Arnoud Quanjer Wildlife Photography

When you want to stay overnight in the Kgalagadi Transfrontier Park you'll have to stay in one of the available camps. You can stay at regular restcamps or you can decide to stay in one of the new wilderness camps. There are three traditional restcamps in the park: Twee Rivieren, Nossob and Mata Mata. All of these camps are fenced and offer a shop and a petrol station. At these camps you can either book a chalet or stay at the campingsite. Since 2002 six new wilderness camps (Kalahari tented camp, Bitterpan, Grootkolk, Kieliekrankie, Gharagab and Urikaruus) have been build in the park. These wilderness camps are not fenced and do not offer facilities like a shop, drinking water or a petrol station.

Where to stay in the park

I've stayed overnight in all three main restcamps and in four of the wilderness camps (Grootkolk, Kieliekrankie, Urikaruus and Kalahari tented camp). All the camps offer good accommodation, but I personally like Urikaruus the best because of the relaxed atmosphere there. The huts and cottages I've stayed in were excellent. They were clean, well equipped and generally pleasant to stay in. Use the links on the left of this page for details on the restcamps.

What should you bring to the park

All the restcamps offer a shop where you can buy souvenirs, soft drinks, beer, wine, canned food, meat (if you're lucky) and bread (if you're very lucky) but prices are relatively high and the choice you have is limited. You won't find any fresh vegetables in the shops so take those with you when you go to the park. I'd recommend to bring all the food for your trip with you to the park. You can do your shopping at the Pick 'n Pay supermarket in Upington before driving the last 260km to the park. The only restcamp that offers a restaurant is Twee Rivieren, in the other restcamps you'll have to prepare food yourself.

Facilities you can expect in the restcamps

You can get petrol and diesel in all the restcamps. Only Twee Rivieren restcamp accepts credit cards, all the other camps only accept cash payments. There is an ATM in Twee Rivieren but I'd recommend bringing money to the park just to be sure. Twee Rivieren is also the only camp that has cell reception.

Booking your stay

Make sure you book your stay in the Kgalagadi Transfrontier Park well in advance of your trip. The number of people that can be accommodated in the park is very limited, so don't assume that you'll be able to book a chalet on arrival. You can book your stay in the park through the National Parks website (http://www.sanparks.org).