About SA Horseback Safaris

Steven has recently moved back to South Africa and created the new company South Africa Horseback Safaris, which promises the same exciting riding with different challenges and amazing game viewing to his previous rides in Botswana.

There are two different rides that you can join, Luxury Lodge based riding available throughout the year, or 7 Day wilderness Safaris in Songimvelo Game Reserve, leaving at scheduled dates throughout the year.

With the world famous Kruger Park only 2 hours drive away, South Africa Horseback Safaris are placed in the ideal location from which to extend your vacation.

Songimvelo Game Reserve - Mpumalanga Province

Songimvelo game reserve was proclaimed a conservation area on the 4th March 1983. It covers an area of 50,000 hectares, which makes it the largest provincial game reserve in South Africa. Situated 100 kms south of the town of Barberton, it borders on to the Kingdom of Swaziland. 250 kilometers to the north east will bring you into Mozambique. Kruger Park is also easily accessible by car.

Some of the most extraordinary facts about Songimvelo include its rock formations that have been dated at 3.5 billion years old, making them some of the oldest known geological formations on the world.

Early Stone Age man also inhabited this area and artifacts have been found dating back to 1 million years old. Stone walled sites from the later Iron Age are also very common and can be viewed across the reserve. Indications that the area was inhabited by the San People (Bushmen) can also be found. More recently the discovery of gold in the area encouraged hoards of Europeans to migrate to the area in search of their fortunes.

The park boasts more than 1400 different species of plant life, including the extremely rare Woolly Cycad, which is the only place in the world this tree can now be found. There are 14 other threatened plant species that survive in this area, and their conservation is a high priority to the park.

Wildlife in Songimvelo Game Reserve

There are 20 species of herbivores all of which were re introduced after they had been hunted to extinction prior to the 1980's. Animals seen include elephant, white rhino, buffalo, giraffe, kudu, eland, impala, blesbok, blue wildebeest, zebra, sable, hartebeest, tsessebe, bushpig, warthog, klipspringer, steenbok, duiker, mountain reedbuck, hippopotamus, waterbuck, bontebok, oribi, baboon, vervet monkey, bushbaby. There are 3 very important animals situated in the park: white rhino which were almost hunted to extinction and now the park is home to 40 of these magnificent animals. 'Disease free' Buffalo are also present (these are carefully bred buffalo that are free from Tuberculosis and Foot and Mouth). There is also an important population of Springbuck that are 'Heartwater' resistant (this is a tick born disease that can kill livestock if not managed carefully).

To date there is only one carnivore present in the park, that being the Leopard, which can be very elusive as it hunts mainly at night. Songimvelo is also an important catchment area for a number of streams and rivers where the water is utilized downstream for agricultural areas. These include the Oom Saulu River and the Komati River which flows through Songimvelo and onto Swaziland.