On our recent trip to the Kruger National Park, we stayed at Satara Rest Camp, we usually like staying at Tamboti or Lower Sabie, but accommodation came available at Satara and we decided to stay there as we hadn’t stayed there in over 2 years.
The area around Satara is our favorite for game viewing because you have the opportunity to see the big 6 (lion, leopard, buffalo, elephant, wild dog and cheetah) all in one day, therefore we were so excited to stay at Satara.
We were disappointed when we stayed there because the camp has become so dilapidated. As we drove into the camp to check in, we noticed the exterior portion of camp is terribly unkempt, the grass was over grown and it looked like it hasn’t been maintained in awhile.
After checking in we tried to go eat at the restaurant but there was no restaurant available, the previous time we stayed there the Mugg and Bean & Debonairs pizza was well functioning but since then Sanparks had cancelled the contract with the franchise and had put another restaurant by the picnic area called Tindlovu, but we didn’t find about this restaurant until a few days later. It’s disappointing that the staff didn’t inform us when we checked in and the restaurant wasn’t advertised anywhere. We have eaten at the Tindlovu restaurant at Afsaal and the food has always good.
Our next big issue was the public toilets close to the restaurant, I have a problem with the public toilets at ALL the big camps at KNP because they usually unclean, ill-smelling and are commonly missing toilet paper or hand towels to dry your hands, while all the smaller camps like Tshokwane have the cleanest and well looked after lavatory and shop, and I know it’s because it’s not as busy as the bigger camps, but management should plan accordingly and provide more staff for the busier and popular camps.
Regardless of the exterior of the camp the actual accommodation was great, the room was serviced daily, and the cleaning staff was always friendly, and the kitchen in our unit was not missing any utensils. The camp was quiet and relaxing which is what we love the most about the Kruger and the resident African wildcat came to visit us on two occasions (we struggled to get good pictures of it)
We hope that Sanparks will rectify this situation, our opinion is that they only focusing on making Skukuza a success at the moment with the upcoming hotel and the spa that has just opened, hopefully they realize that the other big camps also need the extra attention and a revamp.
Let us know what your thoughts of your last visit.
*Images of camp are copyright of its original author (Evelyn Visage)