Mkhaya Game Reserve, a private reserve located between Manzini and Big Bend, is Eswatini’s most exclusive safari retreat. You leave your vehicle behind to join an expert private guide for game drives and bush walks. You then dine beneath the stars before drifting to sleep in your chalet to the night’s noises.
Big Game Parks acquired Mkhaya in 1979 to protect Eswatini’s last indigenous Nguni cattle. As the reserve expanded so did its ambitions. Today it is a sanctuary for endangered species and home to other large mammals that once roamed Eswatini freely. White rhinos are common and black rhinos, though more elusive, are still often seen. You should also find giraffe, zebra, hippo and warthog, plus Eswatini’s only herd of buffalo.
Roan, sable and tsessebe are among the rarer antelope, with abundant wildebeest, kudu, impala and nyala. Leopards are only occasional visitors, but you may hear spotted hyenas at night and crocodiles are often seen lounging around the main waterhole. Back in camp, the excellent birdlife includes specials like Narina trogon, pink-throated twinspot and crested guineafowl, while nyala and even a few shy suni browse around the camp. After dinner listen for the fragile whistle of fiery-necked nightjars, the unearthly shriek of greater bushbabies and the whoop of spotted hyenas.
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