Monday, April 13, 2026

Bushveld Dining with Style at The Kruger Gate Hotel

A very good breakfast and dinner are included in your stay at the Kruger Gate Hotel and they are both buffets,
so you have endless choices, which change every day. This is inside seating at the breakfast venue ... 


We preferred to sit outside on the terrace with views

You may sit inside if you prefer

The choices are vast, fresh in-season fruit, dairy, cereals, yogurts, fruit juices, if you can imagine it, they seem to supply it
It is so fresh and tempting. We tried to be careful and did not put on much weight despite the temptations 

If you prefer a Continental breakfast, this station is for you, from smoked trout to various cold meats, pickles
Behind that is the cereal and muesli bar and you can ask for porridge if you would like some

Cheeses, biscuits, avocado purée, and so much more 

Croissants, doughnuts, many different sweet pastries, pancakes, waffles... so much choice 

And an expert on egg cookery. We had omelettes, poached eggs, and saw people having full English Breakfasts

Those wicket iced doughnuts

A toast station with many different bread options, and more pastries

More choices on this side, with jams and preserves, sauces, many different breads
We have to confess we ate very sparingly so as not to overdo but you certainly can, the choice is yours
We stuck mainly to our normal breakfast of fruit, and eggs for protein, with a tiny splurge every day   


and then at about 7 in the evening, we went to dinner, which is served in the Lapa

One evening, a different guest appeared over the lapa wall. A very cute Bush Baby







We preferred to walk the length of the main buffet stations to see what was for dinner each evening,
to choose which main course we might have, before we chose our starters

A station near our table with freshly made Braaibroodjies and S'mores toasted on an open fire

Cheese, onion and chutney are the traditional fillings, served warm off the braai

At this section there is almost anything you might want to start your meal with,
some lovely temptations, and they change every evening

Salads and preserves

Breads and rolls

Cheeses, biscuits  and stewed fruit


and, on the other side of this room, is the very delicious and varied dessert section.

Very good presentation and delicious cakes, pastries and wickedly good individual desserts

How to choose?  Some had more than one

Temptation and sensible choices

Ice cream was tempting in the 40º heat

Off to the main buffet, you could have vegetarian choices, soup, fish, and different vegetable choices each evening,
even a stir fry section. Friendly staff to help one choose, this station was cooked meats 

The chef who cooked on the grill, here doing barbeque chicken

and each night, a roast

Another night, another choice

Surrounded by roasted vegetables

Chef was generous with portions and there was good gravy

Traditional South African boerewors

A very good Cape Malay prawn and calamari curry which Lynne tried

Fresh fish

and even a pasta station 

Beef samosas

and lots of salads

These were besides the vegetables being served on the main buffet 

Another starter choice

The wine list had some wines we know and we bought the familiar Simonsig Chenin Blanc

 and a bottle of Franschhoek Cellar Merlot,
which enabled us to have a wine that suited whatever we chose from the buffet

A fire in the centre of the Lapa with some well-directed smoke helps to keep the biting insects at bay

and the Lapa has its own Troubadour who wanders around singing to the guests

He knows his music

Another choice on the menu, Friars Cove Sauvignon Blanc

People eating, choosing and chatting; dress is informal, so no need to dress up

Good friendly staff keep your table cleared and questions answered

Our favourite staff member on the right who welcomed us each night with another member of staff and a happy Lynne

You can also have a dinner à deux with a special menu in one of these river view pods

Good highlighting  on the surroundings, so you can spot any game that might be about

We were invited to have the special Private dinner, which we accepted gratefully
It was held in this larger river view pod
Lynne joked that if you have security staff they could be placed at this long table.  Or your large family...

Ours was set back and we had Sommelier and Butler Lawrence and two other very pleasant staff serve us

Good table layout


A glass of our Simonsig Chenin Blanc

The Menu, which we were sent before we arrived, so we could make our choices

Tea lights


Sous chef Yanga Dywit prepared our meal specially

Popcorn cauliflower was the amuse bouche coated in a crisp batter, topped with Parmesan cheese and miso honey

We both made the same choice of starter was the Prawn Canneloni (not pasta, it is made with a prawn mousse
It was filled with prawns and avocado mousse and served with tempura coated mussels. Innovative and very enjoyable

Lawrence explains the food to us


Lynne's choice of mains was the herb crusted Kingklip
served on a pave of sweet Potato, roasted baby beets, a citrus cauliflower mousse
Good fresh fish all this way from the ocean and a very good dish

John had the tender beef fillet (as ordered, without mushrooms!)
a wedge of roasted butternut, crisp broccoli and a citrus mustard butter

