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Mkhaya Game Reserve

Mkhaya Game Reserve, named after the Acacia Nigrescens tree, comprises of acacia-dominated thornveld in the south and broadleaf sandveld in the north. Unique, intimate encounters with Mkhaya’s wildlife are almost guaranteed as all travel within the reserve is solely by Big Game Parks’ open Land Rovers or on foot (all guided).

For the animals that once roamed wild and free, uninhibited by fences and boundaries, they faced and still face an uncertain future with man’s compulsion toward maximum yield, poaching and lack of ignorance toward nature conservation and protection of our natural heritage. These once abundant animals that could be seen for miles around were, and some still are, close to extinction. It became clear to the Reilly Family, Swaziland’s foremost nature conservationists, that these animals needed a place of refuge, and tranquility and the absence of menacing man and his gun, and Mkhaya was the perfect place.

Mkhaya Game Reserve was established in 1979 to save the pure Nguni breed of cattle from extinction and is a proclaimed Nature Reserve. Its focus has expanded over the years to include other endangered species such as black rhino, roan & sable antelope, tsessebe, white rhino, elephant and other locally endangered species. The reserve is criss-crossed with dry riverbeds, dotted with waterholes and has a network of intertwined game-viewing roads.

Mkhaya is staffed and patrolled entirely by Swazis from neighbouring communities and currently boasts what is arguably Africa's most effective anti-poaching unit. Mkhaya Game Reserve is totally self-financed through visitor revenues and any support is greatly appreciated as a means of sustaining this unique international conservation effort.