Kruger Park Lodges – Exploring the Different Types of Safari Chalets

What are the Kruger Park lodges like? If you’re going on safari, this is one of the first questions you might ask yourself. Are there different kinds for different circumstances or all they all the same? Is there something to meet my budget and accommodate the number of people I’m travelling with?

On this page we’ll give you a description of each of the chalets that can be booked at Kruger National Park. We’ll begin with the most basic (and hence the cheapest) and carry on until we get to the most spacious (and the most expensive).

We hope this rundown will help you make the right choice when it comes to choosing a Kruger game lodge to stay in.

All types of safari lodges have BBQ grids out the front of them, so you’ll be able to do some self-catering if you want to, no matter which type of lodge you choose.

All lodges also have a space for you to park your car.

Huts

Huts are the most basic type of Kruger lodge. They’re typically small round buildings with thatched roofs. This style of building is known as a rondavel.

Pretoriuskop Rest Camp hutsHuts may have some of the their own cooking utensils, but they won’t have a kitchen or a bathroom. There are shared kitchens and bathrooms to use instead.

Your hut will normally be in a group of huts, so expect close neighbours. Your hut should however, at least have some space, for example, in front or behind it, with perhaps a view onto an open grassy scene.

Safari Tents

Letaba Rest Camp safari tentSafari tents are permanent tents pitched on a base.

If you want a camping or pioneering experience, safari tents can offer you that.

Some of them are more luxurious then others and have bathrooms and kitchens inside them. For those that don’t, you’ll need to use the communal kitchen and bathrooms.

Bungalows

Skukuza Rest Camp bungalowWhen it comes to bungalows, there are many variations of them. Some cater for only 2 people, while others cater for more.

All bungalows have bathrooms and some have kitchens, including utensils. For the more basic ones which don’t have kitchens, there are shared kitchens at the rest camps for you to use.

Some bungalows are free-standing in the rondavel style (round thatched hut) while others are semi-detached.

Cottages

Mopani Rest Camp cottageCottages are nice family-sized Kruger chalets. They have outdoor kitchens and verandahs at which to sit and enjoy the scene.

They’ll always have a bathroom in them and some have more than one. Cottages make for comfortable safari lodges.

Guest Houses

Guest houses are the most expensive type of Kruger National Park lodge. They usually cater for at least 6 people, so depending on the size of the group you’re travelling with, they may turn out to be the most economical option for you (unless you’re camping – you can’t beat camping on price!).

Guest houses are normally separated from the other types of Kruger Park game lodges by, for example, an unobtrusive fence, and even from other guest houses. It’s part of feeling more luxurious.

Guest houses also usually have an exclusive view, such as of a river to overlook.

Luxury Lodges

There’s one further step up in the scheme of Kruger lodges and that’s to stay in one of the privately run, 5-star luxury lodges on concessional pieces of land in the game reserve.

Theses lodges are much more expensive, but if you want to really splash out and treat yourself, they could be the Kruger Park lodge for you!