A |
| Riverside Bungalow (LR2W / LR2WZ West of Restaurant |
2 | R 2,746 | N/A |
| Guest Cottage (GC4VB / GC4V / GC6 / GC6D / GC6Z) | 4 | R 3,516 | R 603 |
| Guest House (GMS / GNY / GAB) | 8 | R 9,130 | R 960 |
| Jake Mulhovo Guest House (GJM) | 12 | R 12,831 | N/A |
| Accommodation Type | Base Guests | Base Rate | Additional Adults |
|---|---|---|---|
| Campsite (CK6P) With Powerpoint |
2 | R 368 | R 116 |
| Safari Tent (CTT2 / CTT4) Communal Faciluties |
2 | R 892 | R 221 |
| Accommodation Type | Base Guests | Base Rate | Additional Adults |
|---|---|---|---|
| Bungalow (BE2 / BE3 / BG2 / BG2UT) Communal Kitchen |
2 | R 1,607 | R 335 |
| Bungalow (BG2E / BG2ZE / BG3E) Communal Kitchen, Closed Verandah |
2 | R 1,607 | R 335 |
| Bungalow (BD2 / BD2Z / BD3) Kitchenette |
2 | R 1,964 | R 335 |
| Bungalow (BD2E) Kitchenette, Closed Verandah |
2 | R 1,964 | N/A |
| Bungalow (LB2D) Communal Kitchen |
2 | R 2,199 | N/A |
| Bungalow (LB2K / LB3) Kitchenette |
2 | R 2,333 | R 603 |
| Riverside Bungalow (LR2E) East of Restaurant |
2 | R 2,746 | N/A |
| Riverside Bungalow (LR2W / LR2WZ West of Restaurant |
2 | R 2,746 | N/A |
| Guest Cottage (GC4VB / GC4V / GC6 / GC6D / GC6Z) | 4 | R 3,516 | R 603 |
| Guest House (GMS / GNY / GAB) | 8 | R 9,130 | R 960 |
| Jake Mulhovo Guest House (GJM) | 12 | R 12,831 | N/A |
A wide variety of self-catering accommodation is available at Skukuza and a luxury hotel has recently been added to the choice of accommodation facilities. Campsites and permanently erected Safari Tents offer the most affordable accommodation. Bungalows with shared ablution and kitchen facilities as well as luxury bungalows with private amenities are available.
The Guest Houses offer self-catering accommodation to groups of guests travelling together and the Kruger Park Hotel offers 128 comfortable rooms and suites. The latest addition and most luxurious of all the facilities at Skukuza is the Kruger Shalati, the Train on the Bridge.
Skukuza offers 80 campsites for caravans, tents, campers and motorhomes. Each campsite has a power point and can accommodate up to 6 persons. Barbecue facilities are provided and guests make use of communal ablution facilities.
Communal kitchen facilities are also available, but cooking utensils, crockery and cutlery is not provided. Boiling water is supplied 24 hours a day and electric hotplates and wash-up facilities are available.
Twenty permanently erect Safari tents, built on stilts and furnished with either 2 or 4 single beds, offer basic self-catering accommodation.
Bedding is supplied and each tent has a veranda with a table and chairs, a fridge and an electric fan. Guests make use of communal ablution and kitchen facilities. Cutlery and crockery boxes can be hired at a nominal fee.
Close to 180 rondavel-style Bungalows with varying facilities are available at Skukuza. While some have private bathrooms and kitchen facilities, guests staying in the more basic bungalows make use of communal ablution and kitchen facilities. These African-styled units are furnished with either 2 or 3 single beds. Some bungalows are air-conditioned while others have ceiling fans.
Kitchenettes are available at some of the thatched-roofed bungalows,
fitted with a sink, hotplate and fridge. Cutlery and crockery can
be hired from reception.
Twenty Luxury Bungalows – some with views and some without – are available along the riverfront at Skukuza. These modern units have air-conditioning and TV with limited DSTV channels.
Each bungalow has one bedroom which is furnished with a double bed and an en-suite bathroom. While the luxurious bungalows have their own kitchens, the semi-luxury units make use of a communal kitchen.
