23 Mar Waterberg Game Park
Discover your Favourites at Fabulous Fifty Seven Waterberg
Unless you are an avid mental traveller, have been to Africa before or you have done some research, you might not be aware of what is meant by “game park” or “game reserve” when you visit South Africa’s pristine Waterberg region.
Free and Far from the Madding Crowds
The section of the Waterberg where our game park and lodge is located, is a unique part of this vast, diverse and magnificent country. It has been spared the onslaught of hordes of tourists, and is free from commercial exploitation with overcrowded facilities, factors that tend to ruin a true wildlife experience’s leisurely pace, peace and tranquillity.
Wide, Wild Spaces
Game parks in this country are extensive in size, providing ample habitat for all the game, and fauna and flora that are indigenous to each area. These game parks seek to preserve nature as it has since before man first ventured there, unchanged and wild, but with a notable exception – the guest lodges with modern amenities where game park visitors are accommodated.
Our 5-star game lodge, Fifty Seven Waterberg (the 57th portion of the Welgevonden Game Reserve), is surrounded by 35 000 hectares of natural Waterberg wilderness, which forms part of the Waterberg Biosphere Reserve, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, proclaimed as such in 2001. Its primary purpose is the protection of approximately 150 000 hectares of immensely biodiverse terrain.
The entire Waterberg region extends from Thabazimbi to Mokopane, previously Potgietersrus, in turn originally named after the place where a Voortrekker leader, Piet Potgieter, stopped (and rested/settled) with his group of Trekkers and their ox wagons.
Mokopane is only about 158 kilometres from Fifty Seven Waterberg, where guests to our game park find tranquillity, comfort, rest, relaxation and, of course, game. It stands to reason that the region is as rich in game as it is, since the mountains are said to play a significant role in supplying much of the region’s water.
Waterberg Game
About 75 game species, more than 300 types of birds, and numerous reptiles inhabit the Waterberg – a festival of wildlife for lovers of nature and game parks. Big game species include the Big 5, giraffes, hyenas and hippos, while Africa’s prime reptilian predator, the Nile crocodile, and snakes such as the python and black mamba can also be found here.
Although the Big 5 are undoubtedly one of the major attractions, one can also look out for the slightly lesser known Little 5 – the curious ant lion, the horned rhino beetle, the leopard tortoise with its uniquely spotted, protective shell, rarely seen, long-nosed, insect eating elephant shrew, and the orange-beaked buffalo weaver bird.
Come & Visit Fifty Seven Waterberg
You are free to pick your favourite animals and experiences at our game park – Big or Little 5 included, but we know you will love your accommodation in one of our five luxurious, 5-star guest suites at Fifty Seven Waterberg, your soon-to-be favourite game lodge in the pristine Waterberg region.