Tripadvisor gives a Travellers’ Choice award to accommodations, attractions and restaurants that consistently earn great reviews from travellers and are ranked within the top 10% of properties on Tripadvisor.
Tripadvisor gives a Travellers’ Choice award to accommodations, attractions and restaurants that consistently earn great reviews from travellers and are ranked within the top 10% of properties on Tripadvisor.
Pafuri Camp is situated in the Makuleke Concession of the Northern Kruger National Park. This comfortable camp has 19 luxury tents with en-suite bathrooms. There are seven ‘family tents' that sleep up to four persons, making this a 52-bed camp. The tents offer gorgeous views over the Luvuvhu River, there is also a communal area with a swimming pool – for those balmy days when you need to cool off.
Star ratings are intended to indicate the general level of features, amenities, and services to expect. This property is classified according to Giata.
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The Pafuri Collection receives high accolades for its exceptional service, with guests consistently feeling valued by the attentive and knowledgeable staff. Nestled in a picturesque riverside setting favored by bird watchers, the hotel's atmosphere and amenities are celebrated for their luxury and unique connection to nature.
While the camp's experiences are seen as providing good value, some travelers suggest it may not cater as well to vegetarians or those primarily seeking the big five. The rooms, with their elegant decor and stunning river views, are often highlighted as surpassing guests' expectations.
Location
Picturesque
Atmosphere
Elegant
Rooms
Tasteful
Value
Expensive
Service
Attentive
Amenities
World-class
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I cannot talk highly enough about the place, the people and the experience we had here at Pafuri. It was truly an unforgettable experience from the accommodation to the friendly staff to the drives seeing all the wildlife and biodiversity the Makuleke Contractual Park have to offer - truly and wonderfully magical. Highly recommend!
The rooms were wonderfully styled, comfortable with great views. Lovely outdoor shower with hot water. Fresh water every day and mosquito nets helped a lot. Housekeeping every day meant the room was so inviting each time we came back from our game drives (morning and evening).
Considering you are out in the open where any animal friend could come in and say hi, we felt incredibly safe with the staff guiding us back to our rooms each evening. They are very knowledgeable and we felt confident we were safe at all times.
Delicious and fresh food every day. Light meals and snacks offered throughout the day with a varied buffet for brunch and dinner (catering for vegetarians as well, plenty to eat).
Game drives and guides were amazing. We never knew what we'd be seeing every time we went out so that made it more exciting. Our guides were outstanding, the knowledge they have about the wildlife is incredibly impressive. We learnt about elephants to impalas, birds to butterflies - it was amazing. The staff elsewhere on the camp were incredibly helpful and friendly. Always felt welcomed and looked after to a high standard.
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Date of stay: November 2023
Value
Location
Service
Trip type: Travelled with friends
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
My wife and I stayed at the walk in camp in 2019 pre pandemic. On our next trip to ZAR 2023 we brought 3 friends with us and came back to the conession and Return Africa. This time to the walk in camp and Baobab Hill House. This was almost our entire time in Kruger. We love the less crowded, more open feel of the north. We love that the community benefits from the Return Africa business and 98% of staff are from the landowning community. The service and care and attention to detail is superior to the two higher end lodges we have stayed at in Kruger NP. And better at a lower cost. They make top class service affordable to people like us who can't pay for such top class places.
The wildlife viewing is superb. You go out looking for wildlife not knowing what you will see. I prefer this to chasing the leopard or going to the lion kill radioed in to the driver as happens more in the more densely populated southern parts of the park.
Birdlife is especially good with Northern and intra African migrants. So much to see beyond a few mega mammals and big 5.
Our guides have been uniformly excellent across two visits-- 8 in total. Each has a new twist and things to show, all have been great company.
The cooks are outstanding. Every meal down to snacks and risks a treat.
Baobab hill house is especially good for a leisurely stay with friends or family . Quiet, great views, star gazing, night sounds, lots of birds, etc. A really special place with great people.
