Toll Free Numbers: 1-888-414-6513 0-808-189-1052, All Other Countries - +27 21 791 0878
Kruger Safari rhinos by Chris Eason

6 Day Kruger & Private Game Reserves Safari (Camping)

Tour Length6 days
Priced from pps $815 R15450 £640 749 A$1243 C$1103 NZ$1340 Full pricing info
Change Currency

Summary of this Africa Camping Safari

  • Max. Group Size 10 Travellers
  • Starts & ends in Johannesburg, South Africa
  • Accommodation Lodge & Camping Combo
  • Transport Microbus / Open 4x4 Game Viewing Vehicle
  • Wildlife Big 5, Elephant, Leopards, Lions, Rhino & More
  •  See Departure Dates

Quick Itinerary Overview

This Budget Kruger Safari takes you game viewing in the premier Kruger National Park and Private Big 5 Game Reserves, offering you the best of both South African safari experiences!

6 Day Kruger & Private Reserves Camping Safari Highlights:

  • Big 5 Sunset & Night Game Drive in Balule Game Reserve, Greater Kruger.
  • Bush Braai (barbecue) at Marula Tree Boma in the Private Game Reserve.
  • Morning Game Walk & Afternoon Game Drive in Balule Private Game Reserve.
  • Two Full Days of Game Viewing in world-renowned Kruger Park in open vehicles.
  • Wildlife Centre Tour and Afternoon Game Drive in Balule Game Reserve.
  • Camping in bedded permanent tents at a safari camp in a Private Game Reserve.
  • Morning Nature Walk & Scenic Panorama Route Drive.

This affordable Kruger camping safari also gives you a taste of the private game lodge experience, staying overnight in air-conditioned chalets at a private game reserve lodge. This unforgettable African safari is a step up from basic budget safari camping, offering good quality and an excellent-value-for-money alternative to Kruger lodge safaris.

Enquire About This
Departure Dates
Send to a Friend

Itinerary for this Tour

Day 1: Johannesburg to Balule Private Reserve – South Africa

We collect you from your Gauteng hotel or Johannesburg Airport on day one of this 6 Day Kruger & Private Reserves Camping Safari and head towards Kruger Park in northern South Africa's Lowveld region.

Traveling northeast into the Limpopo Province we head to our Private Game Lodge in the Big Five Balule Game Reserve, within Greater Kruger Park.

In the late afternoon, we embark on our first exhilarating game drive in Balule, taking us in search of the Big Five - lion, leopard, rhino, elephant and buffalo, as well as various other wild animals. The evening game drive, conducted in an open 4x4 Landcruiser, is an excellent introduction to our fantastic safari adventure in South Africa’s leading wilderness areas. On the game drive, we get to watch our first spectacular African sunset in the bush continuing our exploration into the night. Once it is dark we use spotlights to find the nocturnal wildlife in this private concession, including jackal, hyena, lion, and even elusive leopard.

We stop at a remote bush boma (open-air enclosure) for a traditional South African-style barbecue, known locally as a braai. Our delicious dinner is prepared over an open fire at Marula Tree Boma in the middle of the untamed wilderness under starry skies. After our braai, we continue our thrilling night game drive, looking out for nocturnal animals as we make our way back to the safari lodge. If we encounter any exciting wildlife action en route we stop to witness nature at play.

Back at the private lodge we relax and swap tales of our adventures or retire to our comfortable air-conditioned chalets with en suite bathrooms. The safari lodge is set in a lovely subtropical garden with water features and has electric fencing to keep out the lion, elephant, buffalo, and other wildlife found in the area.

  • Meals: Bush Barbecue (Boma Dinner)
  • Safari Activities: Sunset-to-night Game Drive in Big 5 Balule Private Reserve

About Balule Private Reserve, Greater Kruger Park

There are no fences separating this 35000-hectare Private Game Park from Kruger National Park allowing the numerous wild animals to roam freely between these wilderness areas. The Olifants River flows through the Bulule Game Reserve attracting a variety of birds and animals year-round.

Balule is home to the iconic Big Five of Africa with buffalo, lion, and elephant being sighted the most regularly and sometimes even from the lodge property! Other wildlife commonly sighted in Balule includes giraffe, wildebeest, hyena, zebra, hippo, warthog, mongoose, vervet monkey, and various antelope species, such as waterbuck, steenbok, impala, and kudu. Nocturnal animals such as civets, bushbabies, bats, hares, genets, wild cats, and porcupines can be spotted on night game drives. Some of the more elusive wild animals found in this part of Greater Kruger Park include cheetah, African wild dog, bat-eared fox and badger, as well as caracal and serval cat, and a variety of antelope species, such as suni, roan, and sable antelope.

