6 Best Hotels in Kruger National Park, Mpumalanga and Kruger National Park

This lodge, one of South Africa’s loveliest, is set among 14,826 acres of private concession in southwest Kruger—the park's first with game-rich traversing rights as a result—with twelve comfortable, spacious suites, each with a plunge pool and stunning views over the Biyamiti River. Had Sir Percy Fitzpatrick, author of the famous Jock of the Bushveld and his canine superstar still been alive, they would have highly approved of today’s camp, which is authentic and steeped in history. The food, service, and rangers are superb, but the game-viewing is spectacular—think night drives in Kruger. The nearby Fitzpatrick’s Camp is better for families and intergenerational trips.

In the center of Kruger, Olifants has the best setting of all the camps: high atop cliffs on a rocky ridge with panoramic views of the distant hills and the Olifants River below. A lovely thatch-sheltered terrace allows you to sit for hours with binoculars and pick out the animals below. Lions often make kills in the river valley, and elephants, buffalo, giraffes, kudu, and other game come to drink and bathe. Try to book one of the thatch rondavels overlooking the river. It's a charming old camp, graced with wonderful indigenous trees. The only drawback, particularly in summer, is there's no pool.

Don't dismiss this tiny, underappreciated rest camp on Kruger's western border in the center of the park because of its proximity to the Orpen Gate. It may not be the most attractive camp—the rooms, arranged in a rough semicircle around a large lawn, look out toward the perimeter fence, about 150 feet away—but there's a permanent waterhole where animals come to drink, and plenty of game is in the vicinity, including cheetahs, lions, and rhinos. The two-bedroom huts are a bit sparse, without bathrooms or cooking facilities (although there are good communal ones), but there are three comfortable family cottages with bathrooms and kitchenettes. And it's a blissfully quiet camp, as there are so few accommodations.

This large, nostalgically old-fashioned camp, close to the Numbi Gate in southwest Kruger, makes a good overnight stop or touring base. The rocky kopjes and steep ridges that characterize the surrounding landscape provide ideal habitat for mountain reedbuck and klipspringers—antelope not always easily seen elsewhere in the park. The area's sourveld—so named because its vegetation is less sweet and attractive to herbivores than other kinds of vegetation—also attracts browsers like giraffes and kudu, as well as white rhinos, lions, and wild dogs. There's not a lot of privacy in the camp—accommodations (rondavels, bungalows, cottages, and guesthouses) tend to overlook each other—but there is some shade, plus a great swimming pool set into the rock. Some great-value accommodation in the huts if you're willing to share communal bathrooms and outdoor kitchen facilities.

Named for the nearby Lebombo mountain range, the breathtakingly beautiful Singita Lebombo—winner of numerous international accolades and eco-driven in concept—hangs on the edge of a cliff (inspired by eagle nests) with wooden walkways that connect the aptly named "lofts" (suites) seamlessly fusing the outdoor and indoor areas. Organic materials—wood, cane, cotton, and linen—are daringly juxtaposed with steel and glass. Service and food are superb and a cooking class (where local community members are trained) at the on-site culinary school (for a donation of R1,000) is not to be missed. Twice-daily game drives (dawn and late afternoon) in an open vehicle are led by a highly experienced and knowledgeable ranger. You can also take a bush nature walk or camp out under the stars. Among the privately operated areas within the boundaries of the park is the 37,000-acre N'wanetsi Concession in the park's extreme northeast. Here two lodges, Singita Lebombo and Singita Sweni, are located at the confluence of the N'wanetsi and Sweni rivers (not to be confused with their sister Singita camps in Sabi Sand private reserve). The area was once the base for the park's foot and horse patrols, and until the building of the lodges, it had never been traversed by vehicles. Today it's home to the Big Five as well as zebras, giraffes, wildebeests, hippos, hundreds of bird species, and varied flora. A carbon-neutral levy has also been automatically included in every booking.

More intimate than its sister camp, Lebombo, but still smack in the middle of the 'Land of Lions', Sweni is built on wooden stilts with six huge river-facing suites glassed on three sides, wooden on the other. At night khaki floor-to-ceiling drapes divide the living area from the bedroom, with its king-size bed and its cascade of ceramic beads. Brown netting lampshades, cream mohair throws, and brown leather furniture enhance the natural feel and contrast boldly with the gleam of stainless steel in the living room and bathroom. You can relax in a wooden rocking chair on your large reed-shaded deck and watch game, or spend the night under the stars on a comfy, mosquito-net-draped mattress. The pool suite is more plush with its own bathing deck.