A thrilling 4 Day Greater Kruger Safari, designed for adventurous and active nature lovers who want to experience the untamed African bush up close.
On this eco-friendly walking safari, up to eight guests explore Greater Kruger Park on foot and on optional sunset game drives. It is a mobile camping safari, which means you'll be camping in the unspoiled wilderness. Each day the safari crew sets up a new bush camp in a scenic and remote location within the Maseke Balule Game Reserve of Greater Kruger, which shares unfenced borders with Kruger National Park. This private game reserve hosts the Big 5 and numerous other wildlife species, providing an exhilarating wild habitat for this one-of-a-kind walking safari!
An experienced safari crew (including a dedicated chef), sets up the mobile bush camps and prepares the meals, while your professional guide and tracker team leads you through the game-rich wilderness on foot, revealing the best of the African bushveld and its incredible inhabitants.
At the start of this unique Greater Kruger Safari, our shuttle service collects you from OR Tambo International Airport in Johannesburg, or from the designated pick-up point in Pretoria. The shuttle collects passengers from OR Tambo at 07h00 before proceeding north to Pretoria where it collects passengers joining here, at 07h30. From Pretoria, you travel northeast to Greater Kruger Park.
The shuttle transfers you to Three Bridges, near Hoedspruit, arriving at 12h30 to 13h00. Then your guide collects you from Three Bridges and takes you to the Maseke Balule Game Reserve, forming part of Greater Kruger Park. This short transfer is conducted in a game viewing vehicle and takes you to the starting point of your first bush walk in Maseke Balule. The driver proceeds to our first mobile camping site in the safari vehicle, taking all of the excess luggage along.
This afternoon you set off into the wild African bush on foot, accompanied by your guide and tracker. The 8000 hectare Maseke Balule Game Reserve hosts big game species, including potentially dangerous large animals, therefore your guides are armed to ensure your safety. The professional guide and tracker team leads you through the wilderness on this exciting two-to-three-hour walking safari, introducing you to the local flora and fauna as you go. The trail takes you over a scenic koppie (small hill) to our first camp, which the safari crew sets up for you before you arrive.
Arriving at the exclusive mobile camp there is time to settle in and relax before we embark on our first optional sunset game drive. While on our evening game drive, we stop to enjoy sundowners in the rugged bushveld. After watching a beautiful African sunset, we head back to the camping site, looking out for wildlife en route.
Returning to our lantern-lit camp we are greeted by a cozy campfire. After a hearty three-course dinner in the dining tent, you can sit back and watch the stars or retire to your tent. Fall asleep to the sounds of nature in the unspoiled African bush.
Wake up in the middle of the African bushveld and start your day with a fresh coffee and rusks at camp, before we set off into Balule on foot at about 06h00. Our three to four-hour morning bush walk takes us through the private ame reserve, providing ample opportunities to view the wild ecosystem up close.
At about 09h30 your guide chooses a spot to enjoy a light breakfast, serving fruit, yogurt, and muesli. Then we continue our exploration until about 11h30 or 12h00, stopping in a scenic setting for a full brunch. At brunch time, tables will be set up with a spread of drinks, food, and snacks. After brunch, you have some time to sit back and relax, read your book or take a snooze. After resting we continue (at about 13h00) on our walking safari through the Maseke Game Reserve region of northern Balule.
This afternoon's two to three-hour game walk leads us to a big dam where the safari crew has set up our next bush camp. Arriving at camp at about 16h30 there is free time to unwind, have a snack, and rest after our approximately 12 km walk through the undulating terrain.
Later, you have the option of embarking on a sunset game drive in the open safari vehicle, setting off in search of big game, the Big 5 included. The sundowner game drive is followed by dinner around the campfire and a peaceful night under the stars.
Day three of our Kruger Walking Safari begins with coffee and rusks at the mobile camp, before heading out into the bush on foot again.
The next three to four hours are spent walking through the unspoiled bushveld, following the lead of our experienced guide. Your guide points out the fascinating details of the wilderness as you walk, showing you signs of wildlife activity and more. First, we stop for a light breakfast at 09h30 and then we stop for brunch and a nap at about 11h30. At about 13h00 we continue walking across the hills and grassy plains of the game reserve for a further two to three hours. The afternoon walk brings us to our last mobile camp (at about 16h30), set up on the banks of the Olifants River. Settle in at camp and rest up, before setting off on an optional sunset game drive in the Maseke Balule Game Reserve of Greater Kruger.
On the sunset game drive, we get to cover more ground than on foot, taking in the wild scenery and improving our chances of spotting a diversity of animals and birds. Keep an eye out for elephants, buffalos, giraffes, wildebeest, zebras, and predators such as lions, cheetahs, and leopards. After sundowners and a beautiful sunset over the game-rich bush, we return to our camping site beside the river. This evening we enjoy our final dinner together and relax around the campfire, falling asleep to the sounds of untamed nature.
On day four of our Greater Kruger Safari we get up early, catching the sunrise over the Olifants River. We kick the day off with coffee and rusks, before venturing out into the African bush on foot. Walking along the banks of the river we keep an eye out for wildlife and birds drawn to the water, usually spotting hippos and crocodiles in the shallows.
Our final walking safari is followed by a big, hearty breakfast back at the mobile bush camp. Then it is time to pack up and leave Greater Kruger behind.
We return to Three Bridges where the shuttle collects you at 11h45 for the transfer back to Pretoria and the OR Tambo International Airport in Johannesburg. Drop-off in Pretoria is at about 17h00, and for OR Tambo about 18h00.
This 8000-hectare private game reserve forms part of Greater Kruger Park, sharing unfenced boundaries with Kruger National Park proper. The private reserve lies between Hoedspruit and Phalaborwa, along the western border of Kruger, in the Limpopo Province of South Africa.
As a private game reserve, Maseke Balule is closed to the general public, offering an exclusive safari experience. Maseke Balule is however adjacent to Kruger National Park, enabling wildlife to move freely between the national park and the private game reserve. The Big Five animals are found here, as well as wildebeest, giraffes, hippos, zebras, baboons, various antelopes, cheetahs, and crocodiles, amongst many. This game-rich private reserve offers a thrilling and pristine wild environment for walking safaris.
The Olifants River flows through the game reserve, attracting an abundance of various animals and birds. The reserve itself covers diverse terrain, including grassy savannah, rocky hills, and rugged mountains that provide ideal habitat for a range of wildlife species.
This exclusive walking safari makes use of mobile camps; which are set up in the private Balule Game Reserve of Greater Kruger Park. A new camp is erected by the safari crew in a different location on every day of the camping safari, while you are out walking in the bush. The afternoon bush walks each end at a new campsite, selected for its remote and scenic setting.
Breakfasts and dinners are prepared by the crew at the camps, with snacks and refreshments served upon arrival at each camp. Each day starts with coffee or tea and rusks, followed by a mid-morning light breakfast of yogurt and fruit on the walk. In the mid-morning (at about 10h30) we take a break from walking to enjoy a packed brunch in the bush. Dinner is a hearty cooked meal served around the campfire.
The mobile camping safari sites consist of four canvas dome tents (linen provided) that sleep two people each. Individual bucket showers are set up with the tents and the camps feature chemical toilets.
Pick-up and drop-off are at O.R. Tambo International Airport in Johannesburg and a designated point in Pretoria. For more details and times please enquire. Transport to and from these set locations is not included in the tour price.
Collection times on the first day:
Drop off times on the last day:
Please note that we offer convenient pre and post tour lodge accommodation for before and after this 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 information on rates.
This tour does take children.
Children over the age of 12 are welcome on this walking tour.
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