The Greater Kruger Park area consists of various private game parks, such as Balule, that share unfenced boundaries with Kruger National Park proper. Staying in a private game lodge allows you to escape the main throng of tourists, as the Balule game reserve is not open to the general public.

On this exclusive safari experience, you get a more secluded bush experience that brings you closer to nature. In the private game reserve, you travel on dirt roads encountering much fewer vehicles on your game drives. Another advantage of game viewing in the Balule private reserve is that your qualified guides communicate with each other via two-way radio, increasing the number of wildlife sightings on your drives.

Yet another perk of staying at a private lodge is that off-road driving is permitted in this exclusive game reserve area of the Greater Kruger Park, improving your chances of spotting wildlife in the bush.

Day 2: Balule Private Game Reserve & Treehouse Camp – South Africa

At sunrise we drive into the private game reserve, heading to a more remote spot along the Olifants River to enjoy a 4-hour Big 5 Bush Walk.

You explore the bush on foot, setting your own pace as the game ranger shows you the more intimate details of the wilderness area. This Big Five bush walk is a thrilling wildlife experience that will get your adrenalin pumping, even though your ranger will be armed to ensure your safety.

After our unforgettable bush walk, we return to the private safari lodge for a hearty brunch. Later in the day, after high tea, we embark on an afternoon game drive in Balule Private Reserve.

Returning from the Big 5 game drive on day two of our Kruger & Private Reserves Camping Safari, we transfer to the Treehouse Safari Camp. This unique safari camp is located in a private game reserve near Kruger Park. We enjoy dinner together and overnight in tents at the Treehouse Camp in the bush.

  • Meals: Breakfast & Dinner
  • Safari Activities: Morning Bush Walk & Afternoon Game Drive in Big 5 Balule Private Reserve

Day 3: Big 5 Kruger Safari – South Africa

After breakfast, you will be transferred to the Orpen Gate of the Kruger National Park in an open game-viewing vehicle custom-built for safari drives.

The elevated safari vehicle is specifically designed to maximize your game spotting opportunities, giving you a better view over the bush. There are no windows on the sides of the vehicle making it ideal for taking photographs of the animals and bush.

Your qualified guide will help you to spot and identify the various wild animals and birdlife that make Kruger Park one of the top Game Parks in the world. The bush and open plains around the Orpen and Satara area in the Kruger Park support large herds of giraffe, zebra, and other antelope which in turn attract the predators. The Satara region of Kruger boasts one of the largest concentrations of lions in Africa.

After your full-day Kruger Safari, you will return to the Treehouse Safari Camp in the bush, where you enjoy dinner at the boma and relax around the fire, sharing tales of the day's wildlife sightings.

  • Meals: Breakfast & Dinner
  • Safari Activities: Full-day Big 5 Kruger Safari

About Kruger National Park

The world-renowned Kruger National Park is one of Africa’s best safari destinations and the premier game reserve in South Africa. Covering nearly 2 million hectares of untamed African bush the variety of habitats in Kruger Park are home to an unrivaled diversity of plants and animals.

Kruger is South Africa’s top travel destination offering superb game viewing, including massive populations of Africa’s iconic Big Five - elephant, rhino, leopard, lion, and buffalo. This vast wilderness area is inhabited by a staggering 147 mammal species and 517 bird species, as well as a variety of other wild animals and 336 tree species.

South Africa's flagship national park, Kruger Park is considered a world leader in advanced environmental policies and wildlife management practices.

Day 4: Moholoholo Wildlife Centre & Balule Private Reserve – South Africa

After breakfast on day four of this Budget Kruger Safari, we travel to the Moholoholo Rehabilitation Centre. The wildlife center cares for injured and orphaned wild animals and birds. At Moholoholo we get a close look at the residents, including lions and leopards. You can see servals, lynxes, honey badgers, eagles, vultures, wild dogs, and various other baby animals that may be at the center when you visit.

After visiting Moholoholo Wildlife Centre we return to camp and have a light lunch and relax before heading out on an afternoon game drive in Balule Game Reserve. We spend two to three hours in the uncrowded Balule Reserve looking out for the Big 5 and other wildlife.

After watching the sun go down, we make our way to the unique treehouse camp on the lookout for nocturnal wildlife as we go. We can look forward to a hearty dinner after our wildlife adventure in Balule Reserve.

  • Meals: Breakfast & Dinner
  • Safari Activities: Visit Moholoholo Wildlife Centre & Game Drive in Balule Private Reserve

Day 5: Big 5 Kruger Safari – South Africa

Day five sees us venturing back into the game-rich wilderness of Kruger National Park.

