Pafuri Tented Camp

Important Note: Due to flooding in the area, Pafuri Tented Camp, is temporarily closed until 31 May 2026.

Pafuri Tented Camp is situated between the Limpopo and the Luvuvhu Rivers in the northern sector of the Kruger National Park, in a 24,000-hectare area called the Pafuri or the Makuleke. This area is the ancestral home of the Makuleke people and is one of the most diverse and scenically attractive areas in the Kruger National Park.

This area is certainly the wildest and most remote part of the Park and offers varied vegetation, great game viewing, the best birding in all of the Kruger, and is filled with folklore of the early explorers and ancient civilisations. It is well known for its fever tree forests, beautiful gorges and Crook’s Corner, where the Limpopo and Luvuvhu rivers and three countries, Zimbabwe, South Africa and Mozambique, meet. The region is considered one of Kruger's biodiversity hotspots, with some of the largest herds of elephant and buffalo, leopard and lion and incredibly prolific birdlife.

Pafuri Camp is the only camp accessible to self-drivers in the extreme northern sector of the Kruger Park. Being so different from the rest of the Park, it complements the scenery and experience offered at the lodges in the southern Kruger and the Sabi Sands.

Accommodation consists of 19 luxury tents (including seven family tents for up to four people), each with en-suite bathroom facilities. The tented rooms all look out over the Luvuvhu River; guests can sit on their decks and watch for elephant, nyala, waterbuck or bushbuck coming down to drink - to name but a few!

Activities in the Makuleke / Pafuri area are extremely varied and interesting. Game drives in open 4x4 vehicles, guided walks and fly-fishing are all part of the range of activities that are on offer. One of the most important aspects of this area is its paleo-anthropological history, with its plethora of evidence of early human ancestors stretching back some 2 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 that found in the Great Zimbabwe. Throughout the concession, there is evidence of its human inhabitants, in the form of rock paintings and artifacts - under many a baobab are Stone Age hand tools, such as hand axes, to be found.

About Pafuri / Makuleke Concession

The Pafuri area is one of the few true wilderness areas left in South Africa. Large herds of elephant occupy the area during the dry season while several herds of buffalo are resident. There are resident prides of lion and the Luvuvhu riparian system supports a healthy population of leopard. A small white rhino population also exists. The area is well-known for its strong nyala and eland population however as well as other regional specials like four-toed elephant shrew, Sharpe's grysbok and even a small herd of sable. On the easternmost boundary at "Crooks Corner" the Luvuvhu supports a large population of hippo and crocodile. The concession is widely regarded as one of the best birding areas in South Africa with specialties such as Pel's Fishing Owl, Black-throated Wattle-Eye, Three-banded Courser, Racket-Tailed Roller and Dickinson's Kestrel seen regularly.