Makalali Game Reserve

About Makalali Game Reserve

Also known as the Greater Makalali Private Game Reserve and one of the country's major privately owned conservation areas.

Did you know? Makalali, which means place of rest, was an old cattle farm when bought in the early nineties.

Makalali Conservancy is over 22 000 hectares set in the Lowveld region of Limpopo, an hour west of the Phalaborwa gate of the Kruger National Park and roughly 80 kilometres from Hoedspruit.

Makalali's bushveld, in contrast to those reserves directly adjacent to the Kruger, is a series of undulating hills that offer incredible viewpoints and panoramic views across the reserve. Makalali Conservancy, which consists mostly of Lowveld acacia bush and open savanna grassland is intermittently scattered with beautiful examples of marula, knobthorn and jackalberry trees, and through this arid and peaceful space flows the Makhutswi River.

Makalali, which means 'place of rest' in Shangaan, has as its conservation mission to expand South Africa's green frontier. The conservancy, spearheaded by the Makalali Land and Wildife Trust, has been actively involved in trying to re-establish the ancient traditional wildlife migration routes that link the Kruger National Park in the east to the Drakensburg Mountains in the west.

A mixture of wildlife has been re-introduced onto the reserve that includes lion, leopard, elephant, cheetah and rhino, making Makalali home to a rich diversity of animals that includes the ‘big five'.

At the same time, the conservancy is involved in protecting endangered species. Elephants were spared annual culling by relocating them to the Kruger, and white rhino were relocated as the herd grew too big for Makalali.