The Family Cottage has four bedrooms, each furnished with 2 single beds, accommodating up to 8 persons. This Cottage forms part of the Waterkant Guest House Complex and has one bathroom, a living room and a fully equipped kitchen. The cottage has a view over the river and barbecue facilities are provided.
Fifteen Guest Cottages offer accommodation to either four or six persons. The 4-sleepers have 2 bedrooms, each furnished with 2 single beds.
The 6-sleepers have 2 bedrooms, each furnished with 3 single beds. There is a well-equipped kitchen and most of these air-conditioned cottages have more than one bathroom.
There are four Guest Houses at Skukuza Rest Camp, each offering accommodation to a larger group of guests travelling together. Moni, Nyathi and Waterkant Guest Houses accommodate 8 guests in 4 bedrooms while ABSA Guest House accommodates 12 guests in 6 bedrooms.
Each bedroom is furnished with 2 single beds and has an en-suite bathroom with a bath, basin, shower and toilet. There is a lounge with a TV with limited DSTV channels and a dining room. The kitchen is fully equipped with a stove, oven, fridge, freezer, microwave, cooking utensils, crockery and cutlery. Each Guest House has a veranda with outdoor furniture and barbecue facilities.
The Kruger Park Hotel, located in Skukuza, has 128 comfortable rooms and suites and a variety of facilities, including a swimming pool, gym, restaurant and bar. Rooms and suites vary from standard rooms to adjoining family rooms. Universally accessible rooms and luxury suites are available.
Each room has a bar fridge, satellite TV, Wi-Fi, air-conditioning and an electronic safe. There is an en-suite bathroom and private patio with outdoor furniture in each room.
Thirty-one luxurious rooms are available at Kruger Shalati, a hotel suspended on the bridge over the Sabie River. 24 Train Carriage Suites and 7 Bridge House Suites provide ultimate comfort and a one-of-a-kind adventure.
The arrival lounge, reception and dining areas as well as two of the three swimming pools are adjacent to the Selati Bridge. The carriage suites are large, glass-walled suites, offering infinite views along the majestic Sabie River.
As the capital of Kruger National Park, facilities at Skukuza include a shop, deli, bank, restaurants, swimming pools, car hire fuel station, picnic facilities and much more.
A variety of facilities are provided at all the Main Rest Camps while amenities at the satellite camps are more basic and limited.
Ideally situated between Skukuza and Satara and offers food and refreshments. Gas Skottel Braai are available for hire and you can stock up on all the items that you forgot to bring.
Located on the banks of the Sabie River. In the shop on site, you can eat, drink or shop for curios and skottel braais are available in addition to a delicious full snack menu.
Restaurants are available at all the Main Rest Camps. Boma Braais and Bush Braais are offered by some of the restaurants. This is a traditional South African barbecue offering three meats and a selection of salads and freshly baked breads.
The Lifestyle Centre along the historical Selati Railway line at Skukuza Camp, is centred around the station’s past and pays homage to a significant piece of history. The following facilities are offered at the Kruger Station:
Activities provided by the lodge or provided nearby, nearby tourist attractions, places to visit and things to see. The Stevenson Hamilton Memorial is located on a rocky outcrop with a path leading from the parking point to the memorial plaque. The Kruger Tablets is also a memorial plaque embedded in rock.
Educational programmes are offered to children visiting the Kruger National
Park in season and the Lake Panic Bird Hide offers exceptional bird watching
opportunities. Wildlife films can be watched every evening except on Sundays
and traditional dances can be seen and enjoyed on prior arrangement.
The guided 4×4 trails allow visitors to get off the beaten track and explore territories of the park that are rarely seen. It is essential to travel with a 4×4 vehicle to minimise environmental damage and some of the trails have dongas or riverbeds that would make normal vehicles unfit for these trails, especially during the wet season. These trails serve as the gateway to a real wilderness experience in the park.
The world-class spa facility is situated in the heart of the Kruger National Park at Skukuza and captures the stillness of the bush, punctuated by birdsong and the rustle of leaves.
Most of the rest camps in Kruger offer guests the opportunity to take part in daily early morning and afternoon guided walks. Professional, experienced and armed field guides take groups of up to eight persons out of the camp’s boundaries to explore the surrounding wilderness areas on foot.
Ensuring the safety of the guests, these guides share their knowledge of the fauna and flora and to explain natural wonders, enriching their knowledge of the African bush and wildlife.
