Ask any camper about which camp sites are on his bucket list and he will keep you busy for hours telling you about his favorite camp sites and which ones he would still like to visit. I’ve got my own list too, and they include camp sites from all over Southern Africa. Here we go….
Tsendze – the Tsonga word for ‘tsendzeleka’ or ‘to ramble around like someone lost in the bush’
Even though we’re avid campers, it shames me to admit that we’ve never been to the Kruger National Park. The only reason for this is the sheer volume of visitors that you have to contend with when you visit the park. I intensely dislike the idea of having fifty vehicles clamoring for a view around a single sleeping lion, we’re not used to having so many people around animal sightings therefore we’ve always preferred to go to the more distant places.
I’ve been reading more and more about Tsendze the last couple of months and I like the idea of rustic camping in KNP. In our experience, campers that visit campsites like this, are more in tune with nature and usually more appreciative of night sounds etc., so not your typical ‘dop and dam’ type of campers. We love the tranquillity of nature and we don’t need a camping neighbour’s music competing with the lions and hyenas, and to me it seems this is the experience we’ll find at Tsendze. So when we finally get round to planning a trip to the Kruger National Park, Tsendze will be first on my booking list.
Pictures courtesy of Sanparks and Getaway magazine
When I start with my planning for a camping trip, whether it’s an over landing journey or a weekend away, the first thing I look for is the number of stands in the camp site and whether they allow music to be played. Mazhou Camping site got my attention by only having 10 stands available in the camp site, and for being unfenced. Furthermore, it’s 40 kilometres into the park and I would imagine some of it over rough terrain which again means that we’ll most probably only find like-minded campers in this site.
We’re also fascinated with the rich history and heritage of Mapungubwe and even though I’ve read that animal sightings are not as plentiful as in KNP for instance, I believe that the rest of the park experience will make up for this. One can always book a guided drive which I always enjoy, as you learn so much from the rangers when you go out on a drive with them. We’ve found that you usually see more animals when you’re able to go off the beaten track with the rangers.
Pictures courtesy of Sanparks and Google search (let me know if I need to add credit if it’s your pictures)
- Anywhere in the Tuli Block
I would love to go visit the Tuli Block for the sole purpose of visiting Pete’s Pond at the Mashatu Game Reserve. I check their webcam on a daily basis and I am so wanting to go the hide in real life. From what I could gather, you can’t do a lot of self-driving in Tuli so we’ll have to budget for game drives but that’s ok, anything will do as long as I get to visit Pete’s Pond.
One of the possibilities for camping in this area is Molema Bush Camp where you also do rustic camping in an unfenced camp site. The camp site looks amazing with a quite a few activities that you can take part in so it definitely will go onto my camping bucket list.
Pictures courtesy of TripAdvisor, Mashatu website and my own pics from the webcam (hopefully I’ll be able to see these scenes with my own eyes one day….)
Having been to the CKGR once before, I am keen on getting back to the Central Botswana regions and this is why Khutse is on my bucket list. From what I’ve gathered from trip reports and forum posts, it’s not an area that is teeming with wild life but if you’re lucky you’ll still see the odd predator or large mammal in the reserve.
The reason why I would love to visit Khutse is to experience the remoteness of this game reserve. You’ll also be doing rustic camping with minimal to no facilities but that’s ok seeing as we are geared for bush camping. Furthermore, it’s not too deep into Botswana so you can plan a fairly short trip and still experience Africa at its wildest. Definitely excited to visit this region one day.
Pictures courtesy of Bigfoot Tours website and Tracks4Africa website
Do you have any specific camp sites on your bucket list, or maybe you have a few suggestions for me on camping sites that I add to mine? Let me know in the comments section below…..
Happy Campers SA 
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