Pafuri Camp
This area is certainly the wildest and most remote part of the Park and offers varied vegetation, great game viewing, the best birding in all of the Kruger.
It is well known for its fever tree forests, beautiful gorges and Crook's Corner, where the Limpopo and Luvuvhu rivers meet. This area is destined to become the core of the new Transfrontier or "Peace" park that will straddle South Africa, Mozambique and Zimbabwe.
The region is considered one of Kruger's biodiversity hotspots, the Pafuri region boasts fully three-quarters of the Kruger's wildlife and vegetative biodiversity, with many large mammal species and incredibly prolific birdlife. It is famous for the large herds of elephant and buffalo that are resident most of the year round, which concentrate in particular around the permanent waters of the Luvuvhu River in the dry winter months. Leopard are sometimes sighted hunting the large population of nyala and impala that live alongside the Luvuvhu system. On the easternmost boundary at "Crooks Corner" the Luvuvhu supports a large population of hippo and crocodile.
The Limpopo and Luvuvhu rivers host the highest density of nyala in Kruger and species such as eland, Sharpe's grysbok and yellow-spotted rock dassie, which are difficult to find further south in the Park, are regularly seen here. A drive along the floodplain and riverine fringe of either of the two large rivers usually produces good general game in the form of nyala, impala, greater kudu, chacma baboon, waterbuck, warthog and perhaps grey duiker or bushbuck, while careful searching may yield the more elusive residents of the area such as lion and leopard. Other areas hold steenbok, the agile klipspringer and herds of Burchell's zebra. Recently, and excitingly, species such as giraffe and white rhino have been relocated to the area, from which they have been locally extinct for almost a century.
Pafuri has long been regarded as something of a Mecca for Southern African birdwatchers, many species found nowhere else in South Africa can be seen here.
This region is one of the few true wilderness areas left in South Africa and the vegetation is similar to that found in Central Africa. The large baobab trees in this area are usually nearly 50% taller than most baobabs, and scenically, the area is diverse, with stunning mountains, shady, deep gorges, forests of Yellow Fever trees and groves of Baobabs, Mopane woodland, and open savannah grassland.
Pafuri Camp being so different from the rest of the Park, complements the scenery and experience offered at the lodges in the southern Kruger and the Sabi Sands region.
Accommodation consists of 20 tented rooms (including six family rooms for up to four people), each with en-suite bathroom facilities. The tented rooms all look out over the Luvuvhu River; guests can sit on their decks and watch for elephant, nyala, waterbuck or bushbuck and other game coming to drink.
Activities in the Makuleke / Pafuri area are extremely varied and interesting. Game drives in open 4x4 vehicles, night drives, walks, hides (including some that will cater for sleep-outs) are all part of the range of activities that are on offer.