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Our little family spent a few days there in May 2008, in tent 40, to say they were fantastic is an understatement! There were often Elephants in the dry river bed in the evening, the buffalo bulls love lying up on the edge of the reeds to the right of the camp during the day and every night we were literally woken up by the lions roaring and often had our 2 year old son joining us in bed at high speed when the male lions roared close by. On the last morning while having coffee and rusks a beautiful MGM Lion crossed the river bed about 70 metres away roaring as he went. You may get different but you wont get better. It is a great camp to relax and absorb your surroundings and it is large enough to go for a great family walk or even a run should you so wish. The road network is limited and i would suggest doing more relaxing and less driving when staying in Tamboti.

There are 10 luxury tents on the far end of camp , there it is also a bit quieter than in the standard tent section where there is more human activity from people going to the kitchens and ablution blocks and also car traffic towards the camp gate .

Yes there are. You have to book the ones with bathroom, kitchen, etc. They are very nice tents. Outside on verandah which overlooks (unfortunately, a dry river bed), but it is right next to the fence and you have your own shower and toilet plus fridge as well as a nice big double bed and a sleeper couch which you can pull out as another double bed (these couches are not that comfortable though). Please remember to take with mosquito repellent as they are a pest, but as long as you put some on your body and maybe some repellent next to the bed, you sleep ok. The tent is about half meter off the ground. Maybe 3 wooden steps onto the 'deck' with chairs which overlooks the river and inside tent is your fridge. Enjoy!!! PS. At sunset (if you are lucky like we were once, you see the baboons in a big jackalberry tree and also on this particular sunset evening, they were going crazy and out of nowhere came walking a leopard in the dry river bed).

Naomirsa is right on the sleeper couches. The are very uncomfortable. I didn't sleep on one, but my sister did. I laid down on it and I don't see how you could sleep on it. It's also very small. Might work for a little kid, but I wouldn't want to sleep on it as an adult.

Hello. Am traveling with my family to SA from the US in August and considering a night in Tamboti. Can you tell me if the standard Safari tents have electrical outlets? Need one for a medical device.

Thanks so much.

Hi AlanInPhilly

Yes the standard tents do have electrical points
Staying at Tamboti is a wonderful experience. Enjoy and don't forget to tell us about it

Can anyone offer some advice here? How far are the tents from the actual parking spaces and are there electrical plug points in the tents ? I am just staying over for one night, but need to plug in my small freezer. I was thinking of using an extention cord from the car to where ever there is a plug. Any advise will be appreciated ? Perhaps the communal kitchen, is there one ?

Hi Fatcat.

There are indeed plugs in the tents. I am not sure which tent you will be using, but I should think that the 20 metre extension should reach your car. Maybe take an extra one, just in case. The tents that I have stayed in, nos 6, 2, 10 and 11 have all had plugs close to the door next to the refrigerator.

There is a small secluded path between the parking and the tent, but I think the length of the path might differ from tent to tent. I do not think that it should be a problem though.

Seems in the excitement the size of the snake was somewhat over-judged....but a 1.2 meter Black Mamba is just as dangerous as a 3 meter one.
The snake was shot using a slingshot....very sad, but trust me, it is not a good idea to try and capture a Black Mamba that is cornered unless you have extensive snake handling experience...and one can also not expect others to put their lives on the line just because you do not want to see the snake killed.



Katja and nicolemeiring.....wishing you both a great visit ....apart from the snake scare my parents had a wonderful stay...I have to add that my parents have been attracting snakes during their holiday....3rd close encounter in 2 weeks .....Tamboti again delivered with the lions serenading them both nights...

Further to MM's post:

Hi there AlanInPhilly!

Herewith some directions for you from Orpen to O.T Tambo:

Exit Orpen gate and take the R351 towards Klaserie.
At T-junction turn right on the R40.
Turn immediately left on the R531.
Turn left on the R527 where you will be traveling through the Strijdom tunnel – very scenic.
Keep straight with that road towards Lydenburg. At this point the road will be the R36.
Go through Lydenburg and turn right on the R540 towards Dullstroom.
Go through Dullstroom and Belfast.
A few kilometers from Belfast you will reach the N4 highway.
Turn right (west) on the N4.
Pass Middelburg wherafter the highway splits.
Take the left (N12) towards Johannesburg.
Close to Johannesburg you will see the O.R Tambo Airport sign boards.

I hope this help and I hope the route numbers is still the same.

Other mites may have other routes as well…there are a few options!

We had 3 great nights in TAMBOTI (13,14 and 15 July 2009). We stayed in tent number 5. This is a 4 bed tent without a bathroom. It was wonderful. Herewith a few pictures of the tent:


A photo from the fence:


A view from the veranda:


The bird-hide:


A view from inside the bird-hide:


The fence of the camp from the gate. You can walk right around the camp on the inside!


A trap, without bait, to trap a dangerous animal in camp!

Hi mandiecandie5 and welcome to the forum

The communal kitchen provides hotwater, two plate cookers and washing up facilities. You will have to bring along any cooking utensils you might need if you are staying in the budget tents.

This is a beautiful camp you are going to love it. Hope you have a great time remember to tell us all about it

pics of our tent in tamboti...

Number 40




The bbq

Tent number 1



This is the only piece of river bed we saw.

Dear Marge

We had a four-bed tent in July and previous years and it was marvelous. In my opinion the view is awesome anywhere and everywhere in Tamboti... even if it is just a piece of small riverbed that peeps through... as in the photo that Roaneric has kindly posted. The tents are relatively secluded, as their are trees/foliage in between. However, because the camp is so secluded, sound travels fax. But we had well-behaved residents whilst we were there. No complaints.