Tshokwane Trading Post & Picnic Site
About Tshokwane Trading Post & Picnic Site
The Tshokwane Trading Post & Picnic Site is a historic, concession-run rest stop situated along the H1-2 main road in the southern-central region of Kruger National Park, South Africa. Established originally as a ranger post in 1928 under the direction of the park's first warden, James Stevenson-Hamilton, the site is named after Chokwane, a local Shangaan chief and medicine man. Centered around a prominent, mature sausage tree that grows through a thatched canopy, the facility provides day visitors with an open-air dining area equipped with wooden picnic benches, a curio and souvenir shop, and public restroom facilities.
The on-site cafe sells regional food items, including venison pies, traditional roosterkoek cooked over open flames, and local snacks, while also offering skottel braai (gas frying pan) rentals for visitors wishing to cook their own meals. Because the site is unfenced and integrated into the natural environment, it is routinely frequented by local wildlife, particularly troops of vervet monkeys and baboons that scavenge for food around the picnic tables.