High five for the Highveld!
The Olifants River is a lifeline for the entire north-east of South Africa. It fills dams, providing water for communities and irrigation for vast farmlands; it serves mines, drives coal-fired power plants and nourishes the central parts of the Kruger Park. But unregulated emissions from all those farms, mines and power stations are polluting the river to breaking point. Luckily, against all odds, there’s still one small stretch that remains largely untouched: a pocket of land in a deep, isolated gorge. Welcome to Kingdom Trails.
At 15 000 hectares in size, Kingdom is one of the biggest privately owned nature reserves in South Africa. There are areas of grassland, mixed bushveld savannah, and forested kloofs, and the reserve is home to a wealth of bird and animal life, from the rare African finfoot and resident African fish-eagles, to hippos, crocodiles, leopards and even brown hyena. Its proximity to the Loskop Nature Reserve occasionally even results in rhino and buffalo wandering into the inaccessible northern regions of the farm.
The hiking trails in the reserve criss-cross and interlink with one another, allowing for various route options and combinations. The trails –