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Review collected in partnership with this hotel
Date of stay: October 2023
Value
Rooms
Location
Cleanliness
Service
Sleep Quality
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Response from RETURN Africa, Owner at Return Africa - Pafuri Camp
Responded 05 Nov 2023
Thank you for your wonderful review of our RETURN Africa camps and bush house. We hope you will "come back for more" again sometime soon
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This tented lodge is a great base for birders who want to find the northern Kruger park ‘specials’ and who are prepared to pay for the privilege of being looked after by a very special team. We always find that attention to detail is a good differentiator between luxury safari providers and the team at the Pafuri Tented Camp, led by Enos, certainly deserved the 5 star rating we’ve given them. The team made us feel at home in a relaxed but smoothly run atmosphere. Everything worked well, from the easy check in, to the friendly care that was provided by every staff member we encountered.
Safari guides can make or break your holiday and our wonderful guide Zach certainly added a huge amount to our experience. The team knew we were birders, assigned us a guide who was an outstanding birder and it was a great match. We saw and photographed lots of birds!
The tents are lovely and well equipped to a high standard. The food was great and the portion sizes just right.
We highly recommend this camp.
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Date of stay: March 2024Trip type: Travelled as a couple
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Response from RETURN Africa, Owner at Return Africa - Pafuri Camp
Responded 06 May 2024
Pafuri is a birders paradise! We are so happy you were looked after by our team in Pafuri!
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At this price level everything should be about service and presentation (we stayed for two nights and payed 40k Rands). But the quality of the provided service AND food was poor and did not fulfill our expectations. Especially if you are a vegetarian we can’t recommend this camp. For a reasonable priced 2* lodge the level would be acceptable but not for the advertised 4* luxurious lodge we had to pay for.
Last not least: not everything was bad! The layout of the camp along the river is nice; the tents are not luxurious but comfortable; and the landscape (that’s why we came to this part of Kruger) is so beautiful!
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Date of stay: February 2024Trip type: Travelled as a couple
Room Tip:Â This is an overpriced tourist trap
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Response from RETURN Africa, Owner at Return Africa - Pafuri Camp
Responded 17 Mar 2024
We have acknowledged this review and have taken the necessary steps to resolve. We appreciate the positive feedback and internally investigated the criticisms. Mr Jirsa has requested no further engagement.
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Only facts: I have counted my money in the safe the day before departure. On the departure day I just took my money from the safe ( there were 2 wads of cash one in a bag, one in envelope with different amount of money) I recalculated my money only when I arrived home, both missing money! 1800 US Dollars in total. I would have assumed that I had miscounted, but not when money missing in both wads. Shame!
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Date of stay: January 2025Trip type: Travelled as a couple
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Response from RETURN Africa, Owner at Return Africa - Pafuri Camp
Responded 4 weeks ago
Dear Guest, Whilst we sincerely sympathise with your loss, we feel it fair to raise that in the 10 years since we started at Pafuri Camp this is the first time a loss has been reported from a room safe. Each safe is protected with a personalised passcode set by and only known to the guest. We feel it unreasonable to allege that the loss occurred at Pafuri when it was only discovered after your return to Moscow. Kindest regards, RETURN Africa
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We recently stayed at Pafuri Tented Camp and were very impressed with everything about it. From being collected at the airstrip by our guide Wiseman we couldn’t fault the camp. The staff at the Camp were so happy in their work environment. Nothing was too much trouble. They went out of their way to make our stay special. Enos, the manager and Moses and his team were exceptional. The food was absolutely delicious. Our tent was spacious and close to the main area which was great. Our guide Wiseman, who is the head guide, is extremely knowledgeable and was brilliant. One of the best run Camps/Lodges that we have stayed in and we have stayed in over 50 during our visits to Africa.
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Date of stay: November 2022
Value
Location
Service
Trip type: Travelled as a couple
Room Tip: Some of the rooms are a good long distance from the main area so if you don’t want a long walk...
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Response from Return Africa, Owner at Return Africa - Pafuri Camp
Responded 13 Nov 2022
Thank you for your wonderful review of Pafuri Tented Camp, we are so glad that you had such a happy stay with us. Our team are all wonderful and are a fundamental part of the camp
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It was our third stay in Pafuri, and yes, we now know the area well and yet the landscape in the north is uniquely beautiful.
