Pafuri Camp

Pafuri Camp is situated between the Limpopo and Luvuvhu Rivers in the northern sector of the Kruger National Park, South Africa. This 24,000 hectare area is recognised as one of the most diverse and scenically attractive areas in the Kruger National Park and is called either the Pafuri triangle or the Makuleke Concession - as it is the ancestral home of the Makuleke people.

Pafuri Camp provides access to what is considered to be one of Kruger's biodiversity hotspots: home to some of the largest herds of elephant and buffalo, as well as leopard and lion, and incredibly prolific bird life. In May 2007, the biological significance of the area was recognised when it was declared as a Ramsar Site - a wetland of international importance.

This far northern sector of the Kruger National Park differs widely from the rest of the Park. It is an essential complement to the scenery, experience and game viewing offered at the lodges in the central and southern Kruger, as well as private reserves such as Sabi Sand on the western boundary of the Park. Travellers looking to experience the Kruger National Park in its entirety should ideally combine the subtropical Pafuri triangle with any number of camps in the central parts of the Park.

Accommodation at Pafuri Camp consists of 20 spacious and light tented rooms, each with en-suite bathroom facilities and a private deck. Six of these tents are family rooms for up to four people. All tents boast views of the Luvuvhu River and guests often take the time to enjoy a leisurely stint on their respective decks, watching the elephant, nyala, waterbuck or bushbuck (to name but a few!) coming down to drink.

Activities at Pafuri Camp take advantage of the wide variety of exciting and interesting features for which the Makuleke / Pafuri region is so famous. Game drives in open 4x4 vehicles, night drives, walks, and hides are all part of the range of activities that are on offer.

One of the most important aspects of this area is its palaeo-anthropological history, with Pafuri Camp surrounded by an abundance of the evidence of early human ancestors - stretching back from some two million years ago, through the Stone Age and into the Iron Age (about 400 years ago), when the Thulamela dynasty ruled in this area. This dynasty built incredible structures that are not dissimilar to those found in the Great Zimbabwe. Throughout the concession there is evidence of its historic human inhabitants: in the form of rock paintings and artefacts - Stone Age hand tools, such as hand axes, are to be found under many a baobab.