Tag: Photos

Kruger Park Accommodations: Olifants Rest Camp

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
Kruger Olifants
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 Kruger Park
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.

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Kruger Park Accommodations: Shimuwini Bushveld Camp

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.

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Spotting the Big Five in Kruger Park

Before I went to Kruger National Park – my first ever safari experience – I was excited to see ANY wild animals. I had heard of “The Big 5” but wasn’t even sure which animals were labelled within that group. We learned from a guide during one of the organized walks that this term originally comes from hunters. As a result, hunters considered the biggest animals the most important for their trophy cases and thus the Big 5 designation was created. We tried to spot the Big five in Kruger Park, with some success.

It is a goal for many safari goers to see all of “The Big 5.” While this wasn’t my goal, the whole park experience pushes that as a priority. Each campsite has a couple of boards where people can mark their daily sightings of these most wanted wild animals, plus some other rare and interesting animals. Except the rhino. Due to these beautiful animals being close to extinction, the park will not advertise sightings of rhinoceros as a way to protect them against poachers. Because of this, a rhino sighting is a tough find.

For the most part, we drove around, did a couple of game walks in the bush, and just enjoyed our sightings of all the animals and birds. But in the back of our minds, especially as the days passed, we did still hope to see all of the Big Five.

Here’s a rundown on our Big Five sightings in Kruger National Park:

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