Find a lodge or camp
From a rest-camp bungalow at the price of a city hotel to a private lodge where the price includes everything. Where you sleep decides the budget more than anything else.
There are three kinds of safari bed. National park rest camps (SANParks in South Africa, NWR in Namibia) are self-catering, fenced, inexpensive and book directly through the park authority, often a year ahead for school holidays. Lodges and guesthouses outside the gates are hotels with a safari theme: book them like any hotel. Private lodges and tented camps inside reserves are all-inclusive, with two guided drives a day, meals and often drinks in the price; they are the ones you book through a specialist or directly with the lodge.
What to check before you book
- Inside or outside the park? Inside means sunrise drives before the gates open and nights with lions calling. Outside is cheaper and often more comfortable. Both work; know which you are buying.
- What the rate includes. Private lodges: drives, meals, park fees, drinks, laundry, transfers? Ask. The headline rate is rarely the whole bill.
- Fenced or unfenced. Unfenced camps are the real bush and need an escort after dark. With young children, fenced is easier.
- Malaria. Madikwe, Pilanesberg, Addo and the Eastern Cape reserves are malaria-free; Kruger and everything north is not. Decide this before you fall in love with a lodge.
- Cancellation and deposits. Hotel platforms often allow free cancellation. Private lodges rarely do beyond 60 days. Insure the deposit.
- Reviews that mention the guides. At a private lodge the guide is the product. If reviews rave about the pool and never mention the guiding, keep looking.
Where we book
Private lodges and tented camps inside the reserves are best booked through a safari specialist, who holds the rooms, the transfers and the flights under one booking: we use Go2Africa for those. Park rest camps book directly and more cheaply with SANParks (South Africa) or NWR (Namibia). For ordinary hotels and guesthouses in the gateway towns, use whichever booking site you normally would; we are adding a comparison partner for those shortly.
Checked October 2026. Entry rules, fees and seasons change; confirm with official sources before you book.
