Garonga Safari Camp
Experience the adventure of a lifetime when staying at the all-inclusive Garonga Safari Camp! In this guide, I’ll provide details of the safari camp based on my experience.
Let’s get started!
Basic Information
Garonga Safari Camp is a private game reserve just outside of Kruger National Park. Some things to know about Garonga are:
Garonga Safari Camp is a luxury all-inclusive safari camp. During your stay, you will enjoy morning tea and biscuits, breakfast, lunch, and dinner, and have access to numerous wines and spirits. Just note, that some premium alcohol is available for an additional charge.
There are 3 different camps within Garonga you can stay at, each providing its own unique feel:
Garonga: This camp offers 6 tents with a maximum of 12 guests. Each tent overlooks a dry river bed. When we visited we stopped by Garonga and the river bed had some water in it and we saw some elephants drinking from it!
Little Garonga: This is a more traditional camp with 3 tents with a maximum of 6 adults and 2 children.
MCH: This is the newest of the 3 camps, and where we stayed during our trip. This camp has 4 tents with a maximum of 8 guests. When we visited we booked 3 of the 4 tents and another couple booked the 4th tent.
Because Garonga is a private game reserve, when out on safari your guides are able to drive off-road to get up close to the animals, unlike in the national parks.
The closest place to fly into to visit Garonga is Hoedspruit Airport. From here, it’s roughly a 1.5-hour drive to get to the safari reserve.
Around the Camp:
We stayed at the MCH camp, and from the minute you arrive, it feels like you just stepped into luxury. Raised boardwalks guide you to your room, and once you enter you almost immediately forget that you’re staying in a tent. The tents each have gorgeous hardwood floors, a large seating area, a stocked mini fridge, a writing table, a charging station for your electronics, and more! Each tent also includes air conditioning and a fan to keep you cool during the hot summer days. The king-size bed also has a mosquito net around it to keep any bugs at bay. The bathroom has two sinks and a rainfall shower. Outside the tent, each suite offers a private deck with an outdoor shower and a soaking tub with views overlooking the bush.
The shared areas of the camp are equally as luxurious as the tents. There are indoor and outdoor seating areas where you can sit around and talk about all the animals you saw during your game drive. There is a library for those looking for a quiet place to relax. There is a well-stocked bar where you’re able to help yourself to whatever you want, however you’ll find the staff are always checking if they can get you a drink, so I never ended up grabbing a drink from the bar myself. There is also a covered and open-air dining area for you to enjoy your meals no matter the weather, and a fire pit to sit around as you wind down your day. There is also a pool and lounge chairs where you can relax during the middle of the day when the sun is high and the wildlife is less active. Just note, the pool is not heated so in the winter it can get a bit cool.
The staff is always available to ensure you’re having the best experience possible. They would check in the morning on what you want to eat during the day and can accommodate most dietary restrictions. When we visited, they had no issues making sure there was a dairy-free option available at each meal that was equally as great as the options that included dairy. They would also recommend a wine that would pair well with dinner each evening.
Also available for an extra charge is the option to get a massage in the massage tent. Each of us decided to get a massage during our visit and it was definitely well worth it! I mean, who doesn’t want to relax their muscles after a hard day sitting in a jeep, haha! You can also take a visit to the Garonga camp if you want to purchase some souvenirs to take home with you.
While you might not think much about the camp itself when booking a safari experience, staying at one of the Garonga safari camps will definitely make your entire experience even better!
Safari Experience:
The highlight of your entire trip is bound to be your safari game drives, and trust me, they do not disappoint! The daily routine consisted of waking up just before sunrise in order to catch any early-morning animal activity. The staff will come by and knock on your tent so there’s no need to set an alarm in the morning. You’ll then have a chance to get some tea or coffee and some biscuits before starting out on your drive.
For our drives we had one tracker and one guide in our jeep, and it was definitely worth having both of them because they spotted many animals we would have never seen otherwise. The guides had radios to talk to other guides in the reserve so they could communicate any animal sighting to other jeeps and drive you to where an animal was sighted. Each morning we’d start our drive heading to a new part of the park to allow us the opportunity to try to see different species of animals each day. One morning though, we had heard the lions during the night so we set towards where we heard them call to try to spot them and found them finishing eating their latest kill.
After driving around looking for wildlife for a bit, we would find a safe spot to stop and enjoy some more tea, coffee, and snacks in the bush. The guide and tracker always made sure there was no threat around us when we would stop so we could just relax and occasionally enjoy watching the wildlife off in the distance. After our snack, we’d hop back in the jeep and continue to explore before returning to camp to enjoy our breakfast.
