The best self catering lodge near Hoedspruit, the Panorama Route, Kampersrus and Kruger National Park wildtuin

All you need to know about the attractions in our area

We are on the R531, a road that crosses/joins the R40 for about 2km and then continues straight east, all the way to Orpen gate. It’s a straight and quiet road, and it takes about 30 minutes to reach the gate that takes you into the “big 5 zone”.

Access and exit times are;

Accommodation within Kruger park’s boundaries has only one advantage; you can start your game drive the moment you leave your accommodation. Kruger-addicts tend to overstate the importance of this aspect, because they spend every minute of their holiday doing game drives. For most people, and certainly for fist-timers the reality is far different. They prefer a much wider choice of activities, as to keep their itinerary refreshing and varied. And they’d like to sleep in on some days …which is something you can hardly do while staying in the park.

Looking at any other aspect, accommodation outside park borders is a much better choice. For about the same rates as (vaguely) similar accommodation in the park, we offer;
- A cottage that’s up to 5 times larger.
- Much bigger and better beds, under mosquito nets (you’d have to buy these in Kruger).
- A much bigger and better equipped kitchen.
- Much better and faster wifi.
- A clean braai that’s cleaned for you every time you use it.
- Much more amenities that you otherwise need to buy to make your trip enjoyable; things like braai tools, cooler box and ice bricks.
- A much more spectacular (mountain) view with no fence line in front of you.
- A long list of very diverse activities and attractions; the Panorama Route, Blyde Canyon, Mariepskop mountain, Jessica the Hippo, Hoedspruit Reptile centre, animal rehabilitation centres, boat cruises, helicopter rides, spa treatments, etc… A list can be found here, but note it’s not complete; tubing, horse riding, ballon rides and quad biking are not even on the list as it would make the page too long!
- A much higher luxury level. It’s not just about silent aircons and large rainfall shower heads, but also about perks such as an outdoor shower and a private plunge pool.
- And last bur not least; guaranteed 100% visual privacy on your deck and in your pool.

Moreover, there’s much more choice with regards to restaurants and supermarkets, and prices are lower than in the park. Idem with fuel prices.

When going in at Orpen gate, we advise our guests to stay on the H7 all the way to Satara, as that road is right next to the Timbavati riverbed (with some nice viewpoints) and passes the very large Nsemani dam. More than often our guests score a 3/5 of the Big 5 even before reaching Satara.

When they reach Satara restcamp it’s about time for a toilet stop but more importantly; time for a look at the sighting boards next to the park shop. Based on the info on that board, our guests may be taking one of the following popular loops;
- Down the S100 (the “cat magnet”) all the way to Gudzani dam, then south along the S41 to N’wanetsi viewpoint and the Sewn hide, from there via the H6 back to the H1 and to Satara.
- Up north towards the S127 or even higher; to the S39 and then down via the Timbavati riverbed and back to Satara. If the S39 is chosen then we advise to add the little S147 two-track as it’s quite nice there.
- Down south to the S126 (the “sewn route”) all the way to Muzandzeni picnic spot, then up via the S36 and the H7 back to Satara.
When they reach Satara it’s about time for lunch. After lunch they can opt for one of the other aforementioned loops, but typically the S127 or S126 one as that can take them more or less back towards Orpen gate.

Should the sighting boards at Satara not contain much at around 10h in the morning, then there’s also an alternative. Instead of staying in the area snd doing a game drive loop there, go further north, cross the Olifants river, have a look at the viewpoint overlooking the river, and then go for lunch in Olifants restcamp (which looks out onto the Letaba river). After lunch; drive further north along the Letaba river, visit Letaba restacmp (for a quick visit to the museum with the skeletons of the big tuskers), and then west on the H9 towards Phalaborwa gate (with a last stop at Sable Dam). It’s a drive of about an hour from Phalaborwa to our lodge, but Hoedspruit is half-way, so perfect to go to one of the many restaurants.

We are about 15 minutes driving from the entrance of the Canyon reserve, and it’s another 10 minutes to the boat station.

