African Sun Safaris - African Ivory Route

Situated in Mpumalanga, the Sabi Sand Game Reserve is a 65 000 hectare wildlifesanctuary which forms part of the greater Kruger National Park. Sabi Sands shares a common 50km (31 mile) unfenced eastern boundary with the world famous Kruger National Park. No fences exist within this area and animals are free to roam unhindered through the enormous conservancy with habitat types ranging from riverine thicket to open savannah.

Two perennial rivers supply the game reserve with a valuable water source. The sustenance of these rivers ensures that this area enjoys one of the highest and most bio diverse wildlife populations of any area in Africa. This provides the home to over 200 different species which, all occur in abundance, as well as a large amount of ever changing bird life.

The reserve is an association of freehold landowners, many of whom manage commercial safari operations. They share a common environmental management program of which the main aim is to monitor habitat and wildlife densities and maintain a balance between food resources and optimum biomass.

The Sabi Sands offers several privately owned and managed wildlife camps all with excellent facilities and game viewing activities with trained rangers.

(information courtesy of Sabi Sand Wildtuin information brochure)

Timbavati Game Reserve

The Timbavati Private Nature Reserve came into existence on July 1956, when a group of conservation minded people who owned game farms on the Western boundary of Kruger National Park came together to form the Timbavati Association.

The principal aim of the Timbavati reserve is the preservation of the wilderness and wildlife by restoring the land to its natural state and maintaining the mix and balance of species, conditions, and processes that have historically occurred in this region. Timbavati is dedicated to the proposition that conservation's greatest purpose and challenge is to maintain the reign of Nature.

Timbavati's mission is to see that at least here - in this small, but singular and deeply cherished part of the African Bushveld - Nature will be defended against human impacts, and left just as it should be: natural.

The size of the reserve covers about 60 000 hectares of pristine African bush of the world famous Greater Kruger National Park. In the early 1990's the boundary fence between the Kruger and adjacent private reserves namely, Timbavati, Sabi Sand, Klassierie, Umbabat and Manyeleti was removed to create the greater Kruger National Park covering a area of 2.2 million hectares. The reason being conservationists want to re-create ancient migration movements of wildlife from the foothills of the Lebombo Mountains in the east to the Drakensberg Mountains in the west.

(information courtesy of the Kings Camp and Timbavati Reserve websites)

Manyeleti Game Reserve

Manyelei means "place of stars" in the local Shangaan language and visitors to the reserve who gaze upon the night skies will find it aptly named. The 22,750 hectare Manyeleti Game Reserve shares unfenced borders with Sabi Sands, Timbavati and the Kruger National Park and a great diversity of wildlife roam freely throughout these reserves.

The Mnisi people lived and occupied this land for many generations and in the new South Africa, they instituted a land claim for the return of their ancestral grounds - which was granted to them. The Manyeleti Game Reserve is now managed by the Mnisi tribe, and all of the lodges within the reserve are privately owned and lease a concession of land within the reserve. These privately owned lodges and bush camps offer excellent safari experiences with wonderful accommodation and game drives conducted by professional rangers.