Bosbokrand, Valley of the Olifants

Bosbokrand, also known as Bushbuckridge, has rather obvious roots in its surrounds where rather large herds of antelope grazed on what is known today as Bushbuck ridge, a rocky ridge that extends from the escarpment eastwards into the lowland bush. During the 1880s the little town grew around a trading store.

Today Bosbokrand tends to suffer in obscurity as somewhere en route elsewhere, rather than a welcome stopover, particularly because of its proximity to the more popular Hazyview. The road between Klaserie and Bosbokrand passes through parts of Lebowa (only reincorporated into South Africa in 1994, the state was formerly self-governing) where the countryside is dotted with little villages, strongly reminiscent of times gone by, so you can understand why the town might have been overlooked until now.

But Bosbokrand is bounded on the east by the Kruger National Park and by the sensitive watershed and forests of the Drakensberg Mountains. To the north of the town runs the Olifants River that flows through a stunning gorge into the Kruger National Park - some of the most beautiful scenery runs along this river. No surprise then that this part of the world is home to the largest game parks in the world and is increasingly visited by foreign tourists. Obscurity isn’t something in which a town like Bosbokrand is likely to remain for very long.

The Manyeleti Game Park, a nature conservation area built initially for black civil servants that lies within the Bushbuckridge area and is now effectively integrated into the Kruger National Park, means “place of the stars”. The private game reserve offers a beautiful sanctuary for a large variety of game on 20 000 hectares of densely bushed lowveld.