Where to find Kyleu Bush Camp

Kyleu Bush Camp is situated in the Dinokeng big 5 game reserve just north of Pretoria, Gauteng, to be exact, 43km from the Zambezi offramp on the N1.

Kyleu Bush Camp was established by Sherri and Devon Symon and is one of only a handful campsites that offer you a true bush experience with stands without any fencing. You can choose between one of the five exclusive bush camps further away from the river each with its own private ablution, or the 4 river stands without any facilities (no ablution/no water/no electricity/no braai facilities/no boma).

It is because of this, that Pieter and I decided to visit Kyleu from 20 to 24 March 2019. Knowing that the 21^st of March was a public holiday in South Africa, we both put in leave for the 22^nd and made this a well-deserved looooong weekend.

When making the reservation we asked for one of the river stands and was allocated campsite no 1 next to the river stream that runs through the area. Camping cost was R 110 per person per night.

Upon arrival at Kyleu we were greeted at the gate by a lady that spoke very little English, but her friendliness and super great smile, made up for that. We were ticked off on the guest list and given instructions how to get to our campsite.

Later that afternoon, we received a porta potty – which you can hire from Kyleu. Everyday our potty was collected by the staff and returned a few minutes later spotless clean. Kyleu provides you with a tent that you can put up around your porta potty if you don’t have any of your own – it is more private that way (if you know what I mean).

The first night was very quiet and we could listen to the jackal cries all around us. The sunsets are sublime and a real treat as well.

Kyleu has been operational for more than a year now. The reason Pieter and I wanted to come and check out the site, was merely because curiosity got the better of us. On the Bush Lapa Facebook page, someone posted photos of the lion in Dinokeng charging a Wildebeest, caught and killed it right in front of them – at stand nr 1, OUR STAND!

This immediately attracked out attention as we had lion encounters of our own in Mabuasehube (Botswana), but that was some time back. We hoped that we could see and experience this again.

You can order firewood beforehand and get these upon arrival. We are sticker junkies and were super impressed when Devon on email informed us that we can buy stickers from them as well.

Our campsite had a fire drum where we could make fire – but we never used it. It was too HOT in Dinokeng, and we did not really venture into making proper food. I can just imagine how this would work in winter though – bliss! The fire drums get cleaned every day.

At first we thought that we might hear our neighbors at the stand next to us, but that was not the case. You do however hear music and noise after sunset and later on during the night from the villages adjacent to the park, but this quiets down later on and did not bother us while sleeping. Talk about sleeping … yeah, we caught up on that, A LOT!On our first morning we got greeted by a herd of Zebra who came very close to our camping site. A real treat.

You are not allowed to drive around in the game reserve on your own without a self-drive permit. You can pre-book self-drive permits with Kyleu. The cost is R 250 for 1 day or R 380 for 2 days. The alternative is to book a game drive with the Kyleu Game Vehicle at R 175 per person for plus minus 2.5 hours.

Will we go again? For sure! This jewel makes for a super easy weekend breakaway where you get to enjoy the sunsets while listening to the soothing sounds of the abundant birdlife.

Well done Kyleu! All worth it.

Greetings

Pieter & Gerida

Landrovingafrica