Timbavati - heaven on earth
The Xitsonga word, Timbavati, means "the place where something sacred descended from heaven to earth", and the area is known worldwide, primarily due to the phenomenon of the so-called white lions that naturally occur here from time to time. Although Chris McBride wrote about them for the first time in 1977 in his book, The White Lions of the Timbavati, these unique lions were recorded by local tribes as early as 1938. The lions are white because of a colour mutation, and not albinism as originally believed.
This Mpumalanga gem is located on the border of Hoedspruit and Acornhoek, north of the Sabi Sands Private Game Reserve on the western edge of the Kruger National Park – about 500km from Johannesburg.
The Timbavati Private Nature Reserve story began in the 1950s when a group of like-minded people decided to save this piece of land from habitat destruction and to preserve the area for future generations. In 1956 a non-profit organisation, the Timbavati Association, was founded by 47 landowners to conserve the unique fauna and flora of
