Next stop, Kruger Shalati: The Train on the Bridge. This unique accomodation – once an operating train – has been refurbished into a luxury hotel.
Nearly 100 years ago the train would transport guests looking to explore Kruger National Park, South Africa.
The innovative hotel is permanently stationed on the Selati Bridge above the Sabie River and overlooks Kruger National Park in South Africa.
Kruger Shalati celebrates where the first visits to the national park took place in the early 1920s. The train would park overnight in the exact spot where the hotel sits today.
“The inspiration came from the historical bridge,” a hotel representative told Lonely Planet. “In the 1920s as the national park was declared, this was the only way you could visit as a guest – by train.”
“It was one of the most popular legs of the nine-day route that used to run on this line. We’ve taken the concept and given it a contemporary interpretation.”
The hotel offers 31 rooms, consisting of 24 carriage rooms with glass walls and infinite views along the lengths of the river. Seven bridge house rooms sit adjacent to the bridge and an overhanging swimming pool hovers over Sabie River below.
Inside the rooms the style is a celebration of African design in collaboration with local art and crafting skills.
If the hotel construction isn’t impressive enough for you, the surrounding Kruger National Park will fill your stay with wonder. The ‘Big Five’ (lions, buffalos, leopards, elephants and rhinos) can be spotted on safari. You can even spot some wildlife and birds from the comfort of your own room.
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