Shindzela Tented Camp

Shindzela is a small tented camp in the Timbavati, the private reserve that shares open borders with Kruger National Park. The name is the Shangaan word for the honey badger. It started in 2009 as a walking trails camp with small bow tents and has stayed fairly simple: canvas tents under thatch, solar power, no fence around camp. It sits at the more affordable end of Greater Kruger safaris, which is a big reason people book it.

What to expect

There are eight tents with a maximum of 16 guests, made up as twin or double. Each tent stands on a wooden deck and has a semi-open bathroom with a shower, toilet and basin. Don’t expect a plug point in the tent. The camp is solar-powered and you charge phones and cameras in the main area.

Rates include three meals a day (plated African food) and two activities, normally a game drive or a bush walk in the morning and a drive in the afternoon. Drinks are extra. There’s a swimming pool and a boma for dinner.

Practical details

• Phone: +27 82 307 9493, email res@shindzela.co.za.
• Drive in through the Timbavati (Enkhulu) gate. There is no way through from inside Kruger, even though Orpen gate looks close on a map, so leave Kruger, go back to the R40 and allow about two hours from Orpen to camp.
• Allow 50 minutes to an hour from the Timbavati gate to camp, and about 1 hour 15 to 1 hour 20 minutes from Hoedspruit’s Eastgate airport.
• Get to camp by 2pm at the latest. Lunch is around then and the afternoon drive leaves at 3.30pm to 4pm.
• Morning activities start very early, around 5am to 6am.

Good to know

The camp asks guests not to follow GPS and to use its written directions instead. From September to April, the rainy season, it recommends a high-clearance vehicle; an ordinary sedan is fine from May to August. The Timbavati charges a conservation levy on top of your stay, so ask about it when you book. The camp calls it a low-risk malaria area, but the Department of Health’s malaria map puts the Timbavati in its moderate-risk zone, where it advises antimalarial tablets from September to May, so see a travel clinic before you go.

Last updated 10 October 2026. Sources: Shindzela Tented Camp, Shindzela Tented Camp, Shindzela Tented Camp, Shindzela Tented Camp, about, Hoedspruit.co.za, National Department of Health, South African malaria risk map (on the NICD site, December 2025).