AKERU PRIVATE CAMP

• Luxurious game lodge
• Timbavati Game Reserve
• Just six thatched chalets
• Overlooking a busy waterhole

TIMBAVATI GAME RESERVE:
The Timbavati Private Nature Reserve came into existence on July 1956, when a group of conservation-minded persons who owned "game farms" on the western boundary of the Kruger Park came together to form the Timbavati Association.

The idea of forming such a reserve was first mooted as early as 1948, and for several years a handful of far-sighted men met frequently to discuss ways and means to create a nature reserve of a meaningful size in the area. These "leading spirits" of conservation and sustainable land use eventually succeeded in convincing sufficient number of landowners in the region to join them in forming an Association governed by a Constitution that would limit the "rights" of the individual landowner for the benefit of all.

Man's incursions into this part of the Lowveld have always been temporary and brief, from Early Stone Age down to the early 20th century. In point of fact, large tracts of land in the northern portion of the Lowveld were never permanently settled by man, and the lands now comprising the Timbavati were barely touched, and are still only lightly inhabited. This part of South Africa's bushveld region may therefore be regarded as truly unspoiled and deserves recognition as truly wild land, as opposed to the "restored" and "restocked" lands commonly found elsewhere.

The white lions of Timbavati where discovered by Chris McBride in the early 1970s while doing his Phd on his father's farm Vlakgezicht. Timbavati became well known for the white lions, and as a result the commercial lodges in the reserve became very popular tourist destinations. Although there are currently no white lions in the reserve, the recessive gene causing this unusual phenomenon is still carried by the local prides, which are still paler than most other lions by comparison. Several books have been dedicated to the subject, including two written by Chris McBride.

The principal aim of the reserve is the preservation of wildlands 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 Timbavati Private nature Reserve is located in what is called the "Lowveld", a vast tract of subtropical savannah bushveld in the Limpopo Province of the Republic of South Africa.

The reserve consists of prime wildlife habitat situated on the unfenced western boundary of the world-famous Kruger National Park, a conservation area of more than 2,000,000 ha (over 5 million acres).

The southern border of this great complex of public and privately - owned protected land lies close to the Kingdom of Swaziland and abuts the boundaries of Zimbabwe in the north and Mozambique in the east.

Timbavati is one of a handful of nature reserves on the western boundary of the Kruger Park that are now an integral part of the Kruger Park system. Collectively termed the Association of Private Nature Reserves, these wildlife-rich lands adjoin and are managed in cooperation with the Kruger National Park, forming a unique combination of public and private lands called "The Greater Kruger Park".

The new conservation entity, created in the early 1990's, contains no internal fencing (apart from that which is used to enclose a few isolated camps, and thus "exclose" dangerous game animals). This opened up a vast stretch of wild land to the free movement of wildlife throughout what is now effectively a single conservation area. This situation is good for both wildlife and tourists: wildlife have access to more resources for meeting their permanent, seasonal, and episodic needs; and tourists are offered a wider range of eco-tourism facilities.

At the beginning of 2002, the association had 50 members, and the Reserve was made up of 50 contiguous farms totalling approximately 60,000 hectares (over 144000 acres). The owners of these farms - like the officials of the national Parks Board - are committed to maintaining their land in as pristine a state as possible. They are individuals who attach a great value to wildlife, and have a strong desire to maintain that increasingly rare commodity called "wilderness". These farms represent a different kind of investment and produce a different kind of "profit". If well tended, and disturbed as little as possible, their wildlife and wild beauty will never be exhausted, and their value will only appreciate with time.

There are seven fine game lodges in the Timbavati Reserve, as well as an environmental education camp featuring overnight wilderness hikes and other special programmes.

In addition to providing visitors the opportunity to see virtually all of the species of wildlife to be found in the region, each lodge offers a diverse range of facilities and services within the grounds of the lodge itself, as well as a level of personal and attentive service that the seasoned traveller has come to expect from the world's smaller, more intimate lodges. Timbavati's privately owned and operated lodges pride themselves on their ability to offer something truly different, and truly better, at a reasonable and competitive price.

Timbavati's principal attraction is the astonishing diversity and abundance of wildlife species that inhabit the reserve. Mammalian species alone number 147, including 27 ungulates (hoofed mammals) and 4 large carnivores. Many of these spectacular animals are likely to be spotted even on a short visit.

There are also many lesser-known animals that most visitors find fascinating to behold, from exotic reptiles and amphibians, to colourful and bizarre insects. And for those with a botanical bent, there are hundreds of species of trees and shrubs (not to mention the enormous variety of grasses and other plant life).

In addition to its wealth of biological diversity, there is something else that many visitors soon discover - something they commonly say is equally impressive, and of enormous value. In the Timbavati there exists an atmosphere of undisturbed nature - of true wilderness - which is difficult to define and describe, but can readily be perceived by the discerning traveller in those rare places where it can still be encountered.

This subtle and ineffable quality, which is so powerful and captivating to the imagination, is no longer to be found in most game parks and reserves in the world; in Timbavati, it cannot be missed. Here there is a sense that the land has never belonged to man; and that ever since the Pleistocene - the "Golden Age of Mammals" - this land has belonged to those majestic creatures that dominated virtually the entire world during that remote epoch.