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Lowveld guide
Three nights: Kruger, the Panorama Route and time to stop
Three nights works very well
You can see Kruger. You can see the Panorama Route. And you can still have enough time to remember that you booked a holiday.
The important thing is not trying to add too much. This is how we would spend three nights at The Zarafa.
Day one: arrive and stop moving
Do not book an activity for the afternoon you arrive unless there is a very good reason.
Come to The Zarafa. Let us show you your villa. Put the suitcase down. Open the doors. Get into the pool.
If you have travelled from Johannesburg or spent the morning dealing with airports, doing absolutely nothing for a few hours is not a waste of the day. It may be the best use of it.
Then get ready for dinner. The menu changes each evening and dinner is five courses, so you do not need another plan afterwards.
Day two: Kruger
Go early.
Phabeni Gate is 17 km from The Zarafa, so a safari does not require moving accommodation or spending half the morning getting there.
If it is your first visit to Kruger, we would book a guided Kruger safari. Let somebody else drive. You can watch the bush. If somebody spots a leopard in a tree, you can look at the leopard rather than trying to pull off the road without hitting anything.
Choose a half day if you want the afternoon back at the lodge. Choose a full day if Kruger is one of the main reasons for the trip.
Either way, come home afterwards. Have a shower. Get into the pool. There is something particularly nice about going from an open safari vehicle to your own private pool within half an hour.
Dinner will be waiting later.
Day three: the Panorama Route
The next morning, go in the other direction, to the other side of what the Lowveld offers. The landscape changes completely.
Kruger is bushveld, wildlife and watching carefully. The Panorama Route is mountains, forest, waterfalls and views that require very little searching.
You can include God’s Window, a waterfall or two, Bourke’s Luck Potholes and the Three Rondavels overlooking Blyde River Canyon.
Do not try to fit in every named stop. You will enjoy four good places more than nine rushed ones.
Have lunch somewhere along the route. Take your time at the canyon. We can arrange the day privately if you would rather not drive.
Then come back to The Zarafa for your final evening. If you are celebrating something, this is a lovely night to arrange private dining. It is also perfectly acceptable to arrange private dining because it is Wednesday.
Day four: keep the morning
Unless your flight forces you to leave early, do not.
Have breakfast. Have another coffee. Swim once more. Pack afterwards.
Travelling in South Africa often creates the urge to use every morning to get to the next place as quickly as possible. Sometimes that is necessary. Sometimes it is just habit.
If you can keep the last hour, keep it.
Why we like this itinerary
Because it has three parts: Kruger, the Panorama Route and The Zarafa. They are completely different.
One day you are staring into the bush trying to decide whether that shape under a tree has ears. The next you are looking across Blyde River Canyon. And between the two, you have somewhere worth coming back to.
Three nights is just enough to do all of that without turning the Lowveld into a race.
Written by The Zarafa, Hazyview. Last reviewed 9 September 2026. We live twenty minutes from Phabeni Gate, so everything here is what we would tell a guest who asked by email. Park times, fees and flight schedules change, so check SANParks for anything time-sensitive.