The History of Hoedspruit

How Hoedspruit grew from a Lowveld railway siding into the gateway to the Greater Kruger - the people, the conservation story, and the town today.

Hoedspruit started as a Selati railway siding in the early 1900s, taking its name from the hoopoe bird (hoephoep) that nests in the marula trees. The SAAF Air Force Base opened in 1978, and the surrounding private Greater Kruger reserves shaped the village into a Lowveld safari town and a hub for conservation work.