Thanda Tented Camp

A truly African experience goes beyond the five senses. It’s felt. An early morning or late afternoon game drive safari is the best way to absorb the sights, smells and sounds of Africa. Encounter the Big Five (lion, leopard, rhino, elephant and buffalo): the animals that inspire a long-lasting connection with the continent. And, once you’ve found them, go looking for Africa’s other famous five – the Little Five (elephant shrew, rhino beetle, leopard tortoise, ant lion and buffalo weaver).

Thanda’s guides and trackers are experts in the circle of life, and how it spins both slowly and frenetically in the African bush. They will offer you wildlife lessons from their own cultures and knowledge. They will tell stories and share anecdotes. They will explain, inform, educate and then sit back and let you fall in love with the wild in your own way.

With 14 000 hectares to explore, you’ll see diverse wildlife including cheetah, hyena, warthog and the occasional wild dog, as well as abundant bird and plant life.What is more, it’s all exclusively yours. Thanda is a private game reserve and our dedicated staff members are the only people you’ll encounter on the roads while you’re here.

Aside from our big game, Thanda is home to a rich variety of bird and insect life, flora and fauna as well as smaller mammals, and a walk in the bush is the best way to track them. It’s also a special kind of meditation, one that will immerse you in a sensory experience of Africa. Thanda’s guides and trackers are expert companions. With extensive knowledge of flora and fauna, animal spoor and animal tracking – not to mention many personal anecdotes from their own villages, tribal elders and families – they’ll teach you about the smaller, but no less impressive, aspects of the bush and its secrets.

Thanda Tented Camp offers a relaxed and real safari experience. It comprises 14 spacious tents, each with a private sun deck and en-suite canvas bathroom. In addition the 15th tent, the Jabula Tent, is particularly suited to bridal couples, honeymooners, families and those seeking extra beautiful accommodation for special occasions.

To add to the genuine bush atmosphere, the camp is non-electrified. However, it does have limited solar and battery power with a back-up generator to power the tents for a few hours each day. To deter wild animals, there is a partial electrified fence along the perimeter of Thanda Tented Camp.

Within Thanda Tented Camp you will encounter minimal lighting and no artifice, with beautiful nature and jaw-dropping scenery enhanced by flickering firelight from the boma and warm paraffin lanterns to guide your feet along the walkway.

This is the bush as nature intended: open, inviting, unconstrained. So if you’re the kind of traveler who values the genuine over the glorified; reality over richness, this is where you want to be. You will encounter unparalleled closeness to the bush and its sounds; unspoilt views of the night’s millions of stars; and absolute authenticity.

The camp’s shared areas include a reception area, a curio shop, a recently refurbished Hemingway-style lounge area, a dining area featuring authentic African curios, a large rim-flow pool surrounded by loungers and umbrellas, a new waterhole to entice large and small game, and a new boma – all decorated in rustic natural shades and complemented by the rich, warm hues of the African sunset.