7 Day Three Area Kruger Park Safari

Guests are met at O. R. Tambo International Airport in Johannesburg and assisted onto a scheduled flight to Hoedspruit, gateway to the Greater Kruger region. On arrival you are welcomed by a representative and transferred by road into Kapama Private Game Reserve, where Buffalo Camp is tucked into riverine bush with walkways linking its safari tents. After check-in there is time to freshen up, absorb the sounds of the Lowveld, and enjoy a refresher on the plan for the days ahead before you set out on your first safari activity.

In the late afternoon you depart on an open 4x4 game drive with an experienced ranger and tracker. Kapama is a classic Big Five reserve that protects a wide variety of savanna habitats and supports numerous mammal and bird species. As the heat of the day fades, animals begin to move toward waterholes and open clearings, creating excellent viewing and photographic opportunities. You return to camp after dark, when a canopy of stars and a welcoming dinner round off your introduction to life in the African bush.

The day starts just before sunrise with coffee, tea, and a light snack before you depart on the morning game drive. Early hours are prime time for predator activity, and your guide will interpret fresh tracks and other signs as you explore the reserve’s network of roads. Herds of plains game, including impala, zebra, wildebeest, and giraffe, are often encountered alongside elephants and buffalo, while keen eyes scan for lions, leopards, and other carnivores that make this a quintessential Big Five destination.

You return to Buffalo Camp for a hearty breakfast followed by some leisure time. Between drives you might relax by the pool, watch passing wildlife from the deck, or page through a field guide while listening to bird calls in the surrounding trees. After a relaxed lunch and siesta, the afternoon drive sets out once more, this time continuing into the early evening. As darkness falls, a spotlight is used to search for nocturnal species such as civet, genet, and owls before you return to camp for dinner and another peaceful night in the bush.

Following an optional short early-morning activity or a relaxed breakfast, you bid farewell to Kapama and travel by road into the neighboring Timbavati Private Nature Reserve. This large reserve shares an unfenced boundary with Kruger National Park, allowing animals to move freely between the two areas and creating a vast, continuous wilderness. On arrival at Umlani Bush Camp, you immediately notice the more rustic, off-grid atmosphere, with comfortable reed-and-thatch huts and shaded communal areas designed to blend into the natural environment.

After settling into your room and enjoying lunch, the afternoon is devoted to a first game drive in Timbavati. The reserve is known for its classic bushveld landscapes and healthy populations of many mammal species, including elephants, buffalo, and several antelope species. Your ranger and tracker draw on years of local experience to find interesting sightings and to point out smaller details that are easily overlooked. As dusk approaches, you pause for sundowners in the bush before continuing the drive in the dark, watching for the eye-shine of nocturnal creatures on your way back to camp.

You are awakened before sunrise for another early start, when the air is cool and the bush is most active. After a warm drink, you set off on the morning 4x4 safari, exploring different sections of the reserve from the previous day. Timbavati is famous as the birthplace of naturally occurring white lions, and while sightings of these rare animals are never guaranteed, your guide will explain the genetics and history behind them as you traverse the area where they occasionally appear. Along the way you also search for the rest of the Big Five and a wide range of plains game and birdlife.

The middle of the day is set aside for rest and unhurried enjoyment of the camp. You might choose to relax in a hammock, visit the small viewing hide overlooking nearby water, or simply enjoy the quiet of the surrounding bush. In the afternoon you head out again on safari, following up on fresh tracks or recent sightings reported by other guides. As the sun sinks, the reserve takes on a softer glow, and you may encounter animals making their way to evening feeding or drinking spots before returning to Umlani for dinner beneath the stars.

After one last morning drive in Timbavati and breakfast back at camp, your journey continues south toward the renowned Sabi Sand Private Game Reserve. The road transfer offers a chance to appreciate the changing landscapes of the Greater Kruger area as you move between river systems and vegetation zones. By midday you arrive at Arathusa Safari Lodge, set beside a large waterhole that often attracts elephants, antelope, and other species throughout the day. Check-in is followed by a relaxed lunch and some time to watch the comings and goings at the water’s edge.

Later in the afternoon you depart on your first game drive in Sabi Sand, a reserve widely regarded as one of Africa’s premier areas for leopard viewing and consistently excellent Big Five sightings. Your ranger and tracker work as a team, using both recent information and fresh spoor to locate animals. The combination of open savanna, thickets, and riparian zones creates ideal habitat for a great diversity of wildlife. After sundowners in the bush, you return to Arathusa in the dark, when the sounds of frogs and nocturnal insects frame a convivial dinner back at the lodge.

The last full day of your safari begins with an early wake-up and another sunrise game drive from Arathusa. With two reserves already behind you, you can now appreciate how Sabi Sand differs in its mix of habitats and wildlife densities. Leopards are seen here more frequently than in many other areas, and with a little luck you may encounter one resting in a tree, patrolling along a road, or stalking through a thicket. Large herds of buffalo and elephant, along with plains game like kudu and impala, are also commonly seen in this part of the Greater Kruger.

After breakfast there is time to relax at the lodge, perhaps spending a few quiet hours on the deck while animals visit the waterhole below. Depending on conditions and lodge offerings at the time of travel, a guided bush walk may be available, providing a chance to focus on tracks, plants, and smaller creatures at ground level. The afternoon game drive offers a final opportunity to search for any species you have not yet seen or to spend more time with favorites encountered earlier in the trip. You return to camp after dark for a farewell dinner and your last night in the African bush.

Your final morning in the Greater Kruger begins with one last early game drive from Arathusa Safari Lodge. This is a chance to savor the sounds and smells of the bush at dawn and to enjoy any final encounters with elephants, antelope, or predators moving back toward cover after a night of hunting. The relaxed pace of this last outing allows you to reflect on how dramatically the scenery and style of each reserve have differed over the past week while all remaining part of the same broader ecosystem.

After returning to the lodge, you enjoy breakfast and complete check-out formalities. You then depart by road for Hoedspruit Airport, passing rural communities and Lowveld scenery on the way. On arrival you check in for your flight back to Johannesburg, where your Three Area Kruger Park Safari concludes. The combination of Kapama, Timbavati, and Sabi Sand, each with its own character and wildlife strengths, leaves you with a rounded impression of this celebrated safari region and abundant memories to revisit long after you return home.