Review: Lower Sabi

Lower Sabi Rest Camp

Location:
Lower Sabi, Kruger National Park. It is pretty much centrally located within the Kruger National Park, and is renowned for its Lion and predator abundance.

Getting there:
This bustling rest camp lies in the lower section of the Sabi river, in the Kruger National Park. It is one of the most Southern Rest camps that is not on the perimeter of the Park. It beams with wildlife unfortunately with that comes plenty of visitors and traffic.

Privacy:
At any of these camps I would always suggest a Perimeter unit, they tend to be a lot more Private and especially at this camp a good view of the river is generally maintained througout the year. The units are semi private but two units tend to look onto one another braai patio area.

Unit:
Our unit was busy being refurbished but was all in good order. Our main sliding door was sticky and battled to close. We did not complain about it we were there for only 2 nights. A very clean unit overall, with own geyser and private bathroom makes finishing the day off with a hot shower all the more comforting

Kitchen:
The external kitchen was again fully equipped, with a Fridge, stove,Sink . All utensils cups, plates, pots and pans were provided and professionally serviced and cleaned by the staff.

Bedroom&Beds:
The thatched roof tend to attract some bats and are mildy disruptive during sunset. But still enjoyable to watch them closely without disturbance. It is fully furnished with two single beds Air con and ceiling fan and standard South African plug points.

 

Bathroom:
The bathroom was spacious enough for two people to get ready at the same time. A medium to large shower. With what felt like unlimited hot water.








Parking:
Parking at the units are individually set out and share a double space with your neighbor, Please consider that another vehicle might need to share that space as well. There was a lot of availability of parking space (shoulder parking)  although not specifically designated as a parking if you are out the way no one will complain.

Staff:
Staff are as friendly as always and cleaned everything including our braai very well. I do Feel sorry for them on the day we were leaving a large male Baboon was running around our unit and these poor ladies kept chasing after him from one unit to another. They had just cleaned our unit and this bad boy ravished through some of the items left to dry and made a mess. The lady ended up cleaning our unit twice but yet still had a smile on her face while doing so even though we insisted we would clean up the baboons mess.

Service:
All the staff were friendly and very willing to help.

Food/Restaurant:
This has got to be one of the nicest restaurants with the best view in the park as it has unspoiled view overlooking the river,it is highly recommended that you treat yourself to a sun downers drink on the deck one evening.

Family Appropriateness:
This camp offers many activities, walks morning and night drives and is a large camp with a communal pool located out the way of the units. It is very nice to explore and have a walk along the fence.Please be careful and do not leave small children unattended as  animals do get in the fence and can be very dangerous.

Conclusion:
An animal rich location so great for game viewing however very popular and can get very busy at times

Tips:

1. About 700m away from this camp is a water rich dam called Sunset dam, A perfect spot to spend the last hour of your drive sitting taking in the peace with a glass of wine or an ice cold beer.

Review: Satara Rest Camp

 Satara Rest Camp

Location:

Satara, Kruger National Park (KNP). It is pretty much centrally located within the Kruger National Park, and is renowned for its Lion and predator abundance.

Getting there:

Center(ish) of the KNP easy days drive from Skukuza/Lower sabi/Olifants/Orpen

Privacy:
There are a few types of units but generally you can see other people and their activities externally, especially whilst braaiing, however we never felt cramped or that anyone was intruding in on us. We had a fence based unit but were not right on the fence although nothing to obstruct our view. The units are set out in a horse shoe type arrangement and ideally unit 167 is the nearest the fence and much more private.

Unit:

Was a round rondawel (Ron-daah-vill) with two single beds and a shower, toilet. A small external kitchenette, braai area and washing up sink. AC and fan.

Kitchen:
The external kitchen was fully equipped, with what I consider almost everything. Fridge, stove,Sink . All utensils cups, plates, pots and pans were provided and washed by the cleaning staff. It was very comforting when we left some of our own dirty Tupperware and grimy cooking pot outside and coming back to all of it clean and ready for use.

Bedroom&Beds:
Inside created a great bush feel thatched roof it was fully furnished with two single beds Air con and ceiling fan. To my confusion an external basin in the main sleeping area with a plug point for charging items, typically a moment of weakness while using the basin splattered water all over my devices, fortunately nothing got damaged.

Bathroom:
The bathroom was very petite yet clean enough for one at a time the shower was constantly hot but water pressure was very low.

Parking:
Parking at the units are individually set out and are enough for one car of any size only.

Staff:
Staff are as friendly as you are friendly to them, They service the rooms on a daily basis and are very active in the mornings so they tend to interfere with your long lazy mornings. If you ask nicely they will move on to the other empty units and come back and clean when you out.

