nThambo Tree Camp is located in the Klaserie Private Nature Reserve, which forms part of the Greater Kruger and shares unfenced borders with the Kruger National Park. This unique camp offers an intimate and personal safari experience for travelers.
Exterior view of nThambo Tree Camp
Unique Accommodation
A "tree tent" with a difference, there are only five canvas-walled and thatched-roof Chalets built on stilts at eye level with the trees. The treehouse-like chalets have wooden decking for floors, canvas walls and thatched roofs. They are rustic in style but very comfortable, with double or twin beds.
- These Chalets all have private balconies and en-suite bathrooms with a shower.
- Each chalet has an en suite bathroom with hot and cold running water, a shower (there are no baths) and a separate toilet.
- Each chalet also has a private veranda with views of the distant Drakensberg mountains.
No air-conditioning here as the rooms are solar powered. only a fan, very rustic. All rooms have standing fans and mosquito nets. Lighting is provided by solar power but there is a socket in each tent for charging phones or cameras.
Interior view of a chalet at nThambo Tree Camp
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Camp Facilities and Dining
The Camp features an inviting outdoor lounge as well as a dining area which are under thatch roofing. From here beautiful views of the waterhole which is in front of camp can be enjoyed. The camp is offered on a full board basis.
Food is a wholesome, home-cooked affair and includes traditional South African braaivleis (barbecues). Meals are communal with everyone seated around a large table in the dining room. Overall I preferred the food at SRBL but this was pretty good too.
- Dinner: 3 courses again and HUGE portions ! soup to start, meat for mains with rice/mixed veggies/greek salad, and yummy desserts (eg. choc pudding, traditional milk tart).
- Wi-Fi is available in the lounge and bar. Free wifi was pretty fast and centred around the reception/restaurant.
- Dipping pool and deck chairs were great for afternoon siesta.
Game Drives and Bush Walks
A Wild & Free Experience | Klaserie Private Nature Reserve
Guests staying here can enjoy spectacular safari drives. Twice-daily and night game drives are conducted with experienced rangers and Shangaan trackers, who seek to enhance your knowledge and enjoyment of the bush. We definitely felt more “safari-like” sitting on an open-topped Defender than self-driving in the KNP in our little Nissan Micra, and here we could go off-road to get a closer look (you can’t do that self-driving in KNP).
The daily program consists of morning and afternoon game drives with an optional walk after breakfast. If you'd prefer a longer walk, nThambo guests can also participate in the Africa on Foot three-hour game walk. Guided morning (530am) and evening (4pm) game drives (around 3h each) in their super macho Defender were included in our room price. Although we had already seen most of the animals in KNP, this was a totally different experience as the ranger would explain about the behavior and habitat of the various birds and animals we encountered. For us city rats it was like a crash course on wildlife.
Time permitting, you can go on a guided bush walk after breakfast. We went on one 2h bushwalk with nThambo’s tracker, Enoch, and learnt about the nutritional/medicinal value of various plants, as well as how to identify the spoor of different animals.
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Guests on a game drive at nThambo Tree Camp
Location and Accessibility
The camp is situated in the Klaserie Reserve, one of South Africa’s largest private game reserves which is part of the Greater Kruger, adjoining the Kruger National Park. It is an hour’s drive from the airport at Hoedspruit (Eastgate Airport).
The Klaserie is a private game reserve that borders the Kruger National Park. There are no fences so animals from KNP can wander into the Klaserie and vice versa. The property owned by nThambo and its sister lodge Africa on Foot is about 2,500ha, but total traversing area (i.e. where nThambo vehicle is allowed to drive) is about 7,000ha due to collaboration among the lodges in the Klaserie. Unfortunately there is only one river in the current traverse area. According to our ranger, the Klaserie is a relatively new reserve vs. established ones such as Sabi Sands. I think the price of the lodges in the Klaserie reflects this as well, so if you are budget-conscious this is a good option.
Map showing the location of Klaserie Private Nature Reserve
Wildlife Encounters
Over our 3-night stay we saw 4 out of the Big5 (except for leopard- more on that under Location), as well as giraffes, zebra herd, wild dog pack (very rare as there are only 135 wild dogs in the entire Greater Kruger), wild cat (looks like a tabby house cat), civet cat, hyena, and naughty honey badgers.
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All the 5 rooms have sweeping views of the bush, where you can see animals (yes even the Big 5) wander by or stop to drink at the nearby waterhole.
Eco-Friendly Focus
nThambo is very conscious of the delicate balance in nature and seeks to reduce its carbon footprint as much as possible, making this camp remarkably eco-friendly.
Things to Consider
Ensuite bathroom is basic and the shower tends to cycle wildly between hot and cold, but I was thankful to have hot water out here in the middle of nowhere. Note that there is no door to the toilet !!! It was really a different experience to be way out in the bush and fall asleep to the sound of birds as insects. Sharing my shower with a huge spider (thankfully not the resident baboon spider) was also very, err, thrilling. It looked exactly like the ones in the movie Arachnophobia.
Bush lodges/camps in private game reserves around Kruger National Park are really very pricey (to me anyway). Although they are typically “all-inclusive” (i.e. full board plus daily game drives), it’s way more than I would normally pay for accomm. We chose nThambo in the Klserie as it was comfortable but not ostentatious (we certainly don’t require butler service or spa out in the bush!) As we were quite late in booking (2 months in advance) and our dates coincided with SA school holidays, availability was very limited. The SANParks-run camps were fully booked of course. At R2,350pppn it was not cheap for us and there are many lodges at this price point if you book early.
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