Thornybush Game Reserve is well-known for its exceptional safari lodges and remarkable wildlife sightings with animals able to traverse freely between the reserve and Kruger National Park to the east.
Thornybush Game Reserve is one of the oldest reserves within the Greater Kruger ecosystem, with the first commercial lodge opening in 1961. Throughout the years, a number of additional properties have been constructed with some remarkable luxury options and various conservation projects and relocations of animals from the Kruger National Park have taken place on the reserve. In 2017, the reserve dropped its fences with the adjacent Timbavati Private Game Reserve which itself shares a fenceless border with the Kruger National Park, allowing wildlife to roam freely between Thornybush and the national park.
Just a short drive from Hoedspruit Eastgate Airport and covering 15,000 hectares of untouched wilderness, Thornybush is a fantastic safari destination with excellent accessibility. The landscape consists of mixed woodland, open savannah and tracts of tangled thicket and thorny bushes, from which the reserve takes its name. The Monwana River is the seasonal lifeblood of this area and several dry riverbeds dissect the reserve, which is home to a great diversity of wildlife with regular sightings of Africa’s Big Five, African wild dog, cheetah and many other iconic species such as zebra, giraffe, hippo and much more. The reserve is also a prolific birding destination with over 280 species recorded including black-shouldered kite, woodland kingfisher, tawny eagle, cardinal woodpecker, dark chanting goshawk and white-crested helmet shrike.
As a private reserve, Thornybush provides visitors with an exclusive safari experience with only the lodge vehicles allowed to make use of the safari tracks. Other benefits such as off-roading and bush walks enable close up encounters which won’t be forgotten in a hurry and night drives allow guests to experience a whole new world after dark.
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