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Skukuza Rest Camp is the capital of Kruger National Park. It is the biggest camp and includes facilities such as a shop, deli, ATM (bank), restaurant, swimming pools, car hire, car wash, fuel station, picnic area and more.

Skukuza Highlights and Attractions

• Activities: walks along the Sabie River, guided bush walks and game drives
• Golfing: 9 hole (18-tee), Par 72 Skukuza Golf Course
• Skukuza accommodation: Bungalows, campsites, guest houses and a luxury hotel
• Attractions: Skukuza picnic area, Skukuza Indigenous Plants Nursery, Stevenson Hamilton Memorial Library
• Conveniences: Restaurants, a shop, deli, petrol station, bank, car hire and car wash, laundromat, AM Spa, medical doctors

Wondering what is the best camp to stay in Kruger National Park? Many visitors think Skukuza Rest Camp is the best camp in Kruger Park. The activities, attractions and facilities are diverse, as are the animals and plants found both within Skukuza Rest Camp and the surrounding area. Skukuza Rest Camp is an excellent rest camp from which to pursue the Big Five and birds in the vicinity.

Getting There

Where is Skukuza Rest Camp?
Skukuza Rest Camp is located in southern Kruger National Park on the banks of the Sabie River. 

What is the closest Kruger Park entry gate to Skukuza Rest Camp?
Skukuza Rest Camp is just 12 km away from Paul Kruger Gate.

What is the closest airport to Skukuza Rest Camp?
Skukuza has its own airport located 4 km away. Skukuza Airport offers daily flights from Johannesburg and Cape Town.

How long does it take to drive to Skukuza Rest Camp from Johannesburg?
It takes 6 hours to drive from Johannesbrg to Skukuza Rest Camp on the N12 via Nelspruit (465 km).

What is the GPS coordinates of Skukuza Rest Camp?
-24.996408, 31.591885

Facilities

What facilities does Skukuza Rest Camp have?

• Information at Reception
• Public telephone
• Post office
• Public telephone
• Bank
• Car hire
• Car wash
• Restaurant
• Delicatessen
• Shop
• AM Spa Kruger
• Auditorium and conference facilities
• Communal ablutions
• Communal kitchens
• 2 swimming pools in camp
• Laundromat
• Filling station
• Cutlery and plates hampers (from Reception)
• Basic first aid assistance
• TV and DSTV (limited channels) available in Luxury Units only
• Day visitors picnic area (located 4km outside the camp) with own swimming pool
• Cellphone reception
• Skukuza Golf Course
• Skukuza Indigenous Nursery (4 km from camp)
• Stevenson Hamilton Memorial Library

Are facilities at Skukuza Rest Camp accessible for disabled visitors?

The reception area at Skukuza Rest Camp is accessible with drop curves providing access from the parking area to the buildings, which include the reception office, a bank, a post office and public toilets (including a barrier free toilet). The auto-bank is up a step and is thus inaccessible for wheelchair users. The camp's shop, restaurant and cafeteria are all designed to be all easily accessed in a wheelchair, as is movement along the camp's perimeter fence adjacent to and overlooking the Sabie River.

Skukuza Rest Camp has several attractions such as a museum hut, the Stevenson-Hamilton Memorial Library, an information centre and an auditorium. Only the library is inaccessible. Wheelchair users will need to be pulled up the stairs to access this facility. The camp has 8, 2-bed huts with barrier free facilities (6 with showers and 2 with baths). There is an accessible 6-bedded cottage with bath and shower facilities.

Accommodation

Where can I stay at Skukuza Rest Camp?

Skukuza Rest Camp in Kruger National Park features a variety of accommodation options:

Accommodation Types

• Bungalows
• Luxury Bungalows
• Family Cottages
• Guest Cottages
• Safari Tents
• Guest Houses
• Camp Sites
• Kruger Park Hotel at Skukuza

See more Skukuza Rest Camp accommodation

Dining

Where can I eat at Skukuza Rest Camp?

Skukuza Rest Camp has 2 restaurants - the Cattle Baron Skukuza and the Kruger Station.

The Cattle Baron Restaurant at Skukuza serves breakfast, lunch and supper and has a deck boasting lovely views of the Sabie River.

The Kruger Station is located along the historic Selati line and boasts a deli, bar, restaurant (with vegetarian and gluten-free options), ice-cream, coffee shop and a kids zone.

Wildlife

What wildlife can I see around Skukuza Rest Camp?

The myriad of birds and wild game including the Big Five in the Skukuza area can be spotted by going on bush walks and game drives. 

Lions and Wild Dogs are frequently spotted along this route and around Skukuza Rest Camp you can find Warthogs and Vervet Monkeys.

At night, look for the Fruit Bat that hangs under the eaves of the shop, and the Thick-tailed Bush Baby climbing the trees in search of gum.

Wildlife documentaries are shown in an outdoor amphitheater.

Activities

What activities can I do at Skukuza Rest Camp?

At Skukuza Rest Camp, guests can wake early for guided game drives tracking the Big Five wildlife, stroll along walking trails with an armed ranger for a close-up look at the smaller creatures of the bushveld, or relax on the Sabie River’s edge watching elephants and hippos drift by.

The Skukuza Rest Camp museum offers a slice of Kruger Park's history, while the Skukuza golf course adds a wild twist - wildlife on the fairway aren’t uncommon!  

The AM Spa Kruger offers a serene escape at Skukuza Rest Camp where guests can unwind with pampering spa treatments surrounded by the sounds and sights of the wild.

See more Skukuza Rest Camp activities

Golf

There is a magnificent 9 hole (18-tee), Par 72 golf course available for golf enthusiasts on their Kruger Park safari holiday. Read more about golfing in Kruger at Skukuza Golf Course

Stevenson Hamilton Memorial

This is a get-out point with a path to a memorial plaque. The path passes over and between boulders and is not accessible to a person in a wheelchair.

Nkuhlu Picnic Site

Nkuhlu is a picnic site at Skukuza Rest Camp where a ramp has been specially constructed to allow wheelchair users the opportunity to descend from the parking lot down to the pathway adjacent the river's edge. There has been no adaptation of any of the other facilities and no barrier free toilets exist at the time of writing.

Kruger Tablets

Another get-out point where a memorial plaque has been embedded in rock. Reaching the plaque in a wheelchair requires assistance and such visitors are better off reading the plaque through binoculars.

History of Skukuza Rest Camp

Skukuza Rest Camp was originally known as Sabie Bridge or simply Reserve, the name was changed in 1936. Skukuza Rest Camp in Kruger National Park is named after the Tsonga name for James Stevenson-Hamilton, the first warden of the park. Literally translated it means 'he who sweeps clean', a reference to his removal of all the local people to make way for the establishment of the Park.

The Stevenson-Hamilton Memorial Museum houses many interesting artifacts - very well known is the knife ranger Harry Wolhuter used to single handedly slay a Lion and save his own life. Skukuza is the Kruger National Park's largest rest camp and administrative headquarters. It is situated on the southern banks of the Sabie River and is home to some interesting birds and amazing plant life.

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