The Timbavati is located in the Limpopo Province of the Republic of South Africa in what is called the "Lowveld," a vast stretch of subtropical savannah bushveld.
History
The reserve came into being in July of 1956, when a group of conservation-minded people who owned "game farms" on the western boundary of the Kruger National Park, came together to form the Timbavati Association. Over a period of several years a handful of visionaries from the area met frequently to discuss ways and means to create a nature reserve of a meaningful size. These pioneering spirits of conservation and sustainable utilization eventually managed to convince sufficient numbers of landowners in the region to join them in forming an association. This body was, and is still today governed by a constitution limiting the rights of the individual landowner for the greater good 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. 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 sparsely inhabited. This part of South Africa 's bushveld region may, therefore, be regarded as truly unspoiled, deserving recognition as truly wild land, as opposed to the "restored" and "restocked" lands commonly found elsewhere.
About the Klaserie Private Nature Reserve
After years of negotiation and planning, the Klaserie Private Nature Reserve was proclaimed in January of 1972. With 15 farms, divided into 69 separate portions and a total area of nearly 63,000 hectares, the Klaserie is regarded as one of the largest private nature reserves in the world. It has been managed as a unit since 1969. The Reserve borders on smaller game farms on the west and south as well as the south African Air Force Base at Hoedspruit. The eastern boundary borders on the Timbavati Private Nature Reserve as well as the Kruger National Park . The northern neighbors, along the Oliphants River , are Foscor and the Phalaborwa Mining Company.
Wildlife
The principal attraction in both the Timbavati and Klaserie reserves is the astonishing diversity and abundance of wildlife species. 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 colorful and bizarre insects. And for those with a botanical bent, there are hundreds of species of trees and shrubs as well as an enormous variety of grasses and other plant life.
Wilderness
In the Timbavati and Klaserie 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 traveler. 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 the Timbavati and Klaserie, however, 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.
