Nkula Walking Camp by RETURN Africa

Nkula offers an intimate walking safari in the heart of the Makuleke Contract Park, one of the most biologically diverse corners of the Greater Kruger. Designed for immersion with minimal impact, the camp sits beneath the cooling shade of majestic Natal mahogany trees in croton thickets on the banks of the Luvuvhu River. Four spacious two-man tents have en-suite bathrooms and outdoor bucket showers, and become your base as you explore on foot with seasoned field guides who read everything from great mammals to the faintest traces of flora, fauna and history.

Evenings are hot showers, good food, fireside stories and starry nights, with whooping hyena and the melody of nightjars for company. Walking safaris run from April to October.

RETURN Africa's concession lies in a vast triangle between the Limpopo and Luvuvhu rivers in the far north of the Kruger National Park, along South Africa's north-eastern frontier. The two great valleys embrace one of Africa's most spectacular landscapes: mountains and gorges in the west giving way to plains, pans, baobabs and fever tree forests in the east. The land is the Makuleke Contract Park, owned by the Makuleke community and managed in partnership with them, and RETURN Africa is a BirdLife South Africa partner.

The Makuleke Contract Park is a Ramsar wetland site and one of southern Africa's great birding destinations, with over 350 species recorded in the Pafuri region and more than 450 across the concession. Commonly seen specials include Black-throated Wattle-eye, African Yellow White-eye, Lemon-breasted Canary, Grey-headed Parrot, Mottled and Böhm's Spinetail and African Finfoot. The area is also known for Dickinson's Kestrel, Thick-billed Cuckoo, Pel's Fishing Owl, Orange-winged Pytilia, Racket-tailed Roller, Yellow-billed Oxpecker, White-backed Night Heron, Narina Trogon, Gorgeous Bushshrike, Arnot's Chat, Southern Crested Guineafowl, Three-banded Courser, African Pygmy Goose and Eastern Nicator. The birding hotspots are the Luvuvhu River, Lanner Gorge, Crooks Corner, the fever tree forest, the sandveld and the ana tree forest.

Guests check in at Pafuri Camp before transferring to the camp.