Thornybush Game Reserve is a private game reserve, near

Hoedspruit Hoedspruit (Afrikaans for ''Hat Creek'') is a town situated at the foot of the Klein Drakensberg (Afrikaans for "Small Dragon Mountains" range), in the Limpopo province of South Africa, on the railway line from Tzaneen to Kaapmuiden. History ...

, in the

Limpopo Limpopo () is the northernmost Provinces of South Africa, province of South Africa. It is named after the Limpopo River, which forms the province's western and northern borders. The term Limpopo is derived from Rivombo (Livombo/Lebombo), a ...

province of

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the Southern Africa, southernmost country in Africa. Its Provinces of South Africa, nine provinces are bounded to the south by of coastline that stretches along the Atlantic O ...

. It borders the Kapama Game Reserve and is located close to the

Timbavati Game Reserve Timbavati Private Nature Reserve is a nature reserve on the western edge of Kruger National Park in Mpumalanga Province, South Africa. It was established in 1956 by like-minded game farmers with the creation of the ''Timbavati Association''. Th ...

and the

Kruger Park Kruger National Park () is a national park in South Africa covering an area of in the provinces of Limpopo and Mpumalanga in the country's northeast. It extends from north to south and from east to west. The administrative headquarters are i ...

. The Reserve's surface area is approximately 14,000 ha of mainly open

savannah A savanna or savannah is a mixed woodland-grassland (i.e. grassy woodland) biome and ecosystem characterised by the trees being sufficiently widely spaced so that the canopy does not close. The open canopy allows sufficient light to reach th ...

. As with many private reserves in

, Thornybush is managed as an eco-tourism destination, thus the Reserve is funded by means of a number of up-market private commercial game lodges located within the Reserve. They are involved in different kind of projects such as supporting local community through contributions to surrounding schools and

sustainable farming Sustainable agriculture is farming in sustainable ways meeting society's present food and textile needs, without compromising the ability for current or future generations to meet their needs. It can be based on an understanding of ecosystem se ...

Wildlife

Thornybush Game Reserve shares an unfenced border with the Kruger National Park, which means that animals can move freely between the reserve and the park. The wildlife counts: * 147 mammals, including the Big five,

giraffe The giraffe is a large Fauna of Africa, African even-toed ungulate, hoofed mammal belonging to the genus ''Giraffa.'' It is the Largest mammals#Even-toed Ungulates (Artiodactyla), tallest living terrestrial animal and the largest ruminant on ...

Wild dog A free-ranging dog is a dog that is not confined to a yard or house. Free-ranging dogs include street dogs, village dogs, stray dogs, feral dogs, etc., and may be owned or unowned. The global dog population is estimated to be 900 million, of whi ...

Southeast African cheetah The Southeast African cheetah (''Acinonyx jubatus jubatus'') is the nominate subspecies, nominate cheetah subspecies native to East Africa, East and Southern Africa. The Southern African cheetah lives mainly in the Kalahari Basin, lowland areas a ...

and many more. * 114 reptiles such as the Giant plated lizard or the

Black mamba The black mamba (''Dendroaspis polylepis'') is a species of highly venomous snake belonging to the family Elapidae. It is native to parts of sub-Saharan Africa. First formally species description, described by Albert Günther in 1864, it is ...

. * 507 birds like the well known

Lilac-breasted roller The lilac-breasted roller (''Coracias caudatus'') is an African bird of the roller family, Coraciidae. It is widely distributed in Southern and Eastern Africa, and is a vagrant to the southern Arabian Peninsula. It prefers open woodland and sav ...

. * 49 fish. * 34 amphibians. AHI Treasures of Southern Africa 3-07 1643 N (688285398).jpg, Lions AHI Treasures of Southern Africa 3-07 1733 N (687449699).jpg, Leopard AHI Treasures of Southern Africa 3-07 1461 N (687691908).jpg, White Rhinos AHI Treasures of Southern Africa 3-07 1669 N (688293272).jpg, Elephants AHI Treasures of Southern Africa 3-07 1510 N (687353431).jpg, Cape Buffalo AHI Treasures of Southern Africa 3-07 1740 N (687451207).jpg , Giraffe AHI Treasures of Southern Africa 3-07 1125 N (687117628).jpg, Impalas AHI Treasures of Southern Africa 3-07 1295 N (687635102).jpg, Wildebeest AHI Treasures of Southern Africa 3-07 1116 N (686251809).jpg, Kudu AHI Treasures of Southern Africa 3-07 1119 N (687115950).jpg, Varlet monkey

Accommodation

There are in total 12 different places to stay in Thornybush Game Reserve: Premium Collection : * Saseka Tented Camp: 9 tents with capacity for 20 people * The River Lodge: 6 suites with a capacity of 12 people * The Game Lodge: 18 suites with a capacity of 40 people * Shumbalala Game Lodge: 5 suites with a capacity of 10 people Classic Collection : * Waterside Lodge: 20 suites with a capacity of 40 people * N'kaya Lodge: 4 suites with a capacity of 8 people * Waterbuck Lodge: 4 suites with a capacity of 8 people * Serondella Lodge: 3 suites and a family suite with a capacity of 8 people * Monwana Lodge: 2 family suites, 1 king size suite and 1 honeymoon suite * Jackalberry Lodge: 8 suites with a capacity of 16 people * Chapungu Tented Bush Camp: 8 tents with a capacity of 16 people

References

{{coord missing, South Africa Nature reserves in South Africa

Wildlife

Accommodation

See also

References