At camp, we’d have a few hours after breakfast to relax when the sun was high in the sky and the wildlife was less active. We took this time to relax by the pool, get a massage, or take a nap. Then we’d enjoy lunch before setting out for our afternoon/evening game drive.
On the afternoon drives, we continued exploring new areas of the reserve to try to spot as many animals as we could. When we were driving around and there was a break in the animal spotting, our guide would keep us entertained by teaching us how to identify animal tracks and animal poop and telling us about different techniques they use to track animals. We had 3 full days of game drives during our visit and we were lucky to spot a large amount of wildlife. During our visit we saw elephants, rhinos, lions, zebras, giraffes, a cheetah, hippos, buffalo, impalas, wildebeests, warthogs, hyenas, and even a honeybadger! In addition, we also saw a large variety of birds that our guide helped us identify.
As the sun started to set, our guide and tracker would find us a nice spot to stop and enjoy the sunset. And the best way to enjoy the sunset is with a traditional South African sundowner, which is basically a happy hour in the bush. Our guide and tracker would set up a table for us and find some fallen branches to decorate the table and enhance the ambiance. They would then provide us with a variety of snacks and drinks to enjoy as the sun went down.
After the sun went down, we’d hop back on the jeep and slowly start making our way back to camp. Our tracker would use a spotlight to try to find any animals in the dark, and most evenings we spotted a handful of animals when returning to camp. Once at camp, we would find that dinner was ready to enjoy so we were able to relax and enjoy a meal as soon as we returned. After dinner, we’d all have drinks around the campfire and talk about our day and look forward to the upcoming adventures the next day.
Overnight Sleepout:
A unique experience that Garonga Safari Camp offers is the ability to sleep out in the middle of the bush for a night. If you choose, you can have the opportunity to sleep out on a raised platform and enjoy looking up at the stars and out on the wildlife throughout the night. And, there’s no additional charge to enjoy this experience!
The platform is located about 20 minutes from camp, so you are truly alone with the animals in the bush. The platform is raised off the ground and has a gate so animals can’t climb up the stairs. But, in case you are worried about being out on your own, you are provided a radio that you can use to call back to camp and be picked up if you decide you don’t want to stay out all night. However, if you choose to do the sleepout, you won’t regret it!
The raised platform has a king-sized bed surrounded by mosquito netting so that you won’t be disturbed by bugs during the night. But other than the netting, you have amazing 360° views overlooking the African bush. There is also a table where you can enjoy your dinner and morning coffee and a small open-air bathroom.
Our guide took us to the sleepout platform to enjoy our sundowner there the night we were going to sleep out. He then walked us through how to use the radio, provided us with a spotlight we could use to spot animals during the night, gave us a star chart, and let us know where any emergency supplies were if needed. After our sundowner, our guide then left us on our own to enjoy the night in the bush.
The staff had packed us a warm dinner and drinks to enjoy, so we sat at the table and enjoyed a romantic dinner under the stars. They packed us a lot of food so we wouldn’t go hungry so we packed up the dishes and the uneaten food and stored it in the insulated tote. We then used the spotlight to search for animals in the dark. We were able to see a mom and baby rhino and a sleeping giraffe! As it got colder out, we laid in bed and looked up at the stars before going to sleep. However, we woke up in the middle of the night to a rustling sound near the platform and were met with a giraffe eating at a nearby tree. It was such an incredible experience seeing the giraffe so close to us! After watching the giraffe for a bit, we went back to sleep until morning.
When we woke up, we got dressed for the day and took out the thermos of hot water the staff had packed for us so we could enjoy a morning coffee and tea as we watched the sunrise. And before long our guide came back to get us and we hopped on the jeep to enjoy another morning game drive.
If you are able to participate in the sleepout experience during your trip, I would definitely recommend booking it as it’s a once-in-a-lifetime experience you will never forget!
Trekker Tip: If you want to enjoy the sleepout experience, book ahead as there is only one platform available for the MCH camp.
What to Pack
Bring some cash or your credit card for any things you may want to purchase such as souvenirs or a relaxing massage.
Pack a universal power adapter so all your electronics remain charged.
Sunscreen is a must as you’ll spend a lot of time outside.
If visiting during the rainy season, pack bug spray.
Pack layers, during the winter season, early morning game drives can be a bit chilly.
Pack neutral colors so as not to scare off the wildlife or attract bugs.
Take a camera so you can capture every moment!