We stayed there for 6 long nights and it was again a wonderful experience, even if it was sometimes really hot, which we would not have expected at this time of year. There was just one small criticism: in our tent 3 (great location) the windows could no longer be closed, the Velcro simply no longer holds.
Otherwise everything was perfect, the food was very good, the staff exceptionally friendly and our guide Andile (greetings from the 2 ladies from Austria) really did a great job. We were lucky that there were very few guests there, which made everything even more relaxed.
So all in all another very successful stay that we look back on fondly.
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Date of stay: September 2023
Value
Location
Service
Trip type: Travelled with friends
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
This response is the subjective opinion of the management representative and not of Tripadvisor LLC.
For Kruger regulars and SA locals, if you can it is worth paying extra to experience the access Pafuri offers - game drives on tap and access to the Thulamela archaeological site, authentically rooted in the Makuleke community's story. Always with some lovely snacks and drinks waiting. Definitely try this at least once.
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Date of stay: April 2024Trip type: Travelled with family
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Response from RETURN Africa, Owner at Return Africa - Pafuri Camp
Responded 05 Jun 2024
We agree. Pafuri should be on all travellers lists of places to visit!
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A wonderful 3 nights at Pafuri Tented Camp to celebrate our Anniversary. We cannot praise all the staff highly enough for their amazing attitude and attention to the smallest detail. Cyril, our very knowledgeable guide, took us on amazing safaris to view both animals and birds (a few "lifers"). Nothing is ever too much trouble for the staff at this amazing lodge. We will be back!
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Review collected in partnership with this hotel
Date of stay: November 2024
Value
Rooms
Location
Cleanliness
Service
Sleep Quality
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Response from RETURN Africa, Owner at Return Africa - Pafuri Camp
Responded 21 Nov 2024
We don't think there is a better way to celebrate an anniversary than to be immersed in the truly wild Makuleke Contractual Park. Thank you for choosing us to celebrate with. A few new lifers are excellent, but a green season visit when the migrants arrive and swell our list of birds to over 450 should be on your plans for your RETURN trip. :)
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Pafuri Tented Camp is a bit off the normal tourist route, but definitely worth the effort getting there. The staff, attention to detail and tasteful way everything is put together is special. The food well prepared and tasty and whilst it isn't fine dining, it is very thoughtfully put together and there is a fair amount of creativity in what is served. The staff makes this place even more special with each of them being personally tied into the stories that are the history of the land. Their warmth and welcoming nature just makes it so comfortable and the way they tend to your needs is subtle and unobtrusive but no one misses a beat.
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Review collected in partnership with this hotel
Date of stay: October 2024
Value
Rooms
Location
Cleanliness
Service
Sleep Quality
Trip type: Travelled on business
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Response from RETURN Africa, Owner at Return Africa - Pafuri Camp
Responded 21 Nov 2024
Thank you for the review. And our people truly make the experience. Each has their own unique story!
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Hi, All of the rooms have equally beautiful views of the Luvvuhu River. We are able to keep anything that needs to be kept frozen in our walk-in freezer - we cannot run an extension lead.
Good day, apologies for our delayed response. It is very warm with a slim potential for rain over the period. We offer fans in the rooms, and a swimming pool to help with the heat.
Cape Town Central, South Africa46 contributions6 helpful votes
Hi Linda
Yes we also travelled with a fridge in our vehicle. We switched ours off during the time there Linda, as they provided everything and we made sure that we did not have anything which can spoil in the fridge.
But it is such a fabulous place, pse go and you will see, you won't regret it..
There are more places to choose from in the Bende Mutale area.
PRICE RANGE
RÂ 13,865 - RÂ 16,807 (Based on Average Rates for a Standard Room)
ALSO KNOWN AS
pafuri camp hotel kruger national park
FORMERLY KNOWN AS
Wilderness Adventures Pafuri Camp
LOCATION
South AfricaLimpopo ProvinceBende Mutale
NUMBER OF ROOMS
19
Prices are provided by our partners, and reflect average nightly room rates, including taxes and fees that are fixed, known to our partners, and due at time of booking. Please see our partners for more details.
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