The walks are informative and relaxed and don’t take longer than
a few hours, focussing on the things not easily seen from a vehicle.
Being out on foot, an area is covered more intensely and guests are
able to experience nature using all their senses. Large game in the
area offers the possibility of encounters and the exhilarating experience
of approaching them on foot.
Several guided backpacking trails are conducted in the large wilderness areas, giving guests access to experience the park without constraints of a prescribed route. Stretching over a few days and nights the trails have no facilities and guests must carry their own equipment, food and water with them.
The combination of the Parque Nacional do Limpopo, Kruger National Park and Zimbabwe’s Gonarezhou National Park forms the Great Limpopo Transfrontier Park, covering a total of 3.7 million hectares.
This is one of the largest wilderness conservation areas in the world and provides the perfect opportunity for an adventure without boundaries which can be explored on a wilderness experience.
This exciting adventure destination is accessed from South Africa through border posts in Kruger located at Giriyondo, north of Letaba, or Pafuri in the north-east at Crook’s Corner. Access from Moçambique is via the Massingir dam in the south or Mapai in the east.
More than 500 different bird species have a home in Kruger National Park, some of them not to be found anywhere else in South Africa.
Numerous water points make for excellent birdwatching, while there are eleven bird/game-viewing hides in some of the camps and picnic sites in the park. Several more are earmarked for construction when sufficient funds become available.
Most species breed in summer when rains sustain most vegetation and food, but the larger birds of prey conversely breed during the dry winter, when their prey is most exposed.
Out of the 507 species of birds found at Kruger, 253 are residents, 117 non-breeding migrants, and 147 are nomads.
Some of the larger birds require large territories or are sensitive to habitat degradation. Six of these birds, which are basically restricted to Kruger and other extensive conservation areas, have been assigned to a fanciful grouping called the "Big Six Birds".
Bird hides are wooden shelters that overlook a natural dam or river. A fenced walkway with a door leads visitors from the parking area to the hide.
The structure is almost entirely enclosed, allowing a viewing gap with seats running along the opening from where the scene outside can be enjoyed. Identification posters and information on birds found in the area are displayed on the walls.
Some of these hides are in camps, and some are situated in an area where wildlife roams free. Keep this in mind when exiting a vehicle to enter the bird hide.
This list excludes in-camp hides that are in selected camps such as at
Bateleur, Punda Maria, Sirheni, Talamati, Tamboti and private hides at
Letaba for residents of Fish Eagle Guest House and at Shingwedzi for Rentmeester
Guest House.
Two of the birding hides are equipped with mattresses, bed linen and basic cutlery and crockery and toilet facilities are available for those sleeping over.
Reservations must be made in advance and each group may only sleep over one night at a time. Take note that there is no electricity at the hides and the facilities are rustic and very basic. Visitors must bring their own food, wood and drinking water along.
Kruger’s game drives are for guests who want to get closer to the wild side of nature and experience the Park’s animals up close.
Game Drives are offered at most of the rest camps and information is available and reservations can be made at reception at the camp.
Guests are transported in open vehicles and an experienced guide interprets the natural bush and offers insight into the ways of the Kruger Park. The duration of the Game Drives are approximately 3 hours.
Morning drives leave half an hour before official gate opening times, which vary according to the time of year, which means you will be the only guests driving around at that time. On the morning drive you will be able to enjoy the tranquillity of the Kruger National Park and watch the sunrise over unspoilt bush.
These drives leave the camp before dusk and return after sunset. Look out for grazers in the cool afternoon and predators starting their nightly hunts. Sunset is a time when night animals emerge and a drive during this period is the perfect opportunity to witness the beauty of the bush as it changes from day to night. Learn about fauna and flora from our expert guides and return to camp with a spot-lit night drive.
The only way to see nocturnal animals is by joining a night drive, which departs at either 19:30 or 20:00, depending on the time of year. These outings last for around two hours. Experienced and knowledgeable guides enlighten guests on these creatures of the night and their secretive activities. It is also a wonderful opportunity to view the star-filled Southern sky away from city lights.
Depending on availability, guests may book a game drive vehicle and driver for the entire day. Trained officials take visitors to sections of the park that are usually inaccessible to tourists.