This is an excellent opportunity to spot any elusive animals that may have evaded us so far, and by now your game spotting skills will be sharper. Your guide takes you in search of wildlife action, pointing out the birds and animals of Kruger Park.

After our last day of game viewing drives in the African bush, we head back to the intimate treehouse camp in Greater Kruger for our final dinner together.

  • Meals: Breakfast & Dinner
  • Safari Activities: Full-day Big 5 Kruger Safari

Day 6: Greater Kruger Private Reserve to Johannesburg – South Africa

Up early on the last day of our Budget Kruger Safari, we make our way into the bush on foot (weather permitting). This guided nature walk gives you the opportunity to get up close to the flora and fauna of the private reserve, finding out more about the insects, plants, small animals, and birds of the micro-ecosystem.

The hour-long nature walk ends back at the private treehouse camp, where we have breakfast before driving via the Drakensberg Escarpment back to Johannesburg. Highlights of the drive back along the scenic Panorama Route of South Africa, include sections of the Blyde River Canyon, one of which is the Three Rondawels viewpoint.

You will get back into Johannesburg at about 17h00, where you will be dropped off at your accommodation of choice or at Oliver Thambo International Airport bringing this fantastic Kruger & Private Reserves Camping Safari to an end.

  • Meals: Breakfast
  • Safari Activities: Bush walk in the private reserve & Panorama Route highlights

About the Private Lodges on this Safari

Our first night on the Kruger & Private Reserves Camping Safari is spent in air-conditioned chalets at a relaxed and tranquil private lodge in Balule Game Reserve, Greater Kruger. This comfortable lodge accommodation, set in a lush garden, is easily accessible year-round. An electric fence encloses the private lodge property, to keep the roaming lion, elephant and buffalo out.

Accommodation for the remainder of this very reasonably priced Kruger Safari is at a treehouse safari camp.

The relaxed safari camp is located within the Motlala Game Reserve, which lies between two private game reserves, situated next to the world-renowned Kruger National Park. Motlala is home to various wild animals, including two of Africa’s Big Five - leopard and buffalo.

Tour accommodation is in permanent tents fitted with beds, at the treehouse camp located along the Klaserie River. The tents are equipped with bedding, soap, towels, electric lighting, and a fan, with two separate showers and two separate toilets to share. Winter nights get chilly (between April and October), so extra blankets and hot water bottles are available to keep you comfortable.

This extremely affordable safari camp features an outdoor boma area for open-air dining, a bush bar, and a swimming pool. At night after a hearty South African meal, you can relax around the campfire in this unspoiled African bush setting, immersed in nature. Wild animals often roam the campgrounds, including nyala, impala, monkeys, hyena, buffalo, and sometimes even leopard, adding to your truly wild African experience at this unique safari camp. At night hyenas, jackals, bushbabies, and other wildlife can be heard in the distance. Wake up to a cacophony of birds singing in the trees around you at this riverine camp, home to a variety of birds.

Kruger Safari Fuel Subsidy

Please note that as a result of sustained fuel price increases a fuel subsidy has been added to this Kruger Safari. Hopefully, this will be a temporary measure to be discontinued should fuel prices drop. The small fuel subsidy ensures that the excellent quality of this Kruger Safari is maintained. To see the cost of the fuel subsidy, please view the full tour pricing.

Pre and Post Tour Lodge Rates

Please note that we offer convenient pre and post-tour lodge accommodation for before and after the Budget Kruger Safari, which can be added to your tour booking upon request. The 4-star lodge accommodation is located 10-15 minutes from the OR Tambo International Airport in Johannesburg. Follow the link for more information on rates.

Child Policy

This tour does take children.

While children from 6 years of age are accepted on this safari, there is a minimum age restriction of 16 years on the bush walk activities.

Enquire About This
Departure Dates
Send to a Friend

Browse Similar Trips

Filter Tours by Price, Length & Destinations

+Where does the tour go to?
+Included in the Tour Price
  • Game drives
  • Bush walks
  • Accommodation (linen, towels and soap provided)
  • Night game drive
  • Bush braai
  • Cultural experience
  • Breakfasts and dinners
+Not Included in the Tour Price
  • Lunches
  • Drinks 
  • Personal items
+Departure Dates

This Kruger Camping Safari departs daily on Request.

Scheduled Tour Departures
Click on a departure date to enquire

If you do not see departures listed for your dates, please do contact us for further info.

Explore the Route

Map

Unsure of where, when or what to book? Talk to a friendly human!

Our team has the destination knowledge to help you plan an unforgettable African adventure. We're based in Cape Town and ready to help.

The African Budget Safaris team

We can also plan you an affordable private group or tailor-made tour. We built our business on turning luxury travel into affordable travel.

Talk to us today