Western Kruger Destination Guide

While most small towns in Mpumalanga are close to the Kruger National Park, Hazyview is the closest – a hop from the Phabeni, Numbi and Kruger gates. It is a pretty town with a few good restaurants and some lovely guest houses and hotels on the outskirts.

Hazyview gets its name from the haze that envelopes the low bush land during the hot summers. A small farming town, Hazyview is popular because of its banana industry. In fact, the area is said to have the best climate in the world for banana cultivation. You will see rows of this fruit everywhere in Hazyview. Most of the region’s private game reserves are located east of Hazyview.

The fascinating panoramas in Hazyview will without a doubt remain in your memory for a long time to come. Tourists enjoy visiting the Shangana Cultural Village on the R535 to Graskop. This is a great place to pick up local goodies and curios. It also serves as a kind of educational trip where one gets an insight of the culture of the place.

One of the most popular activities tourists indulge in Hazyview is to go hot air ballooning across the exotic valley. The view is breathtaking and unforgettable! There are also quite a few hiking trails and game viewing opportunities. You could also try a helicopter ride, microlight flip, or one of the many fun mountain biking trails on an escorted trip. Besides these, there are also horse trails and the usual escorted safaris into the Kruger National Park.

Kloofing, another word for canyoning, is the art (or perhaps science) of following a mountain stream by swimming, floating, or jumping down its course. You could try it at either Suicide Gorge or Riviersonderend Gorge, both of which are in the Western Cape. They involve high compulsory jumps, so it’s best done in an escorted trip. Closer to Cape Town, the Steenbras River is ideal for an abseiling/kloofing trip.

Situated near the entrance of the Kruger National Park, Phalaborwa offers tourists various opportunities to get a close-up view of the Big Five - elephants, lions, rhinos, leopards and buffalos, and also undertake day or night safaris, including the very popular bushbraai.

A major attraction at Phalaborwa is a chance to play a game of golf at Hans Merensky, amongst impalas, giraffe, warthog and monkeys, in the haze of the African sun. Early morning golfers have been known to cross paths with wild dogs, elephants, cheetahs, hippos and lions. Depending on the time of day you decide to play, you could opt for a morning game drive or a late afternoon drive into the park.

Western Kruger has several private reserves. Though they are more expensive, they promise a once-in-a-lifetime experience. The Manyeleti Game Reserve is a private game reserve that borders the Kruger National Park, but the animals are able to cross between the park and the reserve as there are no fences around the borders.

The unique Hoyo-Hoyo Tsonga Lodge, on the banks of the Mluwati River, offers tourists a 5-star experience. You are welcomed and hosted in traditional Tsonga style by the staff who are dressed in traditional clothes, which adds to the ambience of ethnic luxury. The lodge attempts to recreate the atmosphere of a bygone era, when explorers left the comforts and trappings of civilisation to discover the mysterious land of Africa, to experience the ultimate adventure – the African Safari. Home to all creatures, big and small, game viewing at this reserve is not to be missed. Africa's Big Five – the lion, leopard, elephant, rhino and buffalo – roam freely in the reserve. There are also a diverse variety of insects, birds and antelope. Besides, the lodge also offers bird watching, open game drives and guided bush walks. What’s more, you could even take a car in self-drive through the Kruger National Park.

Just a short distance from the national park, Tzaneen is a popular and attractive subtropical garden with a burst of local and exotic flowers and tea plantations located at the foot of the Drakensberg mountain range. In fact, there is plenty to see in this region. You could go to Haenertsburg, which is a craft village in a mountain setting; stroll around the mesmerising Ebenezer Dam, ideally located just beneath the Wolkberg Mountains; or walk along or picnic at the steep, winding, deeply forested Magoebaskloof pass. And that’s not all. You have to visit the Debengeni Waterfall, which tumbles down into a number of natural swimming pools and leads eventually to Woodbush forest, which is home to more than 40 species of indigenous trees.

A chance to explore African flora and fauna on foot is a once-in-a-lifetime experience. You could join a group of eight people and two rangers on a three-day hiking tour and be sure to return with memories and information that you will treasure for a lifetime. Such a tour is the best way to learn about South African wildlife and see animals from a distance you would not imagine possible. Lions, elephants or perhaps a rhino could cross your path without giving you a second glance. A truly breathtaking experience, the trails follow circular routes and the group returns to the safety of the camp every evening. The duration of these trails is usually three nights and two days, either from Wednesday to Saturday or from Sunday to Wednesday.