A Bush Braai is an unforgettable experience not to be missed. A game drive leads you to an open area where burning lanterns and fires provide guests with the opportunity to listen to the sounds of the bushveld and the distant animals calling, while the food is grilled on open fires. A variety of game meat and sausages is on offer, accompanied by delicious vegetables and a variety of salads. Freshly prepared desserts and coffee or tea complete the delightful meal. A cash bar facility is available.
Two types of bush braais (barbecues) are offered:
Skukuza, the main rest camp of the Kruger National Park, has the wildest golf course in the world!
Staying in a rustic, primitive camp and experiencing the African bush on foot is an experience unparalleled by any other, bringing guests closer to the ultimate wilderness and wildlife destinations on the African continent.
Driving around in an open game drive vehicle and staying in a luxury
lodge is not necessarily an authentic experience. Wildness, remoteness,
tranquillity, peace and to top it all: no other people, is offered to
the more adventurous tourist!
Olifants Rest Camp is currently the only camp offering this activity which allows guests to explore Kruger’s environment on a mountain bike.
Contribute to local empowerment by making use of the “Park & Ride Scheme.” The Community driven project is a joint venture between SANParks and Vuswa Fleet Services. It is an initiative to empower people on the periphery of Kruger National Park.
Because the Kruger National Park is located in the Lowveld region of South Africa, it is very hot during the summer months and even during most of the winter. To enable visitors to cool off in the heat, swimming pools are available at most of the rest camps. These pools are only available for camp residents, but additional swimming pools for day visitors are offered at the Skukuza and Letaba.
Well over 255 recorded archaeological sites - ranging from early Stone Age, roughly 1 million years ago, to various Iron Age settlements and recent historical buildings - hold cultural and spiritual importance, while others reveal an exciting and romantic history of the area.
The 19th century trading post of the famous Portuguese trader, Joao Albasini is found at the new Phabeni Gate, 10 km from Hazyview.
A late Iron Age site and trading place for the BaPhalaborwa, Venda and Portuguese - situated 12 km from the Phalaborwa gate on the road to Letaba Rest Camp.
A stone walled site dating back to 450 – 500 years ago – believed to be a trade site and part of Zimbabwean culture which included the Mapungubwe historical site.
With an estimated 1 500 lions, 17 000 elephants, 48 000 buffalo, 1 000 leopards and just over 2 000 rhinos inhabiting the Kruger National Park, sighting the “Big Five” is very possible when doing game drives.
Even though it should not be a prerequisite on a safari and sightings of specific animals absolutely happen on the luck of the draw, these animals are a huge attraction to visitors.
Kruger is one of the premier game-watching destinations in the world. Approximately 147 mammal species occur in the park. It is possible to see all the classical African big game, including elephant, black and white rhino, hippopotamus, giraffe, zebra, buffalo, warthog and many antelope species. Large carnivores include lion, leopard, cheetah, wild dog and spotted hyena. There are also many smaller mammals which are equally enticing.
Something else that became an attraction to wildlife viewing, is a group of insects known as the “Small Five”. This group includes the Elephant Shrew, Ant Lion, Rhinoceros Beetle, Buffalo Weaver and Leopard Tortoise.
Kruger National Park also supports packs of the endangered African wild dog, of which there are thought to be only about 400 left in the whole of South Africa.
More than 500 different bird species have a home in Kruger National Park, some of them not to be found anywhere else in South Africa. Numerous water points make for excellent birdwatching, while there are eleven bird/game-viewing hides in some of the camps and picnic sites in the park.
The Kruger Park is inhabited by 114 species of reptiles, including black mambas, African rock pythons, and 3,000 Nile crocodiles 34 species of amphibians are found in the park, as well as 49 fish species. A Zambezi shark, Carcharhinus leucas, also known as the bull shark, was caught at the confluence of the Limpopo and Luvuvhu Rivers in July 1950. Zambezi sharks tolerate fresh water and can travel far up rivers like the Limpopo.
219 species of butterfly and skipper are native to the park. The fastest and most robust of these belong to the genus Charaxes, of which 12 species have been recorded. Genera Papilio and Acraea are also well-represented, with about 10 and 15 species respectively. The total number of Lepidoptera species in the park is unknown but could be in the order of 7,000, many of which range widely in African savanna.