Right in between the famous lodges,
where the rich and glamorous stay,
lies our little piece of heaven.

GPS 24°28'59"S 31°05'18"E    decimal 24.48324S,31.08864E


[pool]The pool & the two rondavels. To the left (70 meters) are the two bush tents, and to the right, the Firefly eating lapa, and to the far right, about 30 meters away is our house. The camping terrain and the ablution block lie in the opposite direction.


Quick links to Accommodation, Golden Tours and (regretably) Travel Safety.


This is a small family-run business where most customers become our friends. The Timbavati region of the Kruger is central to the many attractions of the Bushveld. From here you can do daytrips into the »Kruger Park, visit the Cheetah Project, the Maholoholo rehab centre, the reptile park, Swadini Resort, the Blyde River / Motlatse Canyon and Traditional African villages. You can hike along the bottom of the Blyde River / Motlatse Canyon, swim or jump down the waterfall, or walk between wild animals. Visit the millionaire's playground and partake in their amenities at our budget prices. Modern chalets, rustic en-suite bush tents, or camping under huge trees next to the Klaserie river, we have it all. Listen to the lions roar or the hyenas and other animals cry out in the night. Big 3 or big 5 game drives or bush walks arranged. Traditional meals served.


PLEASE NOTE: There is nothing nicer than having had the whole camp full over a long weekend, with many different groups, and everyone coming in personally to thank you for a lovely time and for our hospitality. They tell us how they enjoyed the silence, the bush sounds, the birds, the unbelievable sky and the bush trails. Some of them came for one night & stayed for 3 nights. Some tell us that it was their nicest accommodation in SA so far!
Many keep coming back and sending their friends. Most of them are professionals, with the "lowly educated" busy with their Masters degree. Sometimes, half our customers are medical doctors, with engineer boy- or girl-friends... but please, we are not snobs! Some of our most memorable friends we ever had here, were hardworking firemen, security personnel, tradesmen … once a real British bobby! Our customers often mingle and organise camp parties or cook-togethers. They share their cars to Kruger Park and halve their costs.


And then: There is nothing worse than having a truck driver arrive here expecting the Ritz, and complaining all the time. Then demanding his money back and writing to the booking agent to remove you from their books as "the place is a dump and not fit for human occupation."


So please understand:


We are eco friendly! You can read more on our Information page.


[vultures]
Sunrise at Kruger.. We wait for the sun to see the lions and the vultures wait for the lions to leave, to get to their breakfast.


[tsesebe]
A family of very rare Tsesebe, photo taken on one of our game walks.


REVIEWS

award Here is an actual online review from a large award-winning booking agent:


I am trying to book a destination for a holiday in Zanzibar for my wife and myself. All the places have fabulous photos, some taken by professionals. I chose several places, but read the reviews and changed my mind! I basically want to snorkel, and I am looking for AZURE blue CRYSTAL CLEAR water, with tropical fish. they all show the photos, but when I read “LOVELY HOTEL BUT NO BEACHES. AT LOW WATER sea is 2 KM away…”


So, I realise the value of reviews more and more. I also know what utter rubbish some reviewers write from own experience! So, I ignore the HORRIBLE ones totally. Ones like:


We had racists who were perfectly happy, until very noisy Chinese moved in next door. … They left and wrote a 0 points review, etc etc


A few weeks ago I got a letter stating that our Tent 1 was the most amazing accommodation the client had during their whole African tour. And the next week I got another amazing review (via AirBnB), which I want to share with you here:


John Yee The past 4 days with Andre was simply the best. He is best host I've ever had in my airbnb/africa experience. He helped us in our day to day planning, recommended places to go, planned our routes, arranged our game drive, attentive to our needs, was patient with us. He was also around everytime we were awake to help with anything we need. The tent was comfortable during winter, there was only two monkeys we encountered during the stay.


We stayed at Bush Tent No1 (the first tent that Andre built) and it can be a little daunting at first, but once you get through the first night, everything is fine (including showering in cold/rainy open-air). We also ordered dinner on our last night, where he made Asian curry dish with Inyala meat coupled with his wife's pudding delicacies.


We also had a chance to visit his home and surroundings and learnt more about him and his family. Don't forget to tour around:


Andre is also an engineer by heart, he is constantly looking for ways to improve his customer's experience at his accommodation. (Such as adding better free WiFi connectivity to the tents, airconditioning, ceiling fans, monkey traps, water conservation, etc).


You are reccommended to bring your own wifi-travel-router (powered by USB power bank or battery) for better wifi connectivity if you're using bush-tent down by the river. (e.g., TP-Link WR703N or WR802N or HooToo Travel Router). We don't need wifi honestly since this is bushveld experience! Otherwise wifi is everywhere on his premise, although not mentioned in the descriptions.


Andre allowed us to use his washing machine and folded our clothes properly for us upon our return in the evening. All these under no obligation and he was ready to make our experience great! Additionally, you can use your own camping tents if you like. My suggestion is to check out his other booking(dot)com's listing for an accurate photo of each individual tent/bungalows available. I'm largely impressed with his new tents (2 of them) or eco house, and I strongly encourage customers to request for those.


The adventurous ones should go for tent no1. It has the most amazing bathroom for couples by the way. Rondavels are fine if you like them. Cleanliness is great in all tents, towels and bed smells great on arrival!


My response to this was:


Dear John,
Many people live in the cities, earning big bucks, living in fortified houses, endure constant robberies, burglaries, pollution, noise, traffic jams and watching the clock all day. Here we live in peace and harmony with nature, without noise or pollution. We do not wear watches, we go to bed and rise with the birds and monkeys. Our horizon is the unbelievable star-scape, our theatre the Inyala or Bushbuck at our backdoor. Our concerts, the first howl of hyena, or the roar of a lion. Our highlights, the passing of a Leopard along the river, roaring every 50 meters. Our restaurant, the odd tourist handing us a leftover packet of lamb chops, or leaving the remnants of their expensive city meals neatly covered on a plate in the fridge. Our lotto winnings, receiving a letter like this one from our very special clients.
Thank you John and Tiffany
Read more on »AirBnb.


The Big 5 (plus 1) in South Africa

Lion, Buffalo, Leopard, Rhino, Elephant and corruption.

[corruption]
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