Traversing rights, explained

Why two lodges in the same reserve can offer very different game drives, and what the published numbers actually say.

3 min read · Checked October 2026 · 17 sources

What the term means

In the Greater Kruger's private reserves, land is owned in sections. A lodge's traversing rights are the parts of that land its guides are allowed to drive on. Two lodges a few kilometres apart can have very different areas to explore, depending on which properties they have agreements with.

This matters because a larger traversing area gives guides more room to follow animals and more options for avoiding other vehicles. In Kruger National Park itself, the rules are different: SANParks requires that vehicles “must remain on the designated roads at all times”, and off-road driving is a serious offence.

Private reserves set their own rules

Londolozi explains that a private reserve is not governed by one set of national-park rules: there are “no blanket rules that govern the way in which a safari can be conducted on the land” beyond what the landowners agree. Londolozi says it has a maximum of 15 vehicles out on a game drive at any one time, which it puts at about 1,000 hectares per vehicle (source).

Rules on off-road driving and vehicles per sighting are set by each reserve and its landowners. Ask your lodge how it works on its land.

Published traversing areas

These are the lodges on Safari Shortlist whose traversing or concession area is stated by a source. Some figures are for a whole concession that several camps share.

Lodge	Reserve	Area	Note
Pafuri Tented Camp	Kruger National Park	≈ 24,000 ha	The Makuleke region, shared with The Outpost source
The Outpost	Kruger National Park	≈ 24,000 ha	The Makuleke region, shared with Pafuri Camp source
Motswari Private Game Reserve	Timbavati	≈ 15,000 ha	Stated as 150 km² source
Lukimbi Safari Lodge	Kruger National Park	≈ 15,000 ha	Lukimbi's private concession source
Shishangeni Private Lodge	Kruger National Park	≈ 15,000 ha	source
Londolozi Varty Camp	Sabi Sand	≈ 14,000 ha	source
Londolozi Tree Camp	Sabi Sand	≈ 14,000 ha	source
Londolozi Founders Camp	Sabi Sand	≈ 14,000 ha	Londolozi's concession source
Londolozi Pioneer Camp	Sabi Sand	≈ 14,000 ha	Londolozi's concession source
Londolozi Private Granite Suites	Sabi Sand	≈ 14,000 ha	Londolozi's concession source
MalaMala Camp	Sabi Sand	≈ 13,500 ha	Includes about 27 km of Sand River frontage source
Ulusaba Rock Lodge	Sabi Sand	≈ 13,500 ha	Stated as more than 13,500 ha source
Ulusaba Safari Lodge	Sabi Sand	≈ 13,500 ha	Shared with Ulusaba Rock Lodge source
MalaMala Sable Camp	Sabi Sand	≈ 13,500 ha	MalaMala Game Reserve source
MalaMala Rattray's Camp	Sabi Sand	≈ 13,500 ha	MalaMala Game Reserve source
Singita Lebombo Lodge	Kruger National Park	≈ 13,350 ha	Stated as 33,000 acres; shared with Singita Sweni source
Singita Sweni Lodge	Kruger National Park	≈ 13,350 ha	Stated as 33,000 acres; shared with Singita Lebombo source
Pondoro Game Lodge	Balule	≈ 12,140 ha	Stated as 30,000 acres source
Plains Camp (Rhino Walking Safaris)	Kruger National Park	≈ 12,000 ha	Rhino Walking Safaris concession source
Kings Camp	Timbavati	≈ 10,000 ha	source
Imbali Safari Lodge	Kruger National Park	≈ 10,000 ha	Mluwati concession, shared by three lodges source
Hoyo Hoyo Safari Lodge	Kruger National Park	≈ 10,000 ha	Mluwati concession, shared by three lodges source
Hamiltons Tented Camp	Kruger National Park	≈ 10,000 ha	Mluwati concession, shared by three lodges source
Dulini Leadwood Lodge	Sabi Sand	≈ 7,500 ha	Shared by the three Dulini lodges source
Jock Safari Lodge	Kruger National Park	≈ 6,000 ha	Exclusive traversing source
Sabi Sabi Bush Lodge	Sabi Sand	≈ 5,400 ha	source
Sabi Sabi Selati Camp	Sabi Sand	≈ 5,400 ha	source
Sabi Sabi Little Bush Camp	Sabi Sand	≈ 5,400 ha	source
Sabi Sabi Earth Lodge	Sabi Sand	≈ 5,400 ha	source
Lion Sands Tinga Lodge	Kruger National Park	≈ 5,000 ha	Shared with Narina Lodge source
Lion Sands Narina Lodge	Kruger National Park	≈ 5,000 ha	Shared with Tinga Lodge source

For the other 124 private-reserve lodges, we couldn't find a published figure, so their pages show the reserve size instead and say so. We'd rather show “not published” than guess.

How to use it

Compare like with like. A 5,000-hectare concession inside Kruger is a different thing from a lodge that shares traversing across a 53,000-hectare reserve.
Ask about shared traversing. In reserves such as the Timbavati and Klaserie, several lodges can drive the same land.
Filter for it. In search, the “10,000 ha+ traversing” filter shows lodges with a published figure of at least that size, and Safari match can use it as a criterion.