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. Economy The ...

, in the

Limpopo Limpopo is the northernmost province of South Africa. It is named after the Limpopo River, which forms the province's western and northern borders. The capital and largest city in the province is Polokwane, while the provincial legislature is ...

province of

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the north by the neighbouring countri ...

. It borders the

Kapama Game Reserve Kapama Game Reserve (founded 1993) is a 13,000 hectare privately owned nature reserve in the Limpopo province of South Africa. It was founded by Johann Roode, who initially bought the land for cattle grazing but realized that the local ecosystem ...

and is located close to the

Timbavati Game Reserve The Timbavati Private Nature Reserve is located at the border line between Hoedspruit (in Limpopo) and Acornhoek (in Mpumalanga), north of the Sabi Sand Private Game Reserve on the western edge of Kruger National Park. Geographically and politi ...

and the

Kruger Park Kruger National Park is a South African National Park and one of the largest game reserves in Africa. It covers an area of in the provinces of Limpopo and Mpumalanga in northeastern South Africa, and extends from north to south and from eas ...

. 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) ecosystem characterised by the trees being sufficiently widely spaced so that the Canopy (forest), canopy does not close. The open canopy allows sufficient light to rea ...

. As with many private reserves in

, Thornybush is managed as an

eco-tourism Ecotourism is a form of tourism involving responsible travel (using sustainable transport) to natural areas, conserving the environment, and improving the well-being of the local people. Its purpose may be to educate the traveler, to provide funds ...

destination, thus the Reserve is funded by means of a number of up-market private commercial

game lodge {{Unreferenced, date=May 2019, bot=noref (GreenC bot) A safari lodge (also known as a game lodge) is a type of tourist accommodation in southern and eastern Africa. Lodges are mainly used by tourists on wildlife safaris, and are typically locat ...

s 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 African hoofed mammal belonging to the genus ''Giraffa''. It is the tallest living terrestrial animal and the largest ruminant on Earth. Traditionally, giraffes were thought to be one species, ''Giraffa camelopardalis ...

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 w ...

cheetah The cheetah (''Acinonyx jubatus'') is a large cat native to Africa and central Iran. It is the fastest land animal, estimated to be capable of running at with the fastest reliably recorded speeds being , and as such has evolved specialized ...

and many more. * 114 reptiles such as the

Giant plated lizard The giant plated lizard (''Matobosaurus validus'') is a lizard in the family Gerrhosauridae, which is found in dry to mesic habitats of southern Africa. They are wary and stay close to their rocky retreats. Physical attributes A large lizar ...

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 described by Albert Günther in 1864, it is the second-longest ...

. * 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, Rhinos AHI Treasures of Southern Africa 3-07 1669 N (688293272).jpg, Elephants AHI Treasures of Southern Africa 3-07 1510 N (687353431).jpg, 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