Having decided that you want to experience the thrill and adventure of a South African safari, you wonder where exactly you should go, and what type of lodge is best suited to your yearning to reconnect with nature. There are various options for accommodation; indoor and outdoor, from the typical hotel room to the luxury thatched-roof lodge. However, for those wanting to experience the Indiana Jones version of the Safari, or simply want to be as close to the African bush as possible, there are a range of lodges that have designed tented accommodation. The tented safari camp allows for the most authentic experience of the wilderness, and living in a tent means that you will be one with the natural world (without the discomfort of sleeping on the cold, hard ground). With this in mind, your next step is to narrow down the list of possible safari sites.

Choosing Where to Go For Your Tented Safari Camp

There are over twenty South African National Parks, two of which are amongst the world’s most prominent game reserves – the Kruger National Park, and the Kgalagadi Transfrontier Park. There is also a host of private game reserves to choose from, and the sheer number of options can be overwhelming. Knowing that you want to go on a tented safari camp will make this choice easier, as not every park offers this form of lodging. Parks that offer a tented safari camp include:

• Kruger National Park
• Addo Elephant National Park
• Madikwe Game Reserve
• Marakele National Park
• Timbavati Private Nature Reserve
• Thula Thula Private Game Reserve
• Mabula Private Game Reserve
• Manyeleti Game Reserve

The Luxury Tented Safari Camp

Perhaps you want the experience of living in a tent, but also want to indulge in a bit of extravagance. Perhaps the city in you just runs too deep to give up certain comforts. Either way, there are several tented safari camps that offer a touch more opulence than the ordinary tent:

• Hamiltons Tented Camp in the Kruger National Park is the epitome of luxury, and has been cast as a 2015 finalist for the ‘Best Value Safari Property in South Africa.’ Guests take a step back in time in this 1900’s themed camp, with a personal butler and guide.
• Gorah Elephant Camp in Addo Elephant National Park is spacious, fine, and lavish. Solar power, king-sized beds, cotton sheets, and privacy make for a relaxing getaway.
• Simbavati River Lodge’s Luxury Safari Tents in the Timbavati Private Nature Reserve offers guests spectacular views from private decks. There are eight tents with en-suite bathrooms, and tents are spaced far apart from one another to ensure privacy.
• Thula Thula Luxury Tented Camp is two hours from Durban in Zululand, at the Thula Thula Game Reserve. Aside from the obvious opulence, it is unique in that it offers different tented options, including the family tent and tents varying in price ranges.

Other tented safari camp options:

• Rhino Walking Safaris of Isibindi Africa Lodges in the Kruger National Park.
• Thakadu River Lodge in the Madikwe Game Reserve.
• Honeyguide Tented Safari Camps in the Manyeleti Game Reserve, which is in the Greater Kruger National Park.
• Marataba Safari Lodge in the Marakele National Park of Limpopo Province.
• Kwafubesi Tented Camp in the Mabula Private Game Reserve.

Although you may find the range of options daunting, you can further narrow down your list by picking the lodges in a particular region, or alternatively by picking the campsite that is most populous with the animals you are keenest to observe. Whichever you choose, your experience will be one that is of the wilderness; that is of nature; that is thrilling.