Service:
All the staff were friendly and professional at all times our night drive ranger was full of chirps and had a large extent of knowledge.

Food/Restaurant:
The restaurant was going through a full management and ownership change, their menu was limited but enough to satisfy a small hungry monster. They were low on staff and were struggling to keep up with amount of people so service was slow. The view does not compete with the likes of Lower Sabi or Skukuza. It does gander over a small watering hole but not very visible from the seating area.

Family Rating:
A safe camp to let your well behaved kids walk around and visit the pool and play area on their own providing noise levels are respected. A nice pool area and lots of activities provide entertainment for children, no childcare services are available. If you lucky periodically outdoor movies are shown in their outdoor theater under the stars.



Conclusion:
The camp is well located, has a nice store with majority of what you need from drinks, to meat, even minor camping necessities. Just a reminder if you plan on buying Alcohol bring your book in slips as it is a requirement.

We find this the best camp for night drives and much prefer to do a night drive over a sunset one.

Tips:

1. If you want a private fence unit.  No 161 / 167 are your ideal spots. You can only request these units by phoning the camp directly only after you have confirmed and payed for your stay.
2. Bring your torch/spot light for your night drive you are allowed to use it as you please and the more light you have scanning the bush the more chance you have of catching that rare sighting.

Review: Tamboti Tented Camp

Tamboti Tented Camp

Location:

Kruger National Park, Mpumalanga, South Africa

Getting there:

Approx 400km Drive from JHB on good condition tar highway with tolls to a total of about R210.00. Check in at Orpen Gate where there is a small shop with basics. Then approx. 4km drive on tar and gravel good enough for any vehicle.

Arriving at Tamboti Entrance

Arriving at gate

Most gates have a little convenience shops like this

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Privacy:

The units are hidden away along the river bed, although closely set out, all effort has been made to hide tents from one another unfortunately the over growth could only cover so much. From our tent the tent on the right of us was completely hidden but on the left we had full view of the occupants whilst on the deck and cooking.

Facilities:

Accommodation - Tents:

All units are canvas tents on wooden deck containing a braai area   

Braai Area

With minor electricity, fan and plug point supplying 220v power, internal and external lights

Full bed, pillows  and towels. Even though lights are available I most def suggest bringing some form or a few forms or backup lights. The large lights attract major bugs so a small lantern set on the side saves one the hassle of flapping arms  and running away from these lil buggers, they also provide the best bush feeling one could imagine. 

Please bring a spot light/torch doesn't have to be the biggest but effective up to 30m at a minimum walking around at night is not encouraged but sometimes when bathroom calls there's no option. There will be night animals along the fence the spotlight needs to provide enough light to view the animals.

Kitchen:

There is no kitchen at the tents them selves but do provide a small fridge freezer combo and food cage is provided, the communal kitchens are scattered evenly near the ablution blocks and contain the basic stove water boiler and sinks. No utensils whatsoever are provided.

Its worth checking the temperature setting on your fridge when you arrive they often switch them lower to save electricity when there are no occupants.

Bedroom&Beds:

Well this is pretty much the whole tent so if you require privacy from one another at night and getting ready bring a blind fold or push the cupboard in such a way it creates a wall to change behind but that’s the most privacy you will get unless you meander in your sleeping togs or not togs at all up to the ablutions, but that's up to you. The beds were extremely comfy and firm, plenty of blankets were available for winter chilly evenings

Bathroom:

The ablutions a small meander away from the tents, please wear shoes at all times when walking around especially at night.

The toilets and all ablution facilities were in very very good condition, Toilet paper and soap was never and issue. Hot water in abundance for the long shower takers. 

Staff:

There were no staff based at this camp and if there are very unobtrusive, but they do come and clean and make up beds during the day. The staff at Orpen whilst checking in were very friendly. Mutual respect and politeness always on the top of the list.

Service:

Service wad very good and effective, I would suggest not to leave any valuables out in the open whilst you are not there rather avoid temptation, although we never had anything go missing. Service whilst checking in was good, however check in times at 2 as well as last minute check ins nearing gate closing times were slow.  

Food/Restaurant:

There is no food/restaurant you need to be fully self sufficient what you want to eat you bring. No charcoal or firewood is available or provided. You can buy when you check in from the gate at Orpen.

Parking:

Parking spots are available and are a good few meters away from the tents. There is generally only one spot pert tent so more than one vehicle per tent could prove tricky. 

Family Appropriateness:

Infant/Child/Mature Child/Adult Only: Although no rule stating a certain age restriction, This camp is very much based on relax and recuperation based there are no activities except to sit and relax having active kids or crying babies will not only irritate you but also your neighbors as well.