Garonga Safari Camp

Garonga Safari Camp has recently undergone a three-month makeover to celebrate it's 20th birthday.

The stunning, exclusive and romantic luxury camp set to the west of Kruger National Park has been compeltely redesigned to set new standards stylish living that blend seamlessly into the native surrounding bush.

Owner, Bernardo Smith, has created a lodge where you can unwind and have an unhurried wildlife experience, one which allows you time to reflect on and be inspired by nature. Meticulous personal service and gracious hospitality contribute to making Garonga a truly memorable experience and l Garonga is the perfect safari camp for a honeymoon.

Garonga accommodates a maximum of 14 guests in its six breathtaking tented rooms and one separate suite. Rooms have small mini-bars and yoga mats, and the en suite bathrooms are lavish, with inside and outdoor double showers.

Set among ebony trees on the banks of a watercourse, each tented room has a private deck with a hammock — from which you can watch the rhino graze or relax, soaking up the beautiful view. Spacious living areas open out onto the natural surroundings.

Garonga takes its food very seriously and innovation plays a huge role in creating the weekly menu; chefs can often be found combining bush cuisine and game meats with Mediterranean influences such as pasta, roasted vegetables and home-grown herbs.

Take the time to truly relax; here you can opt to take a spectacular candlelit outdoor bath, be pampered by an aromatherapist, or sleep out on a deck in a tree in the bush. Garonga provides big game viewing from open landrovers, bush walks to suit the interests and energies of the guests, star-gazing and holistic therapies, easels and pastels, and the choice of sociability or privacy.

The infinity pool is available for guest use and offers, much like everywhere else in the camp, staggering views across the wild South African bush. Game viewing is good at Garonga, especially when the guides have been sent on an intensive year-long training course to refine their bushcraft and game tracking skills. Here you stand a very good chance of seeing four of the Big-Five – there are no buffalo on the reserve. Other wildlife sightings may include:

• cheetah,
• hyena,
• giraffe,
• wildebeest and
• a variety of buck.

There is very little other traffic on this reserve, in fact, the ratio is one game vehicle per 2000 hectares, so you rarely see another vehicle. A new pack of Wild dogs have been released into the reserve. Garonga has also updated and expanded its solar power systems and water filtration systems to keep the lodge at the forefront of eco-lodge movement in South Africa.