Luxury sleeping cars are usually a pleasant way to travel overnight from one city to another, but in South Africa’s Kruger National Park they’re permanently parked on a bridge and serving as a hotel.
The Kruger Shalati hotel includes 24 luxury sleeping rooms with views along the Sabie River and seven more ‘Bridge House’ rooms at the bridge approach. The onboard rooms have been fitted with glass walls for view, and with local artist-made decorations. The bridge has walkways for access to the train.
The location marks the spot where, in the 1920s, trains carrying the earliest Kruger tourists would stop for the night, safe on the bridge from the local large animals. Today’s version includes amenities not available then, including a swimming pool cantilevered over the edge of the valley.
