Basic but oh so clean: Value-for-money accommodation in Kruger National Park
When searching for accommodation in many of southern Africa’s national parks and game reserves it is not un-common for the traveller to believe that only luxury lodge-based safaris are available. These lodges, where everything – accommodation, game activities, meals and often drinks – are included, are fabulous places to undertake a safari in style and often result in travellers seeing the ‘Big 5’ during the course of a stay. However, these lodges do come with a price tag which means that the average traveller will only be able to afford a short stay at a luxury lodge.
Fear not all you would-be-travellers who want to spend longer enjoying the magic of an African safari! Many of southern Africa’s parks have more affordable, value-for-money options available which won’t break the bank, even if you are travelling as a family, and which mean that you can stay longer and experience more!
A great example of this type of value-for-money accommodation can be found in South Africa’s Kruger National Park where there are 3 ‘levels’ of affordable accommodation just waiting for the traveller:
– camping (hire a fully equipped 4×4 with roof top tents and away you go)
– accommodation with shared kitchen (if you want to self-cater all you need is to buy pots and pans, cutlery and crockery and away you go) and bathroom facilities (always spotlessly clean and with lots of hot water)
– accommodation with en-suite bathroom and kitchen plus all the kitchen equipment needed to cook up a ‘Masterchef’ feast!
This type of accommodation is perfect for a self-drive safari or indeed, even a guided safari in Kruger.
On a recent trip to Kruger we went for the budget option and stayed in the cheapest accommodated options in 3 rest camps – huts or tents with shared ablutions, no utensils and shared kitchen facilities. We still firmly believe that these offer you some of the best value-for-money options anywhere in the world. Our thatched room in Lower Sabie was spacious and spotless if rather basic. Our 2 bed canvas safari tent in Skukuza was similarly basic but felt very ‘African safari’. And we loved our small but very cosy round thatched rondavel at Pretoriuskop. Again, basic but with so much character. All our rooms had fridges and two had sinks which make life even easier.
All the accommodations were oh so clean and comfortable and near to excellent ablution facilities – spotlessly clean bathrooms with showers and baths and endless hot water. The cooking facilities were also close to hand with the hot water urns always ready to furnish your cup of tea or coffee at the crack of dawn in preparation for your morning drive.
We were so happy with our accommodations and couldn’t fault a thing. However, if you have a bit more money in the bank you can absolutely upgrade to a range of rooms which have en-suite bathrooms and kitchens too!
Travel Africa organised this 3 day Kruger trip in August 2017 – total cost AUD$600 for 2 people including car hire, accommodation, morning walk and night drive. Excludes conservation fees (AUD$30 per person per day), petrol (approx. AUD$65) and food and drink (approx. AUD$10 per person per meal).
