The Mthetomusha Game Reserve is located on the south western border of South Africa’s Kruger National Park. The reserve forms a private extension of Kruger and is set against the impressive Malelane Mountains. The area’s sweeping valleys are broken by huge granite domes and rocky outcrops, resulting in three distinct woodland vegetations. The Big 5 roam these distinct woodlands, as do buffalo, white rhino, impala, and zebra, giraffe, and sable. There is also a variety of birdlife in the reserve.
Mthetomusha has a rather unusual conservation history. The Mphakeni tribe, under Chief Nkosi at the time, handed over land which had poor agricultural potential to the KaNgwane Parks Corporation. The result was the creation of the 80 km2 reserve; one of the first in South Africa to be created through a community-conservation partnership. The approach has since become a contemporary conservation one in South Africa.