Accompanied by a glass of Bellingham Bernard Series 2021 Bush vine Pinotage
The wine was full of layered fruit and very good with the beef 

Dessert for Lynne was an absolutely deliciously crisp brandy snap filled with brandy flavoured cream, a chocolate spoon and seated on cream, custard and berry jelly

John's was a plate of chocolate delights with a caramel ice cream and berries




All the stories we have produced since 2012
can be opened from the archive list near the top of the column on the right of this page

A wonderful week at the Kruger Gate Hotel, Kruger National Park

We flew with Lift airline (very efficient and comfortable) and spent the weekend with family and friends in Johannesburg
We collected our rental car, a VW Polo automatic, in Sandton
and set off on the 440 Km ride to the Kruger Gate Hotel on the edge of the Kruger National Park

stopping at Milly's, near Dullstroom, for lunch

Millys is a part of very popular Trout farming enterprise
that has developed into a whole stopping area of its own, about half way to the Kruger Park
Not only are there a restaurant and café, but a shop selling trout in many guises and other products
You can fish and catch your own and even stay in their accommodation

There were many people of all nations having lunch; tour guides obviously have this as a lunch stop

The menu is very varied and you don't have to like trout. They do breakfast as well
We hear that Millys Famous Trout Pie is delicious  
So many choices of trout, so we opted to order the trout platter and enjoyed it very much
 You might recognise some of the products if you  shop at Woolworths

MILLYS SMOKED TROUT PLATTER at R275 (serves two)
A selection of two kinds of smoked trout fillet, roulade and pâté, with a fresh green salad, coleslaw, croutons, dill mustard sauce and home baked bread



You can buy trout fresh or frozen - or many other different products

Another couple of hours through the very varied countryside got us to the hotel
You drive through the  Highveld, the coal mining area, with many large coal trucks,
the Lowveld and some very pretty mountain areas
Luckily most of the road is double carriageway, so not too many delays on our trip
And then a long, dreary 20 Km drive at a speed-limited 60 Km/h through Hazyview before reaching the hotel

The Kruger Gate Hotel is about 500m from the entry gate to the Kruger Park

The entrance corridor leads to the reception area 

with very welcoming staff who checked us in and took us to our room
The hotel is mostly made of wood and is built over wildness, so you might encounter animals on the way
Not very wild ones; they are used to people moving amongst them. You need to be vigilant.

A large shop full of things you might need or want to buy

The coffee shop

and a shop selling high end Kruger Gate hats, bags and clothes; very covetable, in case you left yours at home

Hotel Manager Miguel Farinha with Executive Chef Burton Leo welcomed us
Sarah Watson, Guest Relations Manager, was also very friendly and helpful

Nkateko, who was our very friendly and helpful butler for the duration of our stay

and we had lots of chats about wine over dinner with Sommelier and Butler, Lawrence Moyo

Our room was light and airy and very comfortable

When we opened the curtains and went out on our patio, these two bushbuck ewes were grazing on the grass

Later in the week, we had a family of warthogs here too






Lots of roomy cupboards and case storage near the door. The room has a fan and air conditioning

and a very comfortable seating area with a complimentary welcome platter and a bottle of wine

You can watch TV from the bed
... we never turned it on; there was so much to see during the day 
and after dinner we usually collapsed into bed with our books

A compact but very functional bathroom, well supplied and with a separate toilet

The hotel is on the bank of the Sabie River and we walked around to discover what the view was like Superb

Thee are many wooden walkways to get you from a to b and c to z.  Any animals are below on the ground

 apart from the occasional monkey, which is chased with a catapult if it becomes a nuisance

There is a seating area where you can relax, have a drink

and a snack or a pizza overlooking the river,

enjoy a drink

a beer, a coffee or a juice, or something stronger





Monkeys on the roof of one of the private dining lapas



and a large rim pool which Lynne tried out. Swimming lengths and watching for game...

where we sat and enjoyed sundowners of Sauvignon blanc for John and an enormous G&T for Lynne. Those glasses are as big as a swimming pool. Just go easy on the ice, gin doesnt like being diluted much...

Two other swimming pools; the smaller one for children

A comfortable bar near the reception area

with indoor and outdoor seating

Love the woven lamps

A quiet space outside the bar with a reading nook.


An evening view of the open verandah, where we had breakfast

This is the Lapa where dinner is served every evening (see our separate food story)

The well-lit path we walked from our room, just up those steps in the distance from the Lapa 

to reach our room, No. 438 - and so to bed



All the stories we have produced since 2012
can be opened from the archive list near the top of the column on the right of this page