Area Background

Spread across 10 000ha of pristine African Bushveld, providing exclusive access only to guests staying at Hamilton’s Tented Camp, Hoyo Hoyo, or Imbali Safari Lodge. This area offers the ultimate secluded and private Kruger Park Experience, set over the basalt plains of the Satara Region, this is said to be the ultimate Kruger Experience! On this magnificent basalt range, we find a well-established Mixed Bushwillow Woodlands Eco-Zone. This Eco-Zone features some iconic Trees of Kruger Park , which include the following trees: Baobab, Marula, Leadwood, a variety of Bushwillows, Tree Wisteria, Jackal Berry, Fig Trees, Knob Thorn and a variety of acacia species. We are privileged enough to offer sweet grass (Low Lying Areas) as well as Mixed grass on our midslope to upper crest areas. This attracts a wide variety of Plains Game (From Duikers to Elephants and everything in between) which provides the perfect variety of food on offer to the flagship predators of Kruger!

Kruger National Park

Paul Kruger, one-time President of the former, Transvaal Republic was the visionary behind the idea of creating a national park to ensure the long-term survival of wildlife in natural surroundings. In 1898, the Sabie Game Reserve was officially proclaimed, although it would take another 12 years for the area between the Sabie and Crocodile Rivers to be declared an area of restricted hunting. James Stevenson-Hamilton was appointed as the park’s first warden in 1902.

The very first tourist venture took off in 1923 and included an overnight stop at the Sabie Bridge, better known today as Skukuza. The tour was organised by the South African Railways and offered visitors accommodation by sleeping inside the train; an appointed game ranger accompanied them, sharing tall tales and interesting facts about the bush around a blazing campfire.

The popularity of this tour gave rise to a range of tourist facilities in the park, including the opportunity to sleepover in rest huts at designated points in Satara, Pretoriuskop, Letaba, Malelane and Skukuza, among other areas in the park. The first proper roads were built in the 1930s, allowing self-drive tourists to enjoy the park at their own leisure. By 1934, some 1 200 kilometres of roads were completed.

Touring the Kruger Park and delighting in its astonishing variety of flora and fauna is now almost 100 years old, and the park has become one of the world’s most premier game-viewing destinations. Kruger is home to an estimated 1 500 lion, 12 000 elephant, 2 500 buffalo and 100 leopards, as well as both white and black rhino. Big Five aside, there are a vast diversity of other wildlife species to be admired; an estimated 145 mammal species occur in the park, including cheetah, wild dogs, serval, hippo, giraffe, wildebeest, zebra and many other iconic African species.

Keen birders will be thrilled by the Kruger National Park’s almost 500 bird species.

And that is not all. Other than wildlife, the Kruger Park is home to almost 254 cultural heritage sites, including 130 recorded rock art sites, 300 archaeological Stone Age sites and San Rock Art. Imbali Safari Lodge was, in fact, built at the site of an ancient African settlement.

Gate fees
Guest staying at Hamiltons Tented Camp will be charged a once-off access fee of R135.00 per person per stay. The fees are payable at the gate of entry and will be required to hand back your receipt to the gate attendant upon your departure.

Gate entrance times
Please be aware of gate entrance times into the Kruger National Park as they vary throughout the year, depending on the season. Entrance into the park via Orpen Gate should be no later than two hours prior to gate closure time and via Kruger Gate should be no later than three hours prior to gate closure times.

Speed limit
While driving within the Kruger National Park, please adhere to the legal speed limit of 50km per hour on tar roads and 40km per hour on dirt roads.

Safety precautions
Please adhere to the Kruger National Park safety precautions, and do not disembark from your vehicle unless you are in a designated area.

Cellphone reception
Cellphone signal is only available at the entrance gates and close to Skukuza, it is therefore recommended to make any necessary calls at the gate upon entry. 

Perfect safari packing:

• Tight fitting sun hat, cap or beanie in winter (it gets quite windy on an open safari vehicle)
• Light jacket (and fleece in winter)
• Lightweight cotton or linen shirts and shorts Tracksuit or warm longs
• Closed shoes and socks
• Comfortable open sandals
• Camera, spare batteries and memory card
• Binoculars
• A stick of mosquito repellent

Lodge Gate Opening Times:

October – March: 05h30
April – September: 06h00

Lodge Gate Closing Times:

November – February: 18h30
March – April: 18h00
May – July: 17h30
August – October: 18h00