The cruise on the Blyde Dam is our most popular attraction, so please make sure to book in advance or let us make the booking for you. We choose the smaller boat as it’s a bit more intimate but also because it has a viewing deck that allows you to make awesome panorama shots, and because it is much easier to spot hippos and crocs from a bit higher up. If you have a booking for the boat, do make sure to get there in time, as you need some time for registration.

Note that there’s more to do in the canyon than just the boat ride. On the way to the boat station there’s a beautiful hiking trail to a waterfall where you can swim! The hike to the falls and back is about 1h. Past the boat station entrance there’s a viewpoint overlooking the dam, which is also worth a visit. For people interested in longer hikes we advise the Hippo Trail, which starts below the dam wall but then goes up the mountain slope and continues along the edge of the dam.

Need a place to have lunch near the canyon? We advise to go to the Buck & Berg restaurant in Kampersrus, or the Black Chilli Eatery on the R531. A little hidden gem is the Ultimate Mango Shop, on the tar road towards the canyon. They have a store full of healthy goodies that make ideal vacation presents, and a café where you can enjoy a good cup of coffee and a slice of homemade cake.

It’s about 30 minutes of driving to the Strydom tunnel, the beginning of the Panorama Route. Our guests typically stitch the most important attractions of the Router together and make a full day trip out of it, leaving the best for last (the Blyde Canyon and Three Rondawel viewpoints are best enjoyed and deliver the best photographs in the afternoon, when the sun is in your back. So the typical day trip is: Strydom Tunnel -> Abel Erasmus Pass -> Bourke’s Luck Potholes -> Graskop Gorge -> Blyde Canyon -> Strydom tunnel. Waterfalls other than the one in Graskop are only added if time allows, and Pilgrim’s rest is mostly skipped as it has become a bit of a tourist trap. Coming down the mountain the same way as you went up also means that you avoid the busy communities of Bushbuckridge and Acornhoek.

For lunch on the Panorama Route we recommend The Chubby Pig; the restaurant with the most authentic look and an awesome setting. And on the way back to our lodge you pass the Blue Mountain restaurant, which is one of the best restaurants in our area, and ideal for a cocktail while watching the sun set over the mountains.

When booking accommodation on or near the Panorama Route you need to realise one vey important thing: there’s nothing worth your time there except the route itself. This means that typically you would only book one night there, or maybe two at most, and you would pinpoint a specific day on your itinerary to drive the Route.

And that is not the best idea, because the Panorama Route is often in the clouds. Especially in our summer time (our rainy season), but you could get unlucky even in our wintertime, if you happen to hit the moment when a cold front is rolling through. If it’s a cloudy day while driving the Route you will not enjoy at all. Most viewpoints will even be closed.

This is why it’s much better to stay below the mountain, where you can combine a day trip to the Panorama Route with other day trips to attractions nearby (such as Kruger park), all using the same lodge as a base. This way you can choose a sunny day to drive the Panorama Route, and use cloudy days for other day trips. On a cloudy day animals in Kruger park are more active, especially predators!

But there’s yet another reason to not choose accommodation on top of the mountain; it’s 5 to 10 °C colder up there, so especially in winter time it can get very cold, especially in your accommodation at night, as no houses in South Africa are insulated.

Mariepskop mountain may be one of the last remaining hidden gems in Kruger area. It’s hard to understand why there’s no cable cart going up there yet, like Table Mountain. It even has the same Fynbos vegetation on top, and with the same biodiversity! Mariepskop offers multiple stunning viewpoints that can easily rival with the viewpoints on the Panorama Route. But there’s one difference; there’s no busloads of tourists. When we go up, we are often all alone there.

The viewpoints are towards the Lowveld (Kampersrus & Hoedspruit area), towards Acornhoek and Manyeleti / Kruger park, towards the entrance of the canyon, and towards Blyde dam. But these viewpoints are not the only attraction. On the slopes of the mountain is a mistbelt forest, a jungle-like environment that you would not expect in this area at all. So we stop there and gofer a short hike in the forest as well.