Napi Wilderness Trail

About Napi Wilderness Trail

Start: Pretoriuskop, Kruger National Park (the camp is midway between Skukuza and Pretoriuskop)
Finish: Pretoriuskop
Duration: 3 days, 2 nights
Fitness: you need to be fit enough to manage 2 hikes a day (the evening one is gentler), but most of it is on the flat at a leisurely pace, and you don't need to be super fit
Our tip: These trails are best booked directly through SANParks central reservations

If you want to know the difference between the white and black rhino, spot badgers, herds of buffalo, giraffe and antelope, discover why zebra are always fat and see webs of communal spiders, as big as soccer balls, that suck the juice of their prey without eating them, this is the camp for you. You may even find the odd mongoose paying a visit to the camp.

The Napi campsite is a little more modern than the other wilderness trails (the only en suite tents in the park) as it was recently upgraded in the aftermath of a fire. Overlooking the Biyamiti River, camp is blissful in its own right, even without the day walks and bush drives into the surrounding granitic landscape.

There are two rivers in the area, attracting animals to drink under the large trees along their banks. But one is not dependent on the rivers for game sightings. Bigger game comes down to the seasonal pans in the area, particularly black and white rhino.

Black rhinos are browsers, eating mostly from trees and bushes in the park, whilst white rhinos are grazers. The two live exclusively, never interfering with one another, but marking their territory with dung, by walking it into the base of their feet and distributing it around their territory so that never the twain shall meet.

The guides are incredibly knowledgeable. You may get to know weeping wattle, more commonly known as Kruger park toilet paper, for its usefulness in cases of emergency. And should you forget your toothbrush, the guides will quickly produce a natural alternative – the magic guarri tree.

Your average day: an early wake with a cup of coffee, followed by a bush walk for four to five hours. Lunch back at camp, followed by a short rest, and then an evening walk and sundowners before supper.

Remember: drinking water, comfortable clothing (including warm things for early mornings) in neutral colours, sun protection, a hat, shoes that have thick soles and good ankle support, cameras, binoculars, walking sticks, a good quality torch, mosquito repellent.