Here on Hoedspruit Wildlife Estate, the home of eKhaya, we are privileged to have some amazing wildlife species roaming free, from beautiful waterbuck and zebra to giraffe and kudu.

You’re able to explore the estate under your own steam, but we can arrange a guided walk if you would like one. Walking is perhaps the best way to experience the magic of this little slice of African wilderness, but you can also hire a mountain bike (or bring your own) and take advantage of the numerous trails that criss-cross the green belt at the heart of the estate.

If you’re visiting with your own car, feel free to take a self-guided game drive on the estate’s network of game drive routes, or ask us to arrange a horse ride for you and discover the beauty of the bush on horseback!

What are you likely to see? Well, it’s summer now so the bush is thick and green and full of baby animals, from impala lambs to zebra foals. The estate has a wonderful giraffe population and giraffes are perhaps the favourite animal to spot for our guests.

Speaking of giraffe, did you know that a giraffe’s “horns” are not horns at all but bony protuberances called “ossicones” which are made from ossified cartilage rather than living bone? They are present at birth but lie flat and are not attached to the skull so they don’t hurt the mother giraffe during delivery. They only fuse to the skull later in life. Giraffe bulls like this one have larger, thicker ossicones with bald spots on top. Females have more slender ossicones which have tufty, furry tops. It’s an easy way to tell them apart!

The birdlife on the estate is also wonderful and you’ll be able to spot everything from eagles and vultures to hornbills and guineafowl, and a lot of other species in between! So feel free to bring your binoculars and download a bird app or two!

We’ve also got a few primates on the estate, from tiny little bushbabies (which you’re likely to spot at night) to vervet monkeys. And we’ve got lots of Hoedspruit’s “mascot” animal – the ubiquitous warthog. You’ll see them all over the estate, including in the car park and around the villa itself! There are lots of warthog piglets about at the moment too. This charming member of the pig family is a firm favourite with guests but, as with all of the animals on the estate, remains a wild animal so please do not feed them or get too close!

If you’d like to spend some time out on the estate, chat to us and we’ll be happy to pack you a picnic and direct you to our wonderful dams, where we have hides and where you can sit for a few hours and watch the wildlife and